Grammar check please - this is driving me nuts
Discussion
Example sentence: "John's mother regularly works long hours".
Should the word "mother" be capitalised?
I say no. It's a common noun, so should be written in lowercase. Only if it were being used as a proper noun would you write it as "Mother".
I'm being told that this is incorrect, with the argument being put forward that "the word 'mother' is a pronoun as it is being used to replace the name of the person and so must be capitalised".
I disagree with just about every aspect of the counter argument, but I'm doubting myself now and it's driving me up the wall. Have I let myself down? Would my English teachers be collectively shaking their heads in disappointment?
Should the word "mother" be capitalised?
I say no. It's a common noun, so should be written in lowercase. Only if it were being used as a proper noun would you write it as "Mother".
I'm being told that this is incorrect, with the argument being put forward that "the word 'mother' is a pronoun as it is being used to replace the name of the person and so must be capitalised".
I disagree with just about every aspect of the counter argument, but I'm doubting myself now and it's driving me up the wall. Have I let myself down? Would my English teachers be collectively shaking their heads in disappointment?
You’re right.
The supposed logic of the argument put forward against you would have all pronouns capitalised. Eg in the sentence: “John’s mother worked very long hours for him”, “him” would be capitalised.
Capitalising pronouns is called reverential capitalisation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverential_capita... and is almost exclusively reserved for deities in everyday writing.
The supposed logic of the argument put forward against you would have all pronouns capitalised. Eg in the sentence: “John’s mother worked very long hours for him”, “him” would be capitalised.
Capitalising pronouns is called reverential capitalisation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverential_capita... and is almost exclusively reserved for deities in everyday writing.
shih tzu faced said:
You’re asking in the right place though, this sort of thing should be right up the street of PH’s grammar police. They’ll bloody love it!
PH never fails on such matters. Thanks to all for confirming. The background to it is that Mrs Jagnet had a job interview recently which included a task to correct the spelling, grammar and general errors in a short piece of text. The text was littered with kin terms and so she failed the interview on the basis of that task, despite overall doing a very good job on it. I was convinced that she was correct for the reasons stated but they refuse to accept that they could possibly be wrong.
Frustrating, but perhaps a lucky escape as it turns out.
Mrs Jagnet has long since moved on but I just haven't been able to get it out of my head for the last week.
Skyedriver said:
Countering the argument above, I'd have said Mother rather than mother. In the same way I write "my Son" not "my son". It's a definitive person not anyones mother.
But what do I know, it's 52 years since I passed English Language "O" level (at the second attempt).
It shows But what do I know, it's 52 years since I passed English Language "O" level (at the second attempt).
Skyedriver said:
Countering the argument above, I'd have said Mother rather than mother. In the same way I write "my Son" not "my son". It's a definitive person not anyones mother.
But what do I know, it's 52 years since I passed English Language "O" level (at the second attempt).
As has been said, capital letters are used in the first word of a sentence or when referring to a "proper" noun i.e. a noun which is actually a genuine name. An example using the word mother would be when referring to the word "mother" in general terms (and it doesn't matter whose mother you are referring to. My mother, your mother or Fred's mother never get a capital "m". However, if "mother" is part of a proper name, such as the name of a song e.g. "Mother of Mine", then capitals would be appropriate.But what do I know, it's 52 years since I passed English Language "O" level (at the second attempt).
This is like the difference between government and the Government - only uc G when referring to a specific government. Or in this case, a specific mother.
But tbh I think 99% of encountered usage would be mother in either case. I am not sure the capital really adds very much to one's comprehension.
But tbh I think 99% of encountered usage would be mother in either case. I am not sure the capital really adds very much to one's comprehension.
Eric Mc said:
Why is it simpler? Are people becoming more stupid that we have to make things simpler for them. Maybe making people use their brains a bit is a good thing.
Dumbing down for the sake of dumbing down is just plain dumb.
True, but language usage (and vocabulary) evolves. English more than, say, French (who even enacted laws to protect French).Dumbing down for the sake of dumbing down is just plain dumb.
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