When a word is capitalised in the middle of a sentence (not the beginning, not in the title, etc), is it necessarily a proper noun? Do we have grammatical rules for capitalising a word, which is not a proper noun, in the middle fo a sentence? Answer Not all capitalized words are proper nouns. Words … Read more
I was going through Leviathan of Hobbes today and I think I spotted an error. “and every Citizen bringing his Oystershell into the market place, written with the name of him he desired should be banished, without actuall accusing him, sometimes banished an Aristides, for his reputation of Justice;“ Would leaving out the article preceding … Read more
I’m going to use Karpman’s drama triangle as an example for my question because I can’t seem to find any consistency around its capitalisation (although I’ll admit I don’t own the book). Say you have a book, in this example, ‘The Drama Triangle’, and you also refer to the drama triangle within the text because … Read more
“Seeing the baby the mother rose in her.” Is the word ‘mother’ in the above sentence a: (a) Common Noun (b) Abstract Noun (c) Proper Noun (d) Collective Noun Answer Robikul, Welcome to English stackexchange. The word ‘mother’ is a common noun but it becomes a proper noun and is capitalized when it is used … Read more
In some situations, a common noun in a specific scenario is treated as a proper noun because it refers to a specific entity that satisfies the common noun. Is there a special term for this phenomenon? Examples: “Go ask his father”, said the teacher. vs “Go ask Father”, said the mother. and “Most city halls … Read more
Adjectives derived from proper nouns are known as proper adjectives, and are capitalized: A piece of writing could be Shakespearean, not shakespearean. A person may be Canadian, not canadian. Even Chrome’s spellchecker sees these as correct and incorrect. However, quixotic is written in lower case, despite coming from the name of the character Don Quixote. … Read more
When referring to the infamous Japanese criminal organization, which sentence would be correct? The yakuza member picked up his glasses, scooped some of the jewelry and loose change into his pockets, and whistled a tune as he excitingly strolled away from the scene. or The Yakuza member picked up his glasses, scooped some of the … Read more
Which word order should I choose in noun phrases with a proper noun component and a common noun component? the Elvis Presley singer v. the singer Elvis Presley the Star Wars movie v. the movie Star Wars the Thames River v. the River Thames the Lisp programming language v. the programming language Lisp the x … Read more
I understand why we “drive to Microsoft” but must “drive to the United Nations”. But why do we “drive to United Airlines” rather than “drive to the United Airlines”? Answer Because The United Nations is called The United Nations”, not “United Nations” *, while United Airlines is called “United Airlines”. Going beyond this, the UN … Read more
Is “Russias” the plural of “Russia”, in the sense that this is how they relate grammatically? The reason that I suspect that they are not plural-singular is the following example. [1] I see the egg. [2] I see the eggs. [3] I see an egg. [4] I see egg. [a] I see the Russia. [b] … Read more
