When to Capitalize People’s Titles
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
When to Capitalize People’s Titles
When should you capitalize someone’s title? We get this question quite often so here are some rules and guidelines:
Guideline: Though there is no established rule on writing titles in the complimentary closing of a letter, we recommend capitalizing a person’s title when it follows the name on the address or signature line. However, you may also leave it in lowercase since titles are generally not capitalized when following a name in text. Choose a method and be consistent.
Examples:
Sincerely,
Margaret Haines, Chairperson
Sincerely,
Margaret Haines, chairperson
Rule: Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used with or before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.
Examples:
The president will address Congress.
All senators are expected to attend.
The governors, lieutenant governors, and attorneys general called for a special task force.
Governor Connelly, Lieutenant Governor Martinez, and Senators James and Hennessy will attend the meeting.
Rule: Capitalize a title when used as a direct address even when the person is not named.
Examples:
Will you be holding a press conference, Madame President?
Please give us your opinion of this latest development, Senator.
We need your response quickly, Mr. President.
We need your response quickly, President Obama.
Will you help me with my homework, Dad?
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Pardon, but whenever referring to the President of the United States, one always uses a capital. When has this changed?
This blog follows the rules of The Chicago Manual of Style. According to Rule 8.1, “Proper nouns are usually capitalized, as are some of the terms derived from or associated with proper nouns. For the latter, Chicago’s preference is for sparing use of capitals—what is sometimes referred to as a ‘down’ style. Although Brussels (the Belgian city) is capitalized, Chicago prefers brussels sprouts—which are not necessarily from Brussels (see 8.60). Likewise, President Obama is capitalized, but the president is not (see 8.18-32). (In certain nonacademic contexts—e.g., a press release—such terms as president may be capitalized.)”
I am writing a business proposal and I need to refer to the title Personnel and Training Sergeant…”The personnel and Training Sergeant will oversee the project”.
Or is it the Personnel and Training sergeant will oversee the project”.
Can you please advise?
Our blog Capitalization of Job Titles states, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.” Therefore, write “The personnel and training sergeant will oversee the project.”
Given what your response above says, would this be correct usage: Correctional Seargent will be in charge of disciplinary proccessing. The correctional sergent in charge of disciplinary proccessing will work a Monday through Friday schedule?
Capitalization has a lot of gray areas. The rule of thumb is to lowercase job titles when not used with names. Therefore, we recommend not capitalizing correctional sergeant.
Correctional sergeant will be in charge of disciplinary processing.
The correctional sergeant in charge of disciplinary processing will work a Monday-through-Friday schedule.
This is a perennial question around here: if you capitalize the names of departments, i.e., History Department, then how do you express the title of the department chair:
Joe Smith, chair of the History Department or
Joe Smith, chair of the history deparment
This becomes even more problematic when you’re dealing with titles like head of school vs head of School.
Because chair, chairman, chairwoman, chairperson, head of school, etc. are generally considered job titles, capitalize these titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.
Some policies capitalize job titles immediately following the name when the word the does not appear in front of the job title. Others do not.
Therefore:
Joe Smith, Chair of the History Department, will be speaking to . . .
Joe Smith, chair of the History Department, will be speaking to . . .
I’m really stuck with what to capitalise or not in this paragraph! Can you help me please?? Thank you so much!
General Sir Mike Jackson GCB CBE DSO is an Advisory Board member and served as UK Chief of the General Staff (CGS) from 2003-2006, the culmination of four and a half decades in the British Army. After a degree in Russian studies he joined the Intelligence Corps in 1963, transferring to the Parachute Regiment in 1970. He served as Commander in Chief, Land Command from 2000, Commander Kosovo Force in 1999, Commander NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from 1997, and Director General Development and Doctrine at the MOD. His active service has included command at company and brigade level in Northern Ireland, and divisional command in Bosnia.
General Sir Mike Jackson GCB CBE DSO is an advisory board member and served as UK chief of the general staff (CGS) from 2003 to 2006, the culmination of four and a half decades in the British Army. After a degree in Russian studies he joined the Intelligence Corps in 1963, transferring to the Parachute Regiment in 1970. He served as commander in chief, land command, [note comma] from 2000 [from 2000 to when? Maybe it should be “in 2000”], commander Kosovo Force in 1999, commander NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from 1997, and director general development and doctrine at the MOD. His active service has included command at company and brigade level in Northern Ireland, and divisional command in Bosnia.
What about this? “The president of our country lives in the White House.”
There are two grammar rules which apply to your sentence. According to Rule 5 in the “Capitalization” section, “Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.” Also, Rule 2 says, “Always capitalize a proper noun.” Since the word president is not used before a name, it is not capitalized. Because White House is a proper noun it should be capitalized. Therefore, “The president of our country lives in the White House.”
I believe when referred to the current president, The President should be capitalized. Not sure about former presidents (depends on if you like them maybe!)
If the word president is not used before a name, it is not capitalized. Kathryn Gardner’s sentence was “The president of our country lives in the White House.” Therefore, it is not capitalized. Whether it is a current or past president, the rule is the same. Please see our post Capitalization of Governmental Words. (However, please see our Note in our Capitalization Rules section for an exception that some writers choose to follow.)
In a news release, is it John Smith, assistant FEMA admistrator for hurricanes- or – John Smith, Assistant FEMA Administartor for Huricanes
also
Joe Brown, U.S. Forest Service regional director – or – Joe Brown, U.S. Forest Service Regional Director
Some policies capitalize job titles immediately following the name when the word the does not appear in front of the job title.
Therefore, John Smith, Assistant FEMA Administrator for Hurricanes and Joe Brown, U.S. Forest Service Regional Director might be acceptable, although two authoritative sources, The AP Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style, would advise against it.
Just so I’m clear, I would write: ” As vice president of operations, John Doe is responsible for..” rather than “As Vice President of Operations, John Doe, is responsible for..?”
Thanks.
Since the title is not part of the name, it does not need to be capitalized as long as John Doe does not insist it be capitalized (the “ego rule”).
(The ego rule) Yes, I’ve noticed that, too!Numerous ‘higher titles’ have corrected me when I use lowercase on titles as you have described above. I’ve given up to the ‘ego rule.’
That is a wise thing to do in the workplace!
My daughter’s fourth-grade teacher insists that some proper names, such as Grandma or Dad, are not capitalized. For example, “Last week, grandma took us out for dinner.” Grandma is not capitalized, according to the teacher. In this example, isn’t Grandma considered a proper name, since it refers to a specific person?
Yes, you are correct. When the word Grandma is used as a proper name it should be capitalized. “Last week Grandma took us out for dinner.” If you were to say, “Last week my grandma took us out for dinner,” then it would not be capitalized. The same goes for Dad, Mom, and Grandpa.
I have a question similar to Linda’s. Working in a law office, I get conflicting instruction on the capitalization of the word plaintiff. My belief is when the sentence is something like, “As you can see, the plaintiff has no evidence of…” it is lowercase. But in this sentence, “As you can see, Plaintiff has no evidence of…”, it is uppercase. Is that correct? Or is plaintiff always lowercase as some of my colleagues suggest?
Your understanding of the grammar rules is correct, however, it is our understanding that there are specific rules for legal documents. We suggest consulting The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association.
Should we capitalize Boards and not independent directors, as follows? Thanks
“The Boards and the independent directors hereby determine…”
The Chicago Manual of Style says, “The full names of administrative bodies are capitalized. Adjectives derived from them are usually lowercased, as are many of the generic names for such bodies when used alone.” Therefore, “The boards and the independent directors hereby determine…”
I have a question about place names:
Yosemite National Park and Glacier National Park – these are all capitalized…but is it:
Yosemite and Glacier National Parks or Yosemite and Glacier national parks?
Policies differ on this point. It could be either one.
I was wondering if this capitalization is correct:
“Mrs. Jane Doe is the Dean of Students.”
or is it:
“Mrs. Jane Doe is the dean of students.”
Thanks!
Since it is not part of her name, you do not need to capitalize.
Mrs. Jane Doe is the dean of students.
Iam the new Principal at…
should I capitalize new Principal?? Or write I am the new principal at…
Since it is not part of your name, you do not need to capitalize.
I found your entry and your subsequent responses most helpful! Thanks!
We’re glad you found our website valuable.
I am currently updating my resume. When I list my job experience, do I capitalize the titles of my positions held?
Example: Assistant Principal, Carter High School, Houston, TX
Also, under the objective, do I capitalize principal and high school in “Seeking a Principal position in a High School…” or “Seeking a principal position in a high school…?”
Thank you! Love your website!
In running text, The Chicago Manual of Style lowercases titles but caps the names of departments: James Smith, director of Human Resources. On a résumé, business card, diploma, door plaque, or such, the title may be capped:
Michelle Walker, Vice Principal, Fairview High School, New York, NY
In your objective statement, since the words principal and high school are used generically, do not capitalize.
Also, since the word principal has several different meanings, we recommend rewording to:
Seeking a position as principal in a high school…
what about titles with “former”?
Former President George Bush or former President George Bush ?
thank you very much!
Unless the word former is at the beginning of a sentence, it should not be capitalized.
According to Rule 8.20 in Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.), when a title is used in apposition before a personal name–that is, not alone and as part of the name but as an equivalent to it, usually preceded by “the” or by a modifier–it is considered not a title but rather a descriptive phrase and is therefore lowercased.
e.g., the empress Elizabeth of Austria (but Empress Elizabeth of Austria); former president Carter; former presidents Reagan and Ford; the then secretary of state Colin Powell
Our response of March 15, 2012, only addressed the word former because reference books do not agree on whether to capitalize president. As you noted, CMOS would not capitalize it while the Associated Press Stylebook would (12th edition, p. 214). In these sorts of cases, we recommend that you simply be consistent.
Do baby boomers, generation xers, and millennials get capitalized or remain lower cased?
The baby boomers are reaching retirement age. OR The Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age.
The generation xers/gen xers job hop. OR The Generation Xers/Gen Xers job hop.
The millenials work long hours. The Millennials work long hours.
What I do to one, I want to do to all as I am sometimes using all of them in the same sentence.
Two of the most reputable reference books, The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook, recommend that terms denoting generations are best lowercased. (It should be noted that many publications do not agree.) CMOS, however, recommends that the single letters X, Y, Z, etc. should be capitalized. Therefore, baby boomers, generation Xers, millennials.
“AP caps Gen X; the rarer millennial is usually lowercase.” (tweet from @apstylebook, 10/16/2009)
https://twitter.com/apstylebook/status/4921838449
Thanks for all the good counsel.
So, in “Jack Jackson, President of CEI, will address the senate,” “president” is properly capitalized?
Policies differ. See note at September 22, 2011, above.
I am translating documents (speeches) from French to English. The rules for capitalization are very different between the two languages. I would like to know if it is necessary to capitalize the generic titles at the beginning of a speech when used in the opening address, such as:
Representatives of the Ministry of Education, university presidents, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends: We are gathered here today to…
or
Representatives of the Ministry of Education, University Presidents, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends: We are gathered here today to…
Thank you for your help.
Generic titles are not capitalized in English unless they are being used as a direct address. Honorific titles and respectful forms of address (except sir and ma’am) are capitalized in any context.
By direct address do you mean when talking directly to them? So the beginning of a letter would read like this?:
“Good after-noon Gentlemen,”.
Yes, direct address means speaking directly to the person or persons. The word afternoon does not have a hyphen. Also, our Rule 5 of Commas says, “Use commas to set off the name, nickname, term of endearment, or title of a person directly addressed.” Therefore, writing “Good afternoon, Gentlemen” is correct. We do not know the purpose of your letter, however, a formal business letter typically uses a colon instead of a comma after the salutation.
Mayor John Doe is speaking and says, “as mayor, I will…”
Do I capitalize mayor in this sentence since the word ‘the’ does not precede the job title?
Since the word “mayor” is not immediately preceding his name, nor is it immediately following his name, do not capitalize.
When you do not know (or cannot remember) someone’s name, but wish to refer to that person with that person’s title, is the title capitalized?
For instance: Bill Summers, the artist, taught me….
The Artist I met taught me….
If I refer to my dad as “Dad”, that becomes his name, so it is capitalized, right? Does that apply to someone like, the artist above?
When reading the web-site, I see that Rule 3 almost applies to what I need, but not quite. Can you clarify, please.
Rule 3
Capitalize a person’s title when it precedes the name. Do not capitalize when the title is acting as a description following the name.
Examples:
Chairperson Petrov
Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of the company, will address us at noon.
Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.
See note at September 22, 2011, above. When the word Dad is used as a proper name it should be capitalized.
Captain. I am not sure how to capitalize. I was a Marine, so my inclination is that the title of EVERY officer is capitalized – joke.
I assume Captain Jones is capitalized. What about the following examples: The captain is waiting. The captain just looked at him. Go see the captain. The captain was standing just out side the door. The captain sent me.
Thanks for your help.
The Chicago Manual of Style says, “As is the case with civil titles, military titles are routinely capitalized in the literature of the organization or government with which they are associated. Nonetheless, in formal academic prose, most such titles are capitalized only when used as part of a person’s name.” Therefore, your sentences with “captain” in lowercase are correct.
Should I capitalize the job titles such as vice president if the name of the company is in front of teh title, sam with the board?
would I say the ISS Vice President or ISS boad or simply ISS vice president and ISS board?
Thank you.
Policies vary. See note at September 22, 2011, above. All of the following examples could be acceptable:
Michael Baxter, ISS Vice President, will be the guest speaker.
Michael Baxter, ISS Board, will be the guest speaker.
Michael Baxter, the ISS vice president, will be the guest speaker.
Michael Baxter, the ISS board member, will be the guest speaker.
We publish several catalogs for noncredit programs that include biographies of instructors. Many of these include gratuitous capitalization, which I ruthlessly decapitate. I’d like your comment on the capitalization of master gardener, meaning a credential based on a program of education and practice, used thusly: “Jane Jones has been an active Master Gardener since 2011.” Since I lowercase professor emeritus, I am inclined to lc, but I am getting an argument.
Regarding academic degrees, The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Spelled-out terms, often capitalized in institutional settings (and on business cards and other promotional items), should be lowercased in normal prose.” It seems that your catalog may fall under the category of “promotional items,” which may explain why you are getting an argument.
AREAA will meet members of congress. AREAA will meet members of Congress. Which sentence is correct? In one of your examples, “The president will address Congress,” the word is capitalized.
Thank you!
The Chicago Manual of Style recomends that the full names of legislative and deliberative bodies, departments, bureaus, and offices should be capitalized. The United States Congress, the US Congress, and Congress are all included in this list.
When I want to refer to the “legislative body” or the “legislative branch” as a whole, shall I use upper or lowercase on “legislative” or not?
Both “legislative body” and “legislative branch” should be lowercased.
Love your website. Its very helpful. I’m a nursing instructor and need some guidance. Should you capitalize the names of hospital departments. Are employees working in the Emergency Department or on the Maternity Ward for example? In another context, will the capitalization rule change: the patient was admitted to the emergency department. I want to capitalize this. It is the name of the place.
And as a last note, how would you say this: The Attending is Dr. Smith. Is Attending capitalized? In another context, it would look like this: Dr. Smith is the Attending. I think your rule says if ‘the’ appears then it should read: Dr. Smith is the attending.
Thanks for your help!
The Chicago Manual of Style says, “The full names of institutions, groups, and companies and the names of their departments, and often the shortened forms of such names (e.g., the Art Institute), are capitalized. A the preceding a name, even when part of the official title, is lowercased in running text.” Therefore, the emergency department and the maternity ward are correct or Loyola Emergency Department, for example, if no the is used. Regarding attending, since the word the is present, do not capitalize.
Thank you SO MUCH for your website! I use it often (I hate to admit just how often!)
Please, can you give me guidance on capitalization in prayers? Specifically, I do know to capitalize all names of God, and pronouns such as He / His. Do you also capitalize You / Your, Thee, Thy, and Thine? I would think you might capitalize Your will, for example, but what about Your servant? And I’ve seen indications that it would actually be Your Will.
The Chicago Manual of Style (8.94) says, “Pronouns referring to God or Jesus are not capitalized.” (Note that they are lowercased in most English translations of the Bible.)
Thank you.
I am wondering about punctuation for people with multiple titles. I run conferences where many of the speakers have several roles, which are pertinent to the subject matter. Do I simply pick one? If I can use multiple titles, how do I separate?
i.e. Joe Smith, President & CEO, Acme INC; Chair, Human Rights Org
Separate the titles just as you have done, using a semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas. Avoid using abbreviations in formal writing (but you may have to use them if you do not have room in the printed conference program). Capitalization policies vary:
Joe Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Acme Incorporated; Chairperson, Human Rights Organization OR Joe Smith, president and chief executive officer, Acme Incorporated; chairperson, Human Rights Organization.
I have a question with regards to punctuation surround professional titles. I’m a Registered Nurse and my full title is as follows: Brock Wallace BSN, RN, CEN. I did some research and found out that you must list the degree that can not be taken away first so the BSN as it is a bachelors degree, next I found out that licensure then certifications come next in that order which I did. My question is this should there be a comma after the name preceding the degree or should there simply be a space and then list with commas? Thank you so much for the help. This has always bugged me as Brock Wallace, BSN, RN, CEN looks like a lot of commas.
Yes, a comma is placed after the name. In some cases people choose to omit lower-level degrees. That avoids using so many commas. It’s up to you.
I’m writing a script with someone. Occasionally we will have one character (A) call another character (B) “sir” or “ma’am” or “son”. I believe IF they are acting as proper names the first letter should be capitalized. My co-writer thinks not. Here is an example:
STATE TROOPER
Have you been smoking marijuana, Son?
My co-writer wouldn’t capitalize “son”, but I would.
Who is correct?
We agree with The Associated Press Stylebook and with your co-writer that these terms should not be capitalized.
It’s puzzling because all those Hallmark birthday cards when speaking to “Dad” capitalize dad. I did think that I learned in school that if you are calling your father, dad, then it gets the same treatment as a name, hence you capitalize the “D”.
Is this a different rule or does it still adhere to the same rule?
It is a different rule. Chicago Manual of Style’s rule 8.35 refers to this as a kinship name.
“Kinship names are lowercased unless they immediately precede a personal name or are used alone, in place of a personal name.”
Examples:
Let’s write to Aunt Maud.
Please, Dad, let’s go.
If “Dad” and “Mom” are capitalized when used instead of a person’s name, what about other family names like “son” or “daughter”? i.e., “I love you, Dad.” “I love you, too, Son”?
Chicago Manual of Style’s rule 8.35 refers to this as a kinship name. “Kinship names are lowercased unless they immediately precede a personal name or are used alone, in place of a personal name.” Therefore, capitalizing “Son” is correct in your sentence
I am attempting to submit a follow up letter to an interview and I can’t tell whether I should state the sentence as:
. . . hope I am selected as a candidate for the next phase of the interview process.
or
. . . hope I am selected as a candidate for the next phase in the interviewing process.
The term interview process is more commonly used than interviewing process. A better choice in your sentence might be hiring process.
I hope I am selected as a candidate for the next phase of the hiring process. OR
I hope I am selected as a candidate for the next phase of the interview process.
I work for a church and am often asked to add a sentence to our bulletins such as the one that follows: “the flowers are presented by the Smith family.” Should the word “family” be capitalized after the surname?
This has been bugging me and I’d like to print it correctly! Thanks so much.
The word family should not be capitalized after the surname.
I am proofreading a book and the word laird came up. Is this capitalized eg She sat in place of honor beside the laird. OR if you say the ‘laird of the McTavish clan’would it be capitalized?
Thank you in advance for yor reply
No, it would not be capitalized in either case.
In your June 21, 2012 reply to Bev Harrison, you say that neither of the two examples of laird which she gives should be capitalized. And yet, Grammarly (advertised on your website) wants me to capitalize laird in every instance on the grounds that it is a proper noun.
Can you please clarify/comment?
The term is used generically in the sentences, not as a proper noun. Therefore, we do not recommend capitalizing it. While we find Grammarly to be a good resource, there will always be some disagreement between any two grammar books or websites.
I believe you are missing a rules of capitalization. The word “God” is capitalized as are references to God, as in “In the beginning the Word was God.” In fact I find some sources capitalize the preceding “The” as well, as in “In the beginning The Word was God.” Perhaps this could slip in under capitalizing titles but I feel it should rightly be more specific.
Thank you for your suggestion. The Chicago Manual of Style’s rule (8.90) states, “Names of deities, whether in monotheistic or polytheistic religions, are capitalized.
Allah
Astarte
Freyja
God
Itzamna
Jehovah
Mithra
Satan (but the devil)
Serapis
Yahweh”
Rules 8.91 and 8.92 go on to say, “Alternative or descriptive names for God as supreme being are capitalized.
Adonai
the Almighty
the Deity
the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit or the Paraclete
the Lord
Providence
the Supreme Being
the Trinity
Words for transcendent ideas in the Platonic sense, especially when used in a religious context, are often capitalized.
Good; Beauty; Truth; the One”
In a user manual that documents who is responsible for each procedure:
The City Manager will . . .
or
The city manager will . . .
Our recently-departed editor maintained that if a title was held by more than one person it was never capitalized. But if only one person held the title, (Senior Vice President of Customer Service) it was always capitalized. I can’t find this rule anywhere so far.
Your ex-editor was referring to job titles that are used generically. The rule in our blog Capitalization of Job Titles states, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.”
What are the rules for capitalizing job titles when they are accompanied with the official department name (in a user manual)?
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety probation officer and the Department of Justice office coordinator shall respond to inquiries within 24 hours.
Would probation officer or office coordinator ever be capitalized?
Our blog Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.” Therefore, your sentence is correct as written.
A question. In the sentence “I was named Chair of ….” the Chair would be capitalized? And in “as chair, I…” chair would not be capitalized. Is that correct?
A rule in our blog Capitalization of Job Titles reads “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.” For job titles immediately following the name, policies differ. See the entry at September 22, 2011, above.
Examples: We asked Chairperson Leong to join us at the meeting.
Ms. Leong, Chairperson OR chairperson, will join us at the meeting.
Ms. Leong, Chair OR chair, will join us at the meeting.
From what I read above, I understand that since these titles become before the name that they are capitalized. Is this correct?
Floyd Arts Community Member, Radford University Art Professor and Nationally-Known Artist, Liam Johnson, will discuss the objectives of the meeting.
Two of the titles in your sentence could fall under the gray area of “descriptive” titles rather than actual job titles. The Chicago Manual of Style‘s rule (8.29) says, “When preceding a name, generic titles that describe a person’s role or occupation—such as philosopher or historian—should be lowercased and treated as if in apposition.” Certainly Radford University Art Professor is a job title and should be capitalized. Floyd Arts community member and nationally-known artist sound more like descriptive titles. I recommend not capitalizing those terms. Of course, the ego rule described in our blog Capitalization of Job Titles could affect your decision.
Regarding comma use, our Rule 1 of Commas says, “To avoid confusion, use commas to separate words and word groups with a series of three or more.” Therefore, use commas to separate all three titles. Also, the rule in our blog Commas with Appositives states, “When an appositive is essential to the meaning of the noun it belongs to, don’t use commas.” Therefore, you do not need commas before or after Liam Johnson.
Floyd Arts community member, nationally known artist, and Radford University Art Professor Liam Johnson will discuss the objectives of the meeting.
Which is correct:
SGS’s director of accreditation or SGS’s Director of Accreditation
A major rule in our blog Capitalization of Job Titles states, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.” Many companies also capitalize job titles immediately following the name when the word the does not appear in front of the job title. Others prefer lowercase in those situations.
Examples:
SGS’s Director of Accreditation Jennifer Jackson will be the keynote speaker.
Jennifer Jackson, SGS’s director of accreditation, will be the keynote speaker. OR Jennifer Jackson, SGS’s Director of Accreditation, will be the keynote speaker.
When wrinting the minutes of a meeting, should the title of a company official be capitalized when it follows a personal name?
Example:
The minutes were taken by Bryan Victorson, Secretary.
The minutes were taken by Bryan Victorson, secretary.
Although we do not recommend it, you will sometimes see job titles immediately following the name when the word the does not appear in front of the job title.”
The minutes were taken by Bryan Victorson, Secretary.
How about when writing dialogue? As in:
“So what should we do?” asked the President.
“I don’t know,” replied the Secretary of Defense.
Should President and Secretary of Defense be capitalized?
Our Rule 5 of Capitalization states, “Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.
Examples:
The president will address Congress.
All senators are expected to attend.
The governors, lieutenant governors, and attorneys general called for a special task force.
Governor Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins, Attorney General Dalloway, and Senators James and Twain will attend.”
The same rule applies when writing dialogue.
“So what should we do?” asked the president.
“I don’t know,” replied the secretary of defense.
I edited the titles to lowercase; I’m glad to know I followed the style correctly.
Your site is great. Thank you so much!
We are glad that our site was helpful.
My question is this:
If you go on Wikipedia and see the heading: how should it be capitalised?
A good one is Focal character. That’s the grammar of it.
For me, I would write it Focal Character, as it’s a adjective but referenced as a proper noun because technically it’s a name of something being explained.
Am I correct?
Wikipedia appears to follow the practice of capitalizing only the first word of the heading and any proper nouns that may be part of the heading. Focal character is not a proper noun. The word focal is an adjective describing the common noun character.
Please guide me regarding the usage of capitals in this sentence –
I visited the national park in Mumbai.
Question:Will it be National Park or national park?
Unless you specifically name the national park, do not capitalize it.
I visited the national park in Mumbai.
I visited Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai.
When ending a sentence with chair indicating a chairperson does it need to be capitalized. Such as
If you should have any questions please contact the chair.
Our blog Capitalization of Job Titles contains the rule “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.” Since the word “the” appears before the word “chair,” do not capitalize.
What is the capitalization rule for the word “gentlemen” if you are using it to directly address a group of men in a dialogue? I know that the Chicago Manual of Style says the words “sir” and “ma’am” are not capitalized, and it seems to me that the rule for “gentlemen” and “ladies” would be the same (respectful forms of address). However, there is an example in CMS under 8.19 that is confusing to me. That rule states, “A title used alone, in place of a personal name, is capitalized only in such contexts as a toast or a formal introduction or when used in direct address.” One of the examples given is: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister.” I believe “Prime Minister” is the example “of a title used alone, in place of a personal name. . .in such contexts as a . . .formal introduction”.
Having said that, it is noted that in the example given, “Gentlemen” is also capitalized, and I would not think that it should be. Please explain whether “gentlemen” should be capitalized in the following example:
“Please sit down, gentlemen,” said the vice president.
Thank you for your assistance.
In keeping with the Associated Press’s capitalization policy, we would not recommend capitalizing “gentlemen” in “Please sit down, gentlemen.” We also would differ with “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister.” We would make it “Ladies and gentlemen, the prime minister.”
In my novel, a sister, speaking to her brother, will say something like “Where did you get that idea, kiddo?” Or “Hey, little brother, …”
Kiddo or kiddo?
Little Brother or little brother?
And what about addressing royalty? “Yes, your grace.” “Yes, my lord.” Or should those titles always be capitalized?
Your site is fabulous! Thank you for sharing the rules and providing some great examples.
Words such as “kiddo” and “little brother” are often called terms of endearment or pet names. The following question and answer about the capitalization of these names can be found in the Q&A section of the Associated Press Stylebook:
Q. Would you capitalize terms of endearment such as Sweetie, Pumpkin, etc.? What about calling someone “young man”? – from Anderson, Ind. on Wed, Feb 22, 2012
A. Informal terms of address are lowercase. Same for young man.
Therefore, do not capitalize these names.
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.32 says, “Honorific titles and respectful forms of address are capitalized in any context.” They do, however, list the following exceptions to the rule:
sir, ma’am
my lord, my lady
When addressing an envelope to a family do you capitalize the word “family” or leave it lower-cased?
i.e. ~
The Larsen family or The Larsen Family
Capitalize family in an address on an envelope, but not when used in a sentence.
Examples:
The Larsen Family
114 Main Street
Anytown, New York 10055
We saw the Larsen family at church on Sunday.
I love this blog. Thank you for this!
Question: When a character in fiction is referred to solely by a title or honorific preceded by the definite article, should that be written in lowercase? And in translations of allegorical short stories or fairy tales should “The Princess” or “The King ” also be in lowercase?
Examples:
(I.) The family stood in awe of “the Lady.” The Lady was was refined. The Lady was the arbitress of taste. The Lady tempered all conversation, regulated all social events. In short, the Lady was a crashing bore. (Should “the lady” be lowercase?)
(II.) The Colonel lived on an inadequate pension, but suited up each day in full regimentals and processed through town, touching his brim by way of salutation, or removing his hat and smiling expansively whenever the Widow Esther approached. (Should “the colonel” and “the widow” be lowercase?)
(III.) The Emperor banished Sister Bright Jade from the realm. But the Emperor was cursed thereafter. (Should “the Emperor” be lowercase if the tale is entirely about him?)
I’m also reminded of Nicholas Nikleby in which one of the child actors is humorously referred to as the Prodigy in multiple chapters.
The Chicago Manual of Style’s rule 8.34 states,”In references to works of drama or fiction, epithets or generic titles used in place of names are normally capitalized.” Therefore, write the Princess, the King, the Lady, the Colonel, the Widow, the Emperor, and the Prodigy.
How does one capitalize and hyphenate “vice-president” in the list of officers on letterhead?
Which is it:
Vice-President
Vice-president
Vice President
Vice president
It should be written without a hyphen: “Vice President.”
Can you please address the use of commas in titles for business card use, i.e. our VP requests in the line under his name that I remove the comma between Vice President and Business Development, so it is simply Vice President Business Development rather than Vice President. Business Development. Is this a new or acceptable style for business cards? I cannot find a source to address this format question. And when I apply this format to other titles, it seems more obviously wrong, i.e. Director Recruiting instead of Director, Recruiting. Thanks for this helpful website.
Correction: …so it is simply Vice President Business Development rather than Vice President, Business Development.
Although we have not been able to find any coverage of business cards in the leading style manuals, perhaps we can draw upon the principle of consistency as well as the “ego rule” mentioned in our blog, Capitalization of Job Titles. We have commonly seen such titles in the form “Vice President of Business Development.” A comma could be considered a replacement for the word of. Our preference would be “Vice President of Business Development” or “Vice President, Business Development.” However, our ego rule generally applied says that you may have to ignore some rules in real life. If someone in your office (as in your boss) wants his or her title written in a certain way, then do so. For consistency, however, it would be best if your company decided on a format and stuck to it.
Do you capitalize Ron Goodman, The Treasure of Senior Class for a high school student?
When the word the appears in front of a title, do not capitalize. Senior class should not be capitalized unless a specific senior class is named, making it a proper noun.
Ron Goodman, the treasurer of senior class
Ron Goodman, Treasurer of Washington High Senior Class of 2013
Which is the correct form when addressing royalty in writing: “Yes, my King.” or “Yes, My King.” Your site is a font of information, and I hope you can help.
After performing an internet search for “how to address royalty in writing,” we have concluded that this is an area of specialized expertise about which we are not qualified to give advice. What we did find on a couple of sites was the recommendation to use “Your Majesty.”
Iam having trouble in this sentence Do you think he will be our next Vice President? Why is vice president capitalized?
Since the title is not part of a name, it should not be capitalized.
Do you think he will be our next vice president?
I’m writing a screenplay where one of the character’s names is the number 251. What would you do in this situation? What should I do when the name 251 is at the beginning of the sentence? I know this kind of encompasses the rules with numbers but there is no where to as a question on that page.
There are no grammar rules for numbers as names. Our Rule 16 of Writing Numbers states, “Write out a number if it begins a sentence.” That does not seem like a good idea if the number is a character’s name since that would essentially be changing the “spelling” of the name. Since you are the author of the screenplay, you can set your own rules and be consistent. For instance, how does this person pronounce his or her name? Is it “two hundred fifty-one”? “two fifty-one”? “two five one”? Or is it something else? At the beginning of a sentence, you can decide whether or not to write the name out as an alternative to “251.” Just be consistent throughout the screenplay.
Im writing a paper about Governor Bobby Jindal & I am not sure if I need to capitalize “This is the governors last term and ……….
Thanks in advance. PS I’m thinking that it should be lower case but I am just not sure.
Our Rule 5 of Capitalization states, “Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.” Therefore, do not capitalize “the governor’s last term . . .”
As Principal-in-Charge of the chemical engineering portion of this project, Bill will ultimately…
Would you capialize “Principal-in-Charge”?
Since the job title is not used as part of a name or as a direct address, do not capitalize.
In a press release, when writing John Doe has been promoted to Executive Vice President – is that title initial capped or not?
Since the job title is not used as part of a name or as a direct address, it would not usually be capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style does, however, note in its Rule 8.1 that “In certain nonacademic contexts—e.g., a press release—such terms as president may be capitalized.”
I cannot find a source for this question about the capitalization of titles in direct discourse. “Thank you, detective” or “Will I survive, doctor?” We would capitalize in these case: “Hello, Senator,” and “Yes, General.” But what about the first two instances here?
Thanks! I’m glad I found this site.
We recommend capitalizing Doctor when it is used as a direct address.
Example:
Will you take my temperature, Doctor?
Therefore, write the following:
Thank you, Detective.
Will I survive, Doctor?
I am a court reporter and looked at Rule 6 of Capitalization: “Capitalize any title when used as a direct address.” (nominative of address) — Well, I have an issue in dialogue Q&A — using Ma’am instead of witness/deponent’s name — e.g. “Do you know the difference between a guess and an estimate, Ma’am?” (My belief “Ma’am” is used instead of her name – in this case, Ms. Flores – and it is therefore a noun of address throughout, and should be initial capitalized on direct address. These are go-arounds between my proofer and myself, the reporter.
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.32, dealing with honorific titles and respectful forms of address, specifically states that the words sir and ma’am are lowercased. Since these words are primarily used as a direct address, we would follow Chicago‘s rule.
I am writing in an essay in which I want to use the following phrase:
“Under the Presidency of Barack Obama”
or
“Under the Presidency of President Barack Obama”
Which one is the correct way to make the statement and capitalize it?
Write “under the presidency of Barack Obama.”
I just wanted to point out that the capitalization of days of the week and months was not included on the website. As a Canadian who uses French as well, which doesn’t capitalize such words, I second-guessed my intuition that we do indeed capitalize such words in English. If I am not the only one, then others might find it important to have this rule included.
You are right, this is not mentioned on the website. However, your timing is just right. We are preparing a new edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation and will be revising the website accordingly. Capitalization of days of the week and the names of months will be included in the new edition.
I am updating a policy. The sentence says “If the oxygen level falls below 150 inches, the Administrator on Call will be notified.” Is this correct?
Since the job title “administrator on call” is not used as part of a name or as a direct address, do not capitalize.
“If the oxygen level falls below 150 inches, the administrator on call will be notified.”
Being a forefront player in the interior industry in Bangalore, we decorate the surroundings of Offices/Houses which exemplifies creativity in every sense of the word and create ambience that is impressive and inspiring to all.
or
Being a forefront player in the interior industry in Bangalore, It decorates the surroundings of Offices/Houses which exemplifies creativity in every sense of the word and create ambience that is impressive and inspiring to all.
Which one is correct? (After Bangalore, it/we)
Sir, kindly elaborate it.
Use “as” rather than “being” to introduce your sentence. Also, instead of “a forefront player,” you need to use the plural noun “forefront players” to agree with the pronoun “we.” The verbs must all agree with “we,” therefore write “decorate,” “exemplify,” and “create.” There is no need to capitalize the words “offices” or “houses.” Add commas after “houses” and “word,” and insert the article “an” in front of “ambience.”
Thank you. It was really helpful.
You are welcome.
Thanks for your great advice! Looking for guidance on when to capitalize titles of certified professionals. For example, one may go through a certification process to become a CPST, which stands for Child Passenger Safety Technician, or a CPSTI, which stands for Child Passenger Safety Instructor. If you aren’t using the title with a person’s name, should Instructor and Technician be capitlaized? For example,
“CPS Technicians and Instructors put their knowledge to work through a variety of community based activities.”
And
“In order to become a CPS Technician, you’ll need to pass the CPS Certification Course.”
If you are not using the title with a person’s name, the term should not be capitalized. We assume that “CPS Certification Course” is the official name of the course and therefore should be capitalized.
CPS technicians and instructors put their knowledge to work through a variety of community-based activities.
In order to become a CPS technician, you’ll need to pass the CPS Certification Course.
Williams, Inc. was founded in 1991 by my father, David Williams (Chairman of the Board).
*Does “father” need to be capitalized in this instance?
Rule 2 in our blog Kinship Names: To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize? says, “Do not capitalize a kinship name when it is not part of the personal name but is a word describing the personal name. This usually occurs when the kinship name is preceded by articles such as the, a, or an; or possessive pronouns such as his, her, my, our, or their.” Therefore, write “Williams, Inc. was founded in 1991 by my father, David Williams (chairman of the board).” Titles are customarily lowercase except directly in front of a name.
Should the following titles in the sentences below be capitalized? BTW – there is no period since the sentences are bulleted.
The account executive and the subject matter expert will provided the proposed facility and proposed solution (if the solution has not been determined, the kickoff call may need to be delayed)
Or
The Account Executive and the Subject Matter Expert will provided the proposed facility and proposed solution (if the solution has not been determined, the kickoff call may need to be delayed)
Or
The Proposal Manager and the Account Executive will identify a win strategy to incorporate throughout the proposal response
Thanks!
Titles should only be capitalized if they precede a proper name when used as part of the name. Some authorities also capitalize titles if they immediately follow the name without the word “the.” However, the Associated Press Stylebook does not recommend capitals in that case.
I’ve a few examples that are troubling me – have I dealt with them correctly?
– Physician Su was promoted to the position of Deputy Manager of the hospital’s Administrative Department.
– It was even predicted that he might one day become Deputy Director of Human Resources.
– They discussed the issue at the annual meeting of the hospital’s permanent committee.
– From 7:30 to 9:30am he had breakfast and meetings with important guests such as the hotel director or manager, the head of the local construction department, the head of the local real estate department, the vice director of the town’s trust fund and so on.
–
Capitalization has a lot of gray areas. The rule of thumb is to lowercase job titles when not used with names. Therefore, we recommend not capitalizing deputy manager or deputy director of human resources. (This rule is often overlooked in promotional materials.) We also suggest lowercase for the generic-sounding administrative department, since all hospitals have administrative departments. Your third sentence is correct. In your last sentence, we’d put a space after 9:30 and a comma after am. The phrase “and so on” seems unnecessary. You may want to simply put “and” before “the vice director” and end the sentence after the word fund.
Physician Su was promoted to the position of deputy manager of the hospital’s administrative department.
It was even predicted that he might one day become deputy director of human resources.
From 7:30 to 9:30 am, he had breakfast and meetings with important guests such as the hotel director or manager, the head of the local construction department, the head of the local real estate department, and the vice director of the town’s trust fund.
In the sentence, “I talked to FBI agents Brown and Smith yesterday.”, should “agents” be capitalized?
This is a close call, but we see agent as a job description, not a title, so we recommend lowercase in your sentence. However, in a sentence like We saw Agent Smith, we think most writers would opt for a capital A.
When I say John Doe, Secretary pro tem, of the organization. Is “pro tem” capitalized?
Some editors capitalize pro tem, while others do not.
I know that when referring to a family member in a sentence such as “My husband went to town,” the word “husband” is a common noun and is therefore not capitalized.
However, what if a wife in a work of fiction directly addresses her husband in this fashion, “My lord husband …”, should it be as I wrote it, or, since the wife is speaking directly to the husband, should it be, “My Lord Husband” or “My lord Husband”? And obviously, “my” is capped here because it starts the sentence, but if the phrase is in the middle of a sentence, would “my” ever be capped?
Thank you for clarifying these gray areas.
This is a gray area indeed. Would you have similar problems with “my dear husband”? If “my lord husband” is used as a direct address, some writers may well use capitals, but many would not.
“The art teacher complemented the students on the good job they did dyeing their T-shirts.”
or
“The Art teacher complemented the students on the good job they did dyeing their T-shirts.”
Since the job title is not used as part of a person’s name, do not capitalize. Also, the word complimented is not spelled correctly.
The art teacher complimented the students on the good job they did dyeing their T-shirts.
Would you capitalize “clan” such as Masrur of the Fanalis Clan? Or Masrur of the Fanalis clan?
Following The Chicago Manual of Style’s example of “a Ouachita tribe member,” we recommend “Masrur of the Fanalis clan.”
During dialogue,where no name is invoked should the title captain be capitalized or not?
Example: “Yes, Captain.”
or
“Yes, captain.”
Thanks.
Capitalize formal titles when used as a direct address.
Yes, Captain.
Please let me know which is the correct way to sign the title as acting president of a local college:
1. John Doe, acting President;
2. John Doe, Acting President;
3. John Doe, President (Acting);
4. John Doe, President (acting).
Thank you for your help, your lessons are valuable.
There are several guidelines and rules to consider in responding to your question. We recently revised our blog “When to Capitalize People’s Titles” to reflect that titles may be either capitalized or lowercased in the complimentary close of a letter. However, when considering the “acting” portion of the signature line you are considering, our Grammar Rules for Capitalization section advises that occupations or job descriptions are not the same as titles and should not be capitalized. Finally, our blog “Capitalization of Job Titles” alerts us to the “ego rule” where, if someone in your office (as in your boss) wants his or her title capitalized in all situations, then do so. Therefore, you have three options (whether you place “acting” or “Acting” in parentheses after the name or not is up to you):
acting President
Acting President
acting president
Valuable read as always. Love your blog.
I do some editorial work for digital marketers and keep coming across use of capitals when it comes to their titles. An example would be:
The next ORIAN Workshop is quickly approaching and if you’ve received this email, you are eligible to attend! As you already know, the ORIAN Membership is designed to take you from Digital Marketer to Digital Brand Expert.
Question: In this case would you capitalize: “workshop”, “membership”, “digital marketer”, and “digital brand expert”?
Appreciate any tips. Thank you!
We are glad you find our blog valuable. We do not recommend capitalizing any of those terms. It is common for companies to use capital letters for their various job titles and departments, but that doesn’t mean you have to.
I sit on a bylaws and policy committee for an organization to which I belong and we are in the process of reviewing both documents. We have had some lively discussions about capitalization of titles.
An example would be: The elected officers of the FCBR shall be: a President, President-Elect, Treasurer and a Secretary. The governing body of the FCBR shall be a Board of Directors consisting of the President, President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, the Immediate Past President and seven (7) elected REALTOR® Members of the FCBR.
If you could give me an example of how the sentence should be structured so I could take it back to the committee, I would appreciate it. Thank you for your help.
The elected officers of the FCBR shall be: a president, president-elect, treasurer, and secretary. The governing body of the FCBR shall be a board of directors consisting of the president, president-elect, treasurer, secretary, the immediate past president, and seven (7) elected REALTOR® members of the FCBR.
Thank you for this post. I’m writing an article about the mayor of our county. At the beginning I refer to him by name. Throughout the article do I capitalize his title if I’m using it instead of his name?
“This article is about Mayor John Doe. The Mayor (or mayor?) was born in 1947. He went to school locally. The Mayor (or mayor?) was a good sport while I was interviewing him….”
Thanks!
We do not recommend capitalizing “mayor” if it is used instead of the name.
I have a similar question to the previous one, only this time it’s about whether to capitalize the word “park” after naming a specific park earlier in the document.
“Visitors come to Grand Canyon National Park for many reasons, including to enjoy the beautiful Colorado River. The Park recently released a study about the health of the river, which found that…”
Is park capitalized in the 2nd sentence? Would your answer be the same if “the Park” was a couple of sentences later?
Thanks!
Capitalization is fraught with gray areas. If you are working on government documents or representing a government agency, our blog Capitalization of Governmental Words says, “When you refer back to a proper noun using a shortened version of the original name, you may capitalize it.” Therefore, the author has some leeway in government work. However, we generally tend to side with the AP Stylebook and would recommend not capitalizing in this instance. Not to get too technical here, but is it really “the park” or even “Grand Canyon National Park” that issued the report, or should it be the National Park Service that issued the report?
When writing dialogue, and a character addresses another using a term of endearment such as Hey beautiful, or using any other term to address them, other than their proper name, should that term be capitalized?
Informal terms of address are usually lowercase.
I know to lowercase occupations before full names, but what if the occupation comes before just a surname?
Examples:
Director Spielberg
Owner Smith
Coach Sykes
Professor Ames
If the title and name are used as a direct address, it should be capitalized. The word owner sounds more like a description rather than a job title or occupation. We cannot imagine addressing someone as “Owner Smith.” Similarly, “Director Spielberg” is not a form of address we’re likely to see either. Examples:
Do we have a game on Saturday, Coach Sykes?
When is the research paper due, Professor Ames?
Our blog Capitalization of Job Titles says, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.
Example: We asked Chairperson Leong to join us at the meeting.”
in the case of the classification. for example, assume there were different classifications of druids, call them levels or ranks if you will. so one class if purifier druids; another class is necrotic druids; another class is defiler druids…
my question is this: is the word ‘druid’ supposed to be capitalized; or, is the word denoting the druid’s classification supposed to be capitalized? or… weird thought, should they both be capitalized?
P.S. this question is in relation to a fantasy novel series that i am writing.
Thank you for your time; it is much appreciated.
Based on the information you provided, we do not recommend capitalizing either word.
If using the word “child” as a title of endearment, can it not be capitalized in the middle or end of the sentence? [“Come here, Child.”] It does follow the same placement and function as “dear” or “sweetie” when used in that manner. It replaces the name of the child, and the child is being addressed with it. This has sparked some debate between another writer and I.
The word child in your example sentence is considered a “term of endearment,” and it is usually not capitalized, even when used as a direct address.
When writing a title after a proper noun, in this case a company name, should the title be capitalized? ex. “Contact your Facebook Account Manager for details.”
Only the proper noun is capitalized, unless it is a job title immediately preceding a name when used as part of the name.
“Contact your Facebook account manager for details.”
Konichiwa!
Sorry if this has been answered previously, but would ‘officer’ or ‘mayor’ be capitalized? As per say, ‘Officer John,’ or ‘the mayor would like to see you.’
May you please explain when are appropriate times to capitalize?
Arigotou goziyamasu!
Sayanara~~
Our blog Capitalization of Job Titles explains these capitalization rules in further detail. One of the rules in that blog says, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.” Therefore, it is correct to write “Officer John.” Another rule says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.” Therefore, write “The mayor would like to see you.”
I often have to refer to an individual in my writing who is both a Reverend and who holds a Doctoral degree. He prefers to be addressed as Rev. Dr. in formal communications.
I’m trying to figure out if I’m supposed to use any punctuation in a sentence referencing the person.
For example, “Rev. Dr. Ronald Fast will be speaking at…”
Thank you!
The periods used in the abbreviations are the only punctuation marks required. You may also wish to see our entry for the word “Reverend” in our Confusing Words and Homonyms section.
Here is a line from an article:
“This music is as seductive as any on the planet,” says St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Music Director David Robertson.
I presume that, because of the rules above, “Music Director” stays as it is?
Could you explain how is “Dad” a title?
“Music Director” is correctly capitalized in your example. (See our Rule 4 of Capitalization)
Dad becomes a title when it is used in place of a personal name. (see our Rule 1 in the blog Kinship Names: To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize?)
Please help. I am sending a cover letter and I am unsure if I should capitalize child study team, Washington school secretary and Director of Special services in my opening paragraph. Please read below.
“Energetic Administrative Assistant that is dedicated and focused. Has accrued three years experience in a staff support role for the child study team, Washington School secretary and Director of Special Services. Excels at prioritizing, completing multiple tasks and following through to achieve project goals. Personable attitude while maintaining open lines of communication among child study team members, district secretaries, teachers and related service providers.”
Also, I have included on my resume’ this bullet point,
“Multidisciplinary team; OT, PT Speech, Behaviorist, Social Workers and Psychologists.” Should these titles be capitalized?
I really appreciate your website. It is so valuable.
We noticed that your paragraph for the cover letter is made up of incomplete sentences. We recommend writing a cover letter in formal prose with complete sentences. If you are not using a job title with a person’s name, the term should not be capitalized. Therefore, write “administrative assistant,” “Washington School secretary” and “director of special services.” We see no reason to capitalize “child study team.” Capitalization and punctuation are optional when using single words or phrases in bulleted form on a resume.
When writing a formal letter and placing the recipient’s name and title at the top of the letter above the recipient’s address, which is correct?
John Smith, President
or John Smith, president
As the blog states, “We recommend capitalizing a person’s title when it follows the name on the address or signature line.”
But what about in dialog, when a character is talking to a police officer? As is, “Good morning, Officer.” “Will do, Officer.” The officer’s name is used in the text but not the dialog, so the characters presumably don’t know his name and aren’t familiar with him.
As noted in Rule 6a of Capitalization, “Capitalize a formal title when it is used as a direct address.” The word Officer is used as a direct address in your example, therefore it is capitalized. But it’s important to note that there are some direct-address terms that are discretionary, and many writers would not capitalize them. Examples: my friend, darling, dude, old buddy. The more formal the title, the more likely it is to be capped.
“Hello Good Doctors,” Capitalize Good and Doctors?
In a letter heading, put a comma after “Hello” and capitalize “Good Doctors.” Otherwise, we would not use caps.
Is this correctly capitalized, “In 2000, she was promoted to dean of the mathematics department and in 2004 she was named the Dean of Planning, Research, and Development,” since “Dean of Planning, Research, and Development” is what she was named?
The rule in our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.”
“In 2000, she was promoted to dean of the mathematics department and in 2004 she was named the dean of planning, research, and development.”
I understand the rule about not capitalizing a title after the word “the.” What about the word “our,” i.e., ….I will forward your request to our executive director.” Should the title be capitalized in this case?
Thank you.
In the post above I neglected to mention the use of the name following the title. “I will forward your request to our executive director, Jack Marson.” If the name of the person follows the title, do you capitalize the title?
Thank you.
The same rules would apply to titles with “our” as with “the.” Do not capitalize, even if the name of the person follows the title, if the name is preceded by a comma.
When writing reports, I’m pretty sure that “the suspect” and “the victim” do not need to be capitalized; however, when we start to refer to them more specifically, such as, “Suspect #1” and “Victim #2” I am unsure whether or not they should be capitalized. Please help!
In “suspect No. 1” and “victim No. 2” the only thing that needs to be capped is the N in “No.,” the abbreviation of number (unless the use of “#” is standard for your purposes).
I would like to ask whether we should capitalize the first letter of the principal in a sentence below :
I would like to see Principal Eric, please?
Is the quotation mark below correct :
“Where is the book ?,” asked Ramly.
Thank you
Our post “Capitalization of Job Titles” says, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.” Therefore, capitalize Principal in your sentence. Also, the sentence is not a question, and the comma is unnecessary. Write “I would like to see Principal Eric please.” Your quotation should be written as follows, with the question mark replacing the comma:
“Where is the book?” asked Ramly.
If writing “Captain Ruso walked in the door. He held a brief meeting. As the captain left the room everyone clapped.
Would I capitalize captain in “As the Captain left the room
The rule in our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.”
What if you were running for a role such as school captain or student body president?
Would you write the following: I am runnig for student body president.
Or would it be capitalised?
Do not capitalize. See our post Capitalization of Job Titles for more information.
I am writing a paper and I using phrases such as, “My goal is to become chief financial officer. Does chief financial officer need to be capitalized?
It does not need to be capitalized in that particular sentence.
Thanks for this. Exactly the answer I was looking for, and CMOS wasn’t much help.
For use in a cv, how would it be capitalized;
John Doe, Consultant in Charge of Suppliers
or
John Doe, Consultant in charge of Suppliers
And a second question, how would you capitalize “in charge of” in a headline?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Titles should be lowercased unless they are followed directly by a name according to The Chicago Manual of Style and The AP Stylebook. However, people often take liberties with capitalization in resumes and CVs. We do not recommend capitalizing the phrase “in charge of suppliers.”
We need to see the headline in its entirety to give advice on capitalization.
I write letters for a physician. In the middle of the text, is it Dr. Doe, pulmonologist, or Dr. Doe, Pulmonologist? Thank you.
Titles immediately following the name do not ordinarily require capitalization.
I would like to know whether the professional title in the following sentence should be capitalized:
I was appointed/elected Secretary General of the union.
Your quick response will be greatly appreciated.
The rule of thumb is to lowercase titles when not used with names. Therefore, we recommend not capitalizing secretary general.
Please clarify the capitalization of the word “team” in the following. Which is correct:
A) The Marketing Team is responsible for managing…
B) The marketing team is responsible for managing…
B)
Thank you for answering our questions! I’ve read through all the questions on this blog category and am still confused if I should capitalize the words “sir” or “ma’am” when used as a direct address.
“He took the money and said, “Thank you, sir.”
Is this correct? Is it a term of endearment? It’s not a term of kinship. What category does it fall into?
It occurs to me that it could be a description of sorts, as in “Kind sir, please accept my apology.” How about “Nice to meet you, fine lady!”
Thank you in advance!
The Chicago Manual of Style does not recommend capitalizing the word sir.
We consider fine lady a term of endearment and would not capitalize.
Should it be: Nice speech, Mayor. or Nice speech, mayor. ?
The final rule in this blog post says, “Capitalize a title when used as a direct address even when the person is not named.” Therefore, write “Nice speech, Mayor.”
do you capitalize the word attorney when referring to a specific attorney? Example: This letter is a follow up to your conversation with Attorney Jane Doe.
This may be considered a gray area to some, but “attorney” is more of a job description than a title. (You wouldn’t say Attorney Doe the way you’d say Mayor Doe.) We recommend lowercase.
The Squadron imparts training on Armament subjects to ab-initio trainees of Weapon Fitter trade and is headed by Squadron Commander of the rank of Wing Commander.
The query is whether the usage of capital is justified..
We see no reason to capitalize the terms.
What about this example, from the “praise” section of a book’s front matter (“professor emeritus” here):
“I recommend this excellent book.”
—T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., Jacob Gould Sherman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry, Cornell University
Titles immediately following the name do not ordinarily require capitalization, however, some spelled-out terms that should not be capitalized in normal prose are often capitalized in promotional materials. We would lowercase the area of study. Also, upon research it seems that the spelling should be Jacob Gould Schurman.
I work at a school where an English teacher consistently capitalizes the grade level of students, ex.: “Last week Seniors Joe Smith and Suzy Lou and Juniors Bobby Jones and Nancy Drew…” I insist that this is incorrect, but she insists it is correct. Can you please clarify?
You are correct. The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.28 gives the following recommedation:
Terms denoting student status are lowercased.
freshman or first-year student
sophomore
junior
senior
The Chicago Manual of Style does not address the capitalization of a second word in a hyphenated kinship name such as “great-grandmother.” I found the answer I needed among your questions and responses above. Thank you for providing useful, tactful responses!
How about in news post for a law firm? (like announcing awards, meetings, presentations, etc)
In each post, we start off with the firm’s name, attorney title, then the attorneys name.
Do I capitalize Attorney following the persons name?
Ex. XY&Z Attorney John Smith presented zada zada on zada zada.
Ex. XY&Z Attorneys John Smith and Mary Jane secured a victory for zada zada on zada zada.
Am I getting it?
Our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name,” and “Titles immediately following the name do not ordinarily require capitalization.” Since the job titles in your example sentences immediately precede the names, the words Attorney and Attorneys are capitalized. However, if following the name, you would write: John Smith, attorney for XY&Z, presented zada zada …
Here’s an unusual one:
What if a homeless man goes by the moniker, “The Mayor of Palisades Park”?
Would you refer to him as the Mayor, or would it be lowercase mayor even if Mayor is the only name he goes by?
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.33 says, “A descriptive or characterizing word or phrase used as part of, or instead of, a person’s name is capitalized. A the used as part of such a name is not capitalized (except, e.g., at the beginning of a sentence).
How would you capitalize the following uses of board: “President John Smith welcomed Mr. Jones to the board.” Also, “The board announced the appointment of a new trustee, Bill Jones.”
One more example. “ABC, Inc. announced the appointment of Bill Jones to its Board of Directors.”
We see no reason to capitalize board or board of directors in your sentences.
I would capitalize the Board of Directors as opposed to ‘a board of directors’ because the former is an entity while the latter could apply to anyone.
Generic terms associated with governmental bodies are generally lowercased; however, the full names of institutions, groups, companies, and the names of their departments are capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style uses the following example to show the difference: the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago; the board of trustees; the board.
When replacing a proper name with a job title or generic reference do you capitalize the replacement? Example: Borrower came into Bank to speak with Loan Officer. (Sue came into South Side Bank to speak to Terri).
We would not capitalize the terms in your sentence.
I am an investigator. I write my reports in 3rd person, so I often will refer to myself as “This Investigator.” For instance, “While speaking with the subject, this Investigator observed their speech to be slurred and their movements slow.” Or, “This Investigator noted many inconsistencies in the witness’ statement.” Is it proper to capitalize “investigator” since I’m referring to myself?
Our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.” The same is true when this appears in front of a job title. Therefore, we do not recommend captializing “this investigator.”
Also, our Rule 11 of Pronouns says, “The use of they and their with singular pronouns is frowned upon by many traditionalists. To be consistent, it is a good practice to try to avoid they and its variants (e.g., them, their, themselves) with previously singular nouns or pronouns.” Since the word witness is singular, we recommend specifying the gender using his or her.
If you wish to avoid both pronoun disagreement and disclosure of gender, you could adjust your sentence to “While speaking with the subject, this investigator observed slurred speech and slow movements.”
In the sentence, “The altar flowers were provided by The Smith Family,” would The and/or Family be capitalized or just the last name of Smith?
Capitalize only the last name Smith.
Which would be correct?
I am an Assistant United States Attorney.
I am an assistant United States attorney.
Because your title is being used instead of your name, we recommend I am an assistant United States attorney.
My sentence reads: “…legislation passed by Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.” Should governor be capitalized or not, and should there be a comma following the word governor?
By writing Puerto Rico’s in front of the job title governor, it becomes more of a description than part of the name. Therefore, the word governor would not be capitalized. Since Puerto Rico’s governor provides sufficient identification on its own, use a comma before the appositive Alejandro Garcia Padilla. See our post Commas with Appositives for more information.
Alternatively, you could also write “… legislation passed by Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.”
How about “I served as Chair of the Leadership Team….”
Although we do not know the exact context, we would not normally recommend capitalization in this situation.
The force consisted of the Chief, one Staff Sergeant, three Sergeants and seventeen Constables.
Not sure if any of the above should be capitalized? I assume no because “the” is used before.
What about this sentence, “the” is not used: Three former LaSalle officers joined with the Sandwich West Police Force, bringing the total to one Chief, two Sergeants, fifteen Constables, and one Secretary.
The rule of thumb is to lowercase titles when not used with names. We would not capitalize any of the titles in your examples.
Would the phrase officer of the court be capitalized?
Generally speaking, the phrase would be lowercase; however, we would need to see it used in a complete sentence to be sure.
I am trying to figure out whether or not to capitalize “mom” in this sentence for a Christmas card. I am also wondering which version you think is more grammatically correct or sounds better:
She has found her calling with her new job title of “Mom.”
She has found her calling with her new job title, “Mom.”
Please let me know! Thank you!
Well, it’s a Christmas card after all, and you’re allowed freedoms unless you’re sending this card to your English teacher. If the sentence were She found her calling when she became a new mom, it would not be capitalized. But you’ve decided it’s a job title, so go ahead, capitalize it. Either sentence is grammatically correct.
I am struggling a bit with titles, as this is neither related to government/military or corporate folks.
“The network had no protests about the language used in this episode,” Associate Producer Juliet Green explained.
We’ve mentioned Green several times already, with sentences like
“Juliet Green became the associate producer.”
or “According to associate producer Juliet Green…”
I’m struggling a bit with the first example and the third one. What is correct? Is there any flexibility? Do I capitalize the first one but not the others, or I do the first and the third? Thanks!
Our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name.” Therefore, capitalize the title in the first and third cases but not the second.
The Conference Director at The Homestead has told me that most all their equipment is committed to two other groups meeting during the same week.
Should “Conference Director” be capitalized in this particular case?
Our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.”
In a narrative, if Pearl Harbor is mentioned in partial form after it’s already been fully named, is it “the harbor” or “the Harbor”? (From your notes, I see “the” should not be capitalized either way.)
Please see our reply in the post Capitalization of Governmental Words.
When saying “ladies and gentlemen” should it be capitalized or not?
Generally, in writing, the phrase would be lowercase unless it begins a sentence; however, we would need to see it used in a complete sentence to be sure. Perhaps our reply of November 6, 2012, to Vicki will help.
I have a best man and maid of honour in my novel. One editor removed my capitals, the next editor put them back, so now I’m totally confused. Yes or no on capitalizing these titles?
Generally these terms are not capitalized. There could be an exception, such as the title being used as a direct address when the person is not named. Example: “Do you have the rings, Best Man?”
I tried to read though these to see if it was already addressed. Looking to know about capitalization in this category, and the company tends to follow the ego rule:
“John Smith was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of XYZ Company.” – really not sure on this one
“John Smith is Chief Executive Officer of XYZ Company.” – similar, but agued lowercase
“John Smith was appointed to XYZ Company Board of Directors” – seen as a full name of the board?
Thanks!
Since both titles are descriptive and are not part of a name, they do not need to be capitalized as long as John Smith does not insist it be capitalized (the “ego rule”). Also see our post Capitalization of Job Titles. The full names of administrative bodies are capitalized. Therefore, capitalize “XYZ Company Board of Directors.”
In cases where a civil title is used almost like a nickname, should it be capitalized?
For example:
I hope that Gov isn’t angry with me.
We will need to get Chairman’s opinion.
CMOS 8.34, “Epithets (or nicknames) and bynames” says, “A descriptive or characterizing word or phrase used as part of, or instead of, a person’s name is capitalized. A the used as part of such a name is not capitalized (except, e.g., at the beginning of a sentence).” Therefore, the capitalization is correct in your examples. Omitting “the” in your examples has an awkward sound to us. We would write:
I hope that the Gov isn’t angry with me.
We will need to get the Chairman’s opinion.
What about when someone is named an acting director of (marketing, or operations, or strategy)… do you capitalize the A and D for Acting Director or not?
It depends on where the title appears in regard to the name and how it is used in the sentence. Our post Capitalization of Job Titles offers additional information.
What is the intent of names in all CAPS in legal documents, drivers licenses, Social Security cards, utility bills: e.g., JOHN Q. PUBLIC?
All caps is generally a style choice. We suggest you consult a legal style manual for guidance on legal documents. The all-caps format is in agreement with the recommendations of the U.S. Postal Service for letters and packages sent via U.S. mail. See our post Writing Addresses.
In preparing minutes of a board meeting, I get confused over when to refer to the Board of Directors or Board should be capitalized. Here are some examples:
The procedure was adopted by the Board of Directors in 1995. The board met to discuss the matter. The committee worked on revisions to bring to the board for consideration. The board of directors decided to cancel the next meeting. The board denied the recommendation.
We would use lowercase in each of your examples. Also, please see our June 12, 2017, reply to H.C. and our August 4, 2017, reply to Patricia Mitchell.
It seems to me that when “sir” is a direct address it should be capitalized.
Please see our reply to Debbie of May 20, 2013, Lauren of April 19, 2016, and our December 8, 2012, response to Char Newcomb.
Do you recommend capitalizing titles like “the father of immunotherapy” or “the queen of feathers”? Please note the former titles originates in the medical field, while the latter resides in a fantasy novel.
Thank you!
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.34 says, “A descriptive or characterizing word or phrase used as part of, or instead of, a person’s name is capitalized. A the used as part of such a name is not capitalized (except, e.g., at the beginning of a sentence).” Therefore, write “the Father of Immunotherapy” and “the Queen of Feathers.”
Can you tell me which one is correct from the following sentences?
1. Mrs. Mary (Coordinator of CDI)
or
2. Mrs. Mary (coordinator of CDI)
Although we do not know the exact context, we would not ordinarily capitalize the word coordinator.
Do you recommend capitalizing honorifics such as mister, miss, master, princess, excellency, when used by themselves (not followed by a personal name) in direct discourse? For instance:
What can I do for you, master? or What can I do for you, Master?
Why so sad, princess? or Why so sad, Princess?
I am supposed to rely on the Chicago Manual, but I cannot seem to find a clear answer in the 16th edition.
Thank you in advance!
According to CMOS section 8.33, 17th edition, “Honorific titles and respectful forms of address are capitalized …” However, take care in your interpretation of what may constitute an honorific vs. a kinship name, term of endearment, and the like. Therefore, if addressing a titled person, you would be correct in writing “Please sit down, Princess.” However, if you were addressing a child, you would write “Please sit down, princess.” In some cases, you may need to exercise your best judgment.
Our Capitalization Rule 6a states: Capitalize a formal title when it is used as a direct address. The more formal the title, the more likely it is to be capitalized.
Examples:
Will you take my temperature, Doctor?
We’re sorry to report, Captain, that we’re headed for choppy waters.
That’s what you say, mister.
Good afternoon, sweetheart.
Would you say “George Washington’s presidency “ or “George Washington’s Presidency?”
Presidency is a common noun used as a general descriptor, not as a title. In a related vein, also see “Congress (but congressional), U.S. Constitution (but constitutional) …” in our Capitalization Reference List in our Capitalization Rules section.
What about job titles used as proper nouns? Our church is working on a financial procedures manual and generic job titles have been capitalized throughout.
The Vestry shall designate a Finance Committee, which shall consist of (a) at least one Vestry member who serves as liaison to the Vestry, (b) the Treasurer, (c) at least one member of the Parish who is not a Vestry member, and (d) the Bookkeeper. The Rector shall appoint the Chair of the Finance Committee, who shall be a person other than the Treasurer.
I feel like Finance Committee is the only thing that should be capitalized, but I’m not sure why. Also, twice my title of Parish Administrator is referred to, but I feel that parish as a word should be lower case in general.
Capitalization has a lot of gray areas. The rule of thumb is to lowercase internal elements of an organization and job titles when they are used descriptively and are not part of a proper name. We would not recommend capitalizing any of the generic job titles in your example. Please see our post Capitalization of Job Titles for additional information.
I have a question about the titles of the nobility I often come across in fantasy writing.
e.g Soldier addressing the queen: “We must leave, Your Majesty.”
I would always correct that to “We must leave, your majesty,” as “YOUR majesty” isn’t a substitute for a name, but I note on Ngram Viewer that there is a recent tendency (the influence of the Internet, perhaps?) is to capitalize everything in sight.
CMOS advises that when it comes to forms of address like “sir” or “madam” they should NOT be capitalized, even when they substitute for a name, but certain words (Mom, Dad, … ) should be. Where do we draw the line between capitalized and non-capitalized words like this?
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.33 says, “Honorific titles and respectful forms of address are capitalized in any context.” A list of examples is provided. The term Your Majesty is an honorific title included on the list. For information on kinship names such as Mom and Dad, please see our post Kinship Names: To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize?
I have the sentence “Sergeant York led the attack up the hill. However, the Sergeant was shot and killed before reaching the summit.”
Is “However, the Sergeant . . ” capitalized?
Our post Capitalization of Job Titles says, “When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize.”
Do you capitalize titles when they are used in plural?
E.g. His brothers, Princes Yangnyeong and Hyoryeong, abdicated.
Thanks.
If both brothers hold the title “Prince,” capitalize the title “Princes” before the names.
A church I visited used the phrase “Let’s talk to Pastor.” No use of the word “the” before “Pastor.” No use of the pastor’s name after “Pastor.”
This phrase has always bothered me. Can you please expand on the technical error? What are they trying to do with the word “Pastor,” and why doesn’t it work?
Thank you!
Occupational titles are often not capitalized; however, on occasion we might capitalize an occupational title if it replaces a first name: pastor Ernesto Ruiz but Pastor Ruiz. In that context, we might also address someone directly with their title alone as an abbreviation, such as Doctor (Richards), Coach (Thornhill), Captain (Wellington), etc.
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, gave an address last week
“Is it serious, Doctor?” the patient asked, her hands twisting in her lap.
Are these correct?
The first sentence contains two grammatical errors. It is missing a period, and the word president should not be capitalized. Please see our June 7, 2011, reply to Marty for an explanation. The second sentence is fine.
This is so helpful! Our organization is trying to reign in our overdone capitalization, but I’m getting stuck on a couple things. What should be capitalized here? (Members of our organization are “Patronesses” – we have capitalized that in the past, along with committee and job titles.) Here are a few sentences from our job descriptions with most capitalization removed…some of it looks wrong, but I think that might be because we’ve capitalized it for so long.
Set yearly calendar with the patroness council. Poll members at patroness events and report suggestions to the council. Report to president and VP Programs for support. Oversee the communications chair. Review the annual budget with the finance committee.
Thank you!
We assume these are bullet points rather than complete sentences. They could be written as follows:
Set yearly calendar with the patroness council.
Poll members at patroness events and report suggestions to the council.
Report to president and vice president of programs for support.
Oversee the communications chair.
Review the annual budget with the finance committee.
For the statement “Report to president and vice president of programs for support,” you might also want to ensure it’s clear whether the president and the vice president are different individuals in different areas or two individuals serving in the same area:
e.g.
Report to president and vice president of programs for support. (both individuals in the same area)
Report to the president and to the vice president of programs for support. (different people in different areas)
How should this be written in a letter?
Halito, dear art collector,
or
Halito, dear Art Collector
Halito means Hello in Choctaw.
We recommend the following:
Halito, Dear Art Collector:
Can you advise whether these examples of direct address should be capitalized or not?
What’s the score, Pop/pop? – referring to an older, unfamiliar male. (If actually one’s father then always capitalized.)
What’s Up, Doc/doc? – referring to an unfamiliar person. (If actually a doctor then capitalized.)
Watch where you’re going, Mac/mac! – referring to an unfamiliar male
Are you all right, Jack/jack? – referring to an unfamiliar male
Capitalizing generic nicknames used as direct address would depend on whether you know the person. Use of “mac” would almost always be with an unknown person, so we recommend lowercase. If “Pop” or “Doc” are people you know whose nicknames are “Pop” or “Doc,” then capitalize. If addressing strangers, use lowercase.
Thank you very much for the reply.
What about these two sentences:
“Where should we land, Captain?”
“Where should we land, skipper?”
Both words mean “captain” and are being used in direct address. However “captain” is a formal title so is capitalized and “skipper” is more generic so is lowercase.
Is this correct?
You are correct; “skipper” is not a formal title. It would be lowercase unless it is a person you know whose nickname is “Skipper.”
I found this very helpful. Thank you so much.
Guided by our volunteer Head Coach Yvonne and volunteer assistant coaches, Coach Riley and Coach Megan, we have learned much and grown a lot as a team.
In this case would volunteer be capitalized as well?
Thank you!
No; however, for consistency you may wish to rewrite as follows:
Guided by our volunteer head coach, Coach Yvonne, and volunteer assistant coaches, Coach Riley and Coach Megan, we have learned much and grown a lot as a team.
I’m writing a modern fantasy where there are different species of people who all have their own governments. For the most part, I understand what titles should be capitalized and when. My question is about one specific character. He is a director for an order that runs the government for one of the species and adopts the main character (of the same species). Out of respect, she still thinks of him and calls him by his title even though she is allowed to use his first name. Part of me wants to capitalize when I write ‘the director’ for him. But then it gets into the matter of if she should use the same for the chancellor of her order. (for reference, the director is like a king while the chancellor is like an emperor or high king). Although these characters live in the United States, their government rules over their species worldwide.
Any advice about how I should write this would be appreciated!
Writers of fiction often use their own style and do not always follow the rules for formal prose. How you write the names of your characters is up to you. For example, if you want the title to retain its former stature, you could keep it proper (“the Director”). If the title is maintained but it does not have the same status as before, you could make the reference general (“the director”).
“The county’s Girl Scout council will no longer…,” said Linda, the Girl Scout council executive.
What needs to be capitalized? (I think Girl Scout is a name.)
“Girl Scouts of the United States of America” is the proper name of the organization; therefore, the following are grammatically correct:
“The county’s Girl Scout council will no longer…,” said Linda, the Girl Scout council executive.
“The county’s Girl Scouts council will no longer…,” said Linda, the Girl Scouts council executive.
We are discussing the proper capitalization of “the applicant” when referring to a specific person.
Example: Jason complimented the applicant on his ability to communicate effectively.
Should either word be capitalized? We have differing opinions that range from “the applicant” to “the Applicant” to “The Applicant.”
Since “the applicant” is not a proper noun or title, do not capitalize. Please see our Capitalization Rules for more information.
I have this sentence “I assisted a senior partner in recruiting.” I don’t think the title should be capitalized. Am I correct?
You are correct. Since “a senior partner” is not a proper noun or title, do not capitalize. See our post Capitalization of Job Titles for more information.
How can I write short forms of titles applied before proper nouns in full? Is there any need to capitalize?
If by “short forms” you are referring to abbreviations, they should be capitalized. See our post Abbreviating Professional Titles and Academic Degrees.
When using military rank instead of a person’s name? I am the only master sergeant where I am currently located. A letter was sent out to everyone letting them know if they have questions to see me specifically but it used my rank and not my name. Which would be correct?
If you have questions, go see Master Sergeant.
If you have questions, go see master sergeant.
If the reference is an abbreviation for a proper name with a title, you would write “…go see Master Sergeant [Smith].”
If you mean to direct someone by referring to a person with a title without attention to the person’s name, you would use lowercase and include “the”: “…go see the master sergeant.”
Thank you so much; I’ve finally found answers to my capitalization questions thanks to all the comments and responses! Most other grammar sites do not go into such detailed, specific examples. Cheers!
Many comments here clarify that chair, dean, or mayor are only capitalized when part of a name (this is consistent with the Mom/mom rule, by the way). Mayor Esteban is capitalized as a proper noun because we use the words as a name. (If my sister tells me to go to Mom’s house, Mom is a name we give to her; if we go to our mom’s house, we’re just designating the relationship type.)
But I think the same might be true of Chair, Dean, or Mayor. If you currently serve as the dean of the Arts Division or the president of Bolivia, we’re just designating the type of role you serve there. But if I say “despite my strongly worded advice, the decision falls to you as Dean, or “Carter, who was President when the crisis hit, suffered the lion’s share of the political costs” (with no “the” in either case), am I not naming them as persons in the same way as when I tell my sister I’m at Mom’s house?
I’m a little uncertain. There might be a case to made that this is just an abbreviation of “the dean,” or that I use the word dean, again, to designate a role. But I lean toward thinking of the word as a proper noun because I don’t think we could reasonably imagine that I refer to this person as Dean in any other but as the person whose name I invoke when I say her title.
The titles “dean” and “president” are not used before or instead of a name in your example sentences. Therefore, neither is capitalized. The words are used generically and are not proper nouns. Although the word “the” does not appear in the sentence, it is implied: “Despite my strongly worded advice, the decision falls to you as the dean,” “Carter, who was the president when the crisis hit, suffered the lion’s share of the political costs.”
The word “Mom” is used in place of a personal name; therefore, it is a proper noun. See our post Capitalization of Job Titles for more information.
I agree with the November 4, 2012, question about “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister” in the 17th edition of the CMOS. The only difference between your response and the question I have is that the 17th edition of the manual should have read “Ladies and gentlemen, the Prime Minister,” similar to “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States” in previous editions. I tried telling them that since “gentlemen” isn’t the first word of a sentence and should be treated like “ma’am” or “sir,” it shouldn’t be capped. Do you agree with me on this?
Thanks for letting me know if this could have been a typo.
As we stated in our reply of November 6, 2012, we would not capitalize. If previous editions included the formal introduction “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States,” it appears to be a typo.