Should we write the Three Ministers or the three ministers?

Question

Hello,lets say there is a government with 12 ministers and there are 3 among them that are corrupted and known to the puplic due to their corruption, so the public calls the the Three Ministersdo we say: I saw the three ministersor I saw the Three Ministersan other question lets say there is a government of four ministers which the puplic call the four ministers and once you say the four ministers everybody understands whom you are reffering twoso do you say :I saw the four ministersor I saw the Four Ministers?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Suppose there is a government with 12 ministers and there are 3 among them that are corrupted and known to the public due to their corruption, so the public calls them the Three Ministers.

Do we say I saw the three ministers or I saw the Three Ministers?

Another question: Suppose there is a government of four ministers which the public call the four ministers and once you say the four ministers everybody understands whom you are referring to.

So do you say I saw the four ministers or I saw the Four Ministers?
_________________

Note my suggestions above for writing your question.

1. You don't seriously think there could be two different answers to your two questions, do you? It's the same question twice. You've only changed three to four. I hope you're not going to ask about five and six and seven next!

2. You are asking "Do we say?" When we speak, no one knows if we are saying Three or three. They are said the same way. I think you intended to ask "Do we write?"

If a group is already designated within a society by a specific name, then their name is written with initial capital letters, so you should write Three Ministers or Four Ministers.

CJ

Edit: OK. I see that you used "write" in the header. That's the correct way to do it.

Anonymous · Answer

There is a difference between the 2 questions. In the first one the three ministers are part of the government. In the second question the four ministers make the whole government, so when you say the four ministers, everybody will know them even there is no title for them because the government only consists of 4 ministers but in the first case we are talking about 3 out of 12 ministers.

You should show respect for people who ask questions, and if you have a lot of information that does not give you the right to make fun of their mistakes, knowing that English is my second language. And I am better than you as a writer because I wrote novels in my language which were published, and you are mostly, just a native speaker nothing more

.

CalifJim · Answer

I am sorry that you have not found my reply useful. I intended my corrections and comments to be a useful way for you to see your mistakes and correct them in future posts. I did not intend to make fun of your mistakes. You have misinterpreted my purpose.

I'm sure that your published novels are a great accomplishment, but you should not assume that therefore no other members of this forum are accomplished.

I will refrain from answering any further questions from you as you seem to be upset by my style of replying.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousAnd I am better than you as a writer

I am afraid that your first post throws some doubt on this claim

AlpheccaStars · Answer

In your first case of the three corrupt ministers, I assume that the name attributed to them by the public is not official.
So I would write this:

I saw the "Three Ministers" walking into the parliament building.

The quote marks show a tinge of sarcasm, derision, or tongue-in-cheek.

In the second case, there is nothing extraordinary about the people you saw.

I saw the four ministers walking into the parliament building.

Another variation is if you saw three out of the four ministers, but they have no special designation.
In that case write:

I saw three minsters walking into the parliament building.

If they have titles, then capitalize their titles:
.
I saw three minsters walking into the parliament building, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Economic Policies, and the Prime Minister.

Should we write the Three Ministers or the three ministers?

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