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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Capitalisation of place names when used adjectivally?
Please help. I am studying for a postgraduate qualification in translating. One of the aspects on which we are marked is our correct use of English.
Throughout my studies, my tutor has corrected me numerous times on my capitalisation of proper nouns when used as adjectives. Some examples I have been told to correct are:
A German law
French schools
The Canadian example
Algerian immigrant children
Amongst many, many others! I have typed them as above, but each time told to correct the capitals of the adjectives to lower case.
I understand that french windows, english mustard etc. are not capitalised.
On asking for further clarification, my tutor has sent the following explanation (which I had googled and already found):
"(d) Words that express a connection with a particular place must be capitalized when they have their literal meanings. So, for example, French must be capitalized when it means `having to do with France':
The result of the French election is still in doubt.
The American and Russian negotiators are close to agreement.
There are no mountains in the Dutch landscape.
She has a dry Mancunian sense of humour.
(The word Mancunian means `from Manchester'.)
However, it is not necessary to capitalize these words when they occur as parts of fixed phrases and don't express any direct connection with the relevant places:
Please buy some danish pastries.
In warm weather, we keep our french windows open.
I prefer russian dressing on my salad.
Why the difference? Well, a danish pastry is merely a particular sort of pastry; it doesn't have to come from Denmark. Likewise, french windows are merely a particular kind of window, and russian dressing is just a particular variety of salad dressing. Even in these cases, you can capitalize these words if you want to, as long as you are consistent about it. But notice how convenient it can be to make the difference:
In warm weather, we keep our french windows open.
After nightfall, French windows are always shuttered.
In the first example, french windows just refers to a kind of window; in the second, French windows refers specifically to windows in France."
Am I going mad, or does this describe exactly what I was already doing? Is there something I am missing? Is my tutor right, and has simply picked an example from the web which is contradictory? Is it not contradictory, and I am missing something?
On further questioning my tutor simply says that he is a "purist" and that yes, there is a lot of abuse of this rule. But that if my examiner is of the same ilk, I am going to be penalised.
(I have already decided to caplitalise. As the chances of my examiner penalising me for doing so I feel are less that the chances of him not.)
All help appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!
Throughout my studies, my tutor has corrected me numerous times on my capitalisation of proper nouns when used as adjectives. Some examples I have been told to correct are:
A German law
French schools
The Canadian example
Algerian immigrant children
Amongst many, many others! I have typed them as above, but each time told to correct the capitals of the adjectives to lower case.
I understand that french windows, english mustard etc. are not capitalised.
On asking for further clarification, my tutor has sent the following explanation (which I had googled and already found):
"(d) Words that express a connection with a particular place must be capitalized when they have their literal meanings. So, for example, French must be capitalized when it means `having to do with France':
The result of the French election is still in doubt.
The American and Russian negotiators are close to agreement.
There are no mountains in the Dutch landscape.
She has a dry Mancunian sense of humour.
(The word Mancunian means `from Manchester'.)
However, it is not necessary to capitalize these words when they occur as parts of fixed phrases and don't express any direct connection with the relevant places:
Please buy some danish pastries.
In warm weather, we keep our french windows open.
I prefer russian dressing on my salad.
Why the difference? Well, a danish pastry is merely a particular sort of pastry; it doesn't have to come from Denmark. Likewise, french windows are merely a particular kind of window, and russian dressing is just a particular variety of salad dressing. Even in these cases, you can capitalize these words if you want to, as long as you are consistent about it. But notice how convenient it can be to make the difference:
In warm weather, we keep our french windows open.
After nightfall, French windows are always shuttered.
In the first example, french windows just refers to a kind of window; in the second, French windows refers specifically to windows in France."
Am I going mad, or does this describe exactly what I was already doing? Is there something I am missing? Is my tutor right, and has simply picked an example from the web which is contradictory? Is it not contradictory, and I am missing something?
On further questioning my tutor simply says that he is a "purist" and that yes, there is a lot of abuse of this rule. But that if my examiner is of the same ilk, I am going to be penalised.
(I have already decided to caplitalise. As the chances of my examiner penalising me for doing so I feel are less that the chances of him not.)
All help appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!
Top answer
You are correct in your understanding of all of this. Clive
- You are correct in your understanding of all of this.
- Clive
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4 Answers
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AnonymousI have already decided to caplitalise.That's a good decision in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, it's Danish pastry. Period.
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Style guides and dictionaries have different rules about this. Here is a quote from
http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/011309capitalizationinsentences.htm
In general, a writer’s best resource on the issue of capitalization is the dictionary. Both
http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/011309capitalizationinsentences.htm
In general, a writer’s best resource on the issue of capitalization is the dictionary. Both
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However, these are not special cases, like french fires or danish pastry, which can be debated..
use capitals here!
The result of the French election is still in doubt.
The American and Russian negotiators are close to agreement.
There are no mountains in the Dutch landscape.
She has a dry Mancun
use capitals here!
The result of the French election is still in doubt.
The American and Russian negotiators are close to agreement.
There are no mountains in the Dutch landscape.
She has a dry Mancun
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