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Mitsuo23 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
The Beatles or the Beatles?
Hi,
The title says everything. Is it “The Beatles” or “the Beatles”?
It was my understanding that “t” should be capitalized when “the” is included in the name of a proper noun. Let’s say, “The New Yorker” or “The New York Times.” And it shouldn’t when “the” isn’t a part of the name. For instance, “the TIME”.
So for me, “The Beatles” seems like the correct form, but I found “The Beatles” and “the Beatles” used even in dictionaries.
Thank you,
M
(and sorry about the duplication)
The title says everything. Is it “The Beatles” or “the Beatles”?
It was my understanding that “t” should be capitalized when “the” is included in the name of a proper noun. Let’s say, “The New Yorker” or “The New York Times.” And it shouldn’t when “the” isn’t a part of the name. For instance, “the TIME”.
So for me, “The Beatles” seems like the correct form, but I found “The Beatles” and “the Beatles” used even in dictionaries.
Thank you,
M
(and sorry about the duplication)
Top answer
Since the Wikipedia poll and debate on this stretch to over 100 pages, I think we can safely say that it is not a simple question! org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_mediation/The_Beatles For what it's worth, the result was apparently 93 votes for "the Beatles" versus 47 for "The Beatles".
- Since the Wikipedia poll and debate on this stretch to over 100 pages, I think we can safely say that it is not a simple question!
- org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_mediation/The_Beatles For what it's worth, the result was apparently 93 votes for "the Beatles" versus 47 for "The Beatles".
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4 Answers
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Since the Wikipedia poll and debate on this stretch to over 100 pages, I think we can safely say that it is not a simple question!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_mediation/The_Beatles/Archive_3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_mediation/The_Beatles/Archive_3
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Thank you for the reply. I've got two questions.
1) Does this happen only to "T/the Beatles"? or some even use like, say, "the Rolling Stones"?
2) Is my general understanding of "The" and "the" correct?
Thank you,
M
1) Does this happen only to "T/the Beatles"? or some even use like, say, "the Rolling Stones"?
2) Is my general understanding of "The" and "the" correct?
Thank you,
M
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1) It can happen any time there is inconsistent usage and no clear authority for what is correct.
2) Yes, but, assuming you mean "TIME" the magazine, "the TIME" is wrong even in lower-case (unless, I suppose, at a stretch, you are referring to an individual copy).
2) Yes, but, assuming you mean "TIME" the magazine, "the TIME" is wrong even in lower-case (unless, I suppose, at a stretch, you are referring to an individual copy).
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I thought I had a clever way of deciding this question: check the album cover of "Meet [tT] Beatles." If the lower-case "t" is used, as it would be in an album title if the article wasn't part of the name," then the article wouldn't be part of the name. If the upper-case "T" is used, then the article would be part of the name. What could be more definitive than the groups own album title?
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