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 Hatrack River Writers Workshop
 Open Discussions About Writing
 Military Rank: When & When Not to Capitalize
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| Author | Topic: Military Rank: When & When Not to Capitalize |
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Crystal Stevens Member |
posted November 01, 2009 05:05 PM
  
Sorry I've been gone for awhile, but life has been busy with not much spare time. I hope someone is taking care of the treehouse while I'm gone. Once work slows down at my job, I'll try and come back on a more permanent basis. You folks have helped me so much that I can't begin to thank you. My writing has improved immensely with all the advice I've received here. And that's one of the reasons I haven't been around much. I'm bound and determined to finish one of my stories and get it submitted. So, when I'm not slaving away at my job in the real world, I'm working on my writing with the goal of an actual submission. While I've been doing all of this, I dug out a book I've written that I thought was very well done. I can't believe how bad it reads compared to what I'm writing now. Talk about needing a major overhaul! The biggest problem is trying to figure out when to capitalize a military rank and when not to. If you say "the captain" I assume it should be lower case. But If used to identify the person, like "Captain Buldar", it should be capitalized. What about if the name is left off and "Captain" is used in place of a person's name? Should it be capitalized or not? Does it matter what the rank is to whether it should be capitalized? I must admit I find this confusing and would like to have some guidelines to get it right. IP: Logged |
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AstroStewart Member |
posted November 01, 2009 05:20 PM
I remember looking up this information for my own novel, as I had the same issue. The take away message I got was essentially to treat titles like "Captain" the same way you might treat a familial title like "Uncle." (Since familial titles were more familiar with me, this made everything easier for me.) I think the following examples are correct, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong  In short: when you are referring to a specific person with the title, then it should be capitalized. Or, in dialogue, if someone is directly addressing a specific person with their title. However, if the title is being used in a non-specific manner, then it's not capitalized. A more complicated example is when someone refers to another person as "the captain." Just as with familial relations, how you don't capitalize, for example "my dad likes cheese" but you DO capitalize "Dad likes cheese" I'm pretty sure you do NOT capitalize a rank when you have "the captain" (or "my captain"). I *think* a safe rule of thumb is, if you can replace the word "captain" (or lieutenant, private, general, etc.) with a proper name and have the syntax make sense, then it should be capitalized. If the syntax no longer makes sense under this substitution, then the word should not be capitalized. For example: IP: Logged |
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Bent Tree Member |
posted November 01, 2009 05:41 PM
I believe that they are always capitalized. When used as a proper noun that is. Here is a good link that you may find useful also. http://www.militaryfactory.com/ranks/index.asp IP: Logged |
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philocinemas Member |
posted November 01, 2009 06:26 PM
AstroStewart is correct with everything he said. quote: However, the above comment reminded be of "O Captain, My Captain" by Whitman, in which "My Captain" would be capitalized because in this circumstance it was an address (to Lincoln). IP: Logged |
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Kitti Member |
posted November 01, 2009 07:42 PM
AstroStewart's explanation jives with the way I've always capitalized military titles. But I'm a fake Navy brat (having never even lived on base!) so someone who was actually in the military might know more/better. IP: Logged |
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philocinemas Member |
posted November 01, 2009 08:47 PM
The rules for capitalization are fairly consistent with all titles, whether they be of the military, relations, education, or position. Exceptions can be made for people of very high rank, such as the President, the Prime Minister, or the King/Queen. However, these examples also can be used in lieu of the person's name. The president of a company or organization would not be capitalized unless used with the person's name (this is typically not done out of respect for the institution of the executive branch of the US). IP: Logged |
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oliverhouse Member |
posted November 05, 2009 01:39 PM
I was a US Marine officer. Although I don't recall ever getting formal instruction on when to capitalize ranks, AstroStewart nailed the way I would do it. IP: Logged |
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