posted
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.
posted
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. For example: "Captain Smith is such a jerk!"
Or, in dialogue, if someone is directly addressing a specific person with their title. For example: John looked the man right in the eyes. "You know what, Captain? You are a jerk."
However, if the title is being used in a non-specific manner, then it's not capitalized. For example: John turned to his friend. "I think all captains are jerks!"
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"). For example: "Hey Joe, don't you think the captain is a jerk?"
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: John passed by the captain without making a sound. If the captain noticed him, he would have to do push ups. "Solider!" Captain Smith said. John turned. "Yes, Captain?" "I want you to drop and give me twenty," the captain commanded. Captain Smith was such a jerk, but John knew that not all captains were like this. Only his captain was. His friend Joe's captain was really nice.
posted
AstroStewart is correct with everything he said.
quote:I'm pretty sure you do NOT capitalize a rank when you have "the captain" (or "my captain").
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). Posts: 2003 | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
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.
Posts: 715 | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
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).
Posts: 2003 | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
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.
Posts: 671 | Registered: May 2006
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