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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Is Sir/Madam proper noun?
Words like Sir, Madam, ladies, gentlemen...are they proper or common nouns?
For instance, if I am talking to someone and I say: I want you to do this, Sir.
I am addressing this person directly. So would it be better to treat 'sir' as a proper noun?
For instance, if I am talking to someone and I say: I want you to do this, Sir.
I am addressing this person directly. So would it be better to treat 'sir' as a proper noun?
Top answer
I assume you're primarily interested in whether or not you should capitalise these words. "Sir" and "Madam" usually function as someone's title (as in your example, when addressing someone thus), and as such I would capitalise these words. If you're referring generically to "ladies" or "gentlemen" then you shouldn't capitalise (for example, "This washroom is for ladies only").
- I assume you're primarily interested in whether or not you should capitalise these words.
- "Sir" and "Madam" usually function as someone's title (as in your example, when addressing someone thus), and as such I would capitalise these words.
- If you're referring generically to "ladies" or "gentlemen" then you shouldn't capitalise (for example, "This washroom is for ladies only").
- When addressing a group of people, I think I would, if I was paying attention, capitalise "ladies" and "gentlemen" because the words substitute for people's names and can be considered titles (for example, "Good morning, Ladies").
- A random trawl through Google Book Search and elsewhere indicates that many authors do not agree with the above and do not feel the need to capitalise.
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5 Answers
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I assume you're primarily interested in whether or not you should capitalise these words.
"Sir" and "Madam" usually function as someone's title (as in your example, when addressing someone thus), and as such I would capitalise these words.
If you're referring generically to "ladies" or "gentlemen" then you shouldn't capitalise (for example, "This washroom is for ladies only"). W
"Sir" and "Madam" usually function as someone's title (as in your example, when addressing someone thus), and as such I would capitalise these words.
If you're referring generically to "ladies" or "gentlemen" then you shouldn't capitalise (for example, "This washroom is for ladies only"). W
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AnonymousI want you to do this, Sir.I want to do this, sir. ('Sir' should not be capitalised.)
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Yes it would be capitalised for it is a proper noun. For the word "Sir" is a word which is formally used to name or address a person
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If the name of the person can be used to replace the sir or ma'am, it should be capitalized. If no name is known to the reader or writer, then either lower or upper case is fine (and debated often, lol)
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