A proper noun or proper name is a capitalized noun representing a unique entity as opposed to a common noun, which represents a class of entities or nonunique instances of that class.
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When did it become correct to add an “s” to a singular possessive already ending in “‑s”?
According to my grammar book, but at variance to the answer to this question, the correct singular possessive if a word ends in ‑s is:
James’s car
The grammar book allows exceptions for ...
20
votes
2answers
3k views
How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?
I was always taught to capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, and also the first letter of proper nouns. In the last few years it's been common for certain firms to name their ...
13
votes
2answers
719 views
Family name pluralization
When pluralizing family (last) names that also happen to be common English words, does the pluralization follow the same rules as the common word?
For example, "the Smith family" can be pluralized as ...
13
votes
6answers
5k views
Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?
Sometimes I see a comma after the proper name:
Hello Mr. Black,
In order to give you....
But my native language is not English and I think that the comma in this phrase should be placed ...
4
votes
2answers
667 views
Store names & possessive
Observation: It seems that it's common to turn a store name into a possessive, for example a store named "Palisade" gets transformed to possessive in speech like, "Hey how about going to Palisade's ...
17
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5answers
724 views
How to handle a name that includes an exclamation point (or other punctuation)?
Certain brands, such as Yahoo!, insist that the exclamation is part of their name. In writing about such a brand or company, is the inclusion of the vanity punctuation right, wrong, or optional?
I ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Why there is “the” before some names but not others
Is there a rule beyond the common "no the with proper nouns and names" for the following problem?
I saw the Empire State Building.
We went to the White House.
We saw the Golden Gate ...
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vote
1answer
956 views
Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a sentence [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
How Should Trademarks be Written?
How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?
Many products these days have names that intentionally begin with ...
8
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1answer
799 views
Definite article with proper nouns, titles followed by a common noun
Over time I developed this rule where if a title or a proper name is followed by a common noun that represents the class of the entity I am referring to, then I use the definite article. In Example 1, ...
2
votes
2answers
646 views
Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a sentence
Let's say that you have a word that should be typed with leading lowercase letter. Perhaps ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Why are the United States often referred to as America?
People often refer to the country US as America and to the people from the US as Americans.
As far as I know, that's the only case in the world where a continent's name is used for a country's name ...
12
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4answers
1k views
Use of definite article before phrases like Heathrow Airport, Hyde Park, Waterloo Station, Edgware Road and Parliament Square
In this related question (Definite article with proper nouns, titles followed by a common noun), the OP asks if it is grammatical to use the definite article before phrases like Advanced programming ...
8
votes
2answers
543 views
Capitalising the definite article in names
When I was a youngster some mumble-mumble-mumble decades ago, I was taught that, in the instances of names of persons, places, and things which carried the definite article the, the article wasn’t ...
18
votes
2answers
1k views
Etymology for Mc and O' in names
There is clearly a prefix in names like McDonald, McChrystal, O'Brian, O'Neal
What does this Mc and O signify? Looks like Donald, Chrystal, Brian, Neal are perfectly fine names on their own so why is ...
11
votes
6answers
989 views
How would you spell “Tehran” in English for it to be pronounced “correctly” (i.e. as in Persian)?
Native English speakers do not pronounce the h in Tehran so it is pronounced like "Teran". But in the original pronunciation in Persian the h is pronounced, resulting in /tehˈɾɒːn/.
Is there any ...
15
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4answers
3k views
Why are days of the week proper nouns?
Is there any particular reason why days of the week are proper nouns?
11
votes
3answers
699 views
Is the game, “go,” a proper noun? What about “checkers” or “chess”?
The game of Go is...
or
The game of go is...
Apparently the International Go Federation capitalizes it. Its dictionary entry doesn't appear to be (from what I have seen). It seems to fit ...
2
votes
1answer
314 views
Plurals, Possesives, and Proper Nouns ending with 'S' [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
I just took a grammar quiz in 10th grade English Honors, and one of the questions was very interesting to me.
In ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Is “Thank god”, as opposed to “Thank God”, acceptable?
People are quite stingy lately about anything with religious connotations, so I'm worried that the phrase "thank God" might tick some people off.
Is "thank god" acceptable? Would that offend people ...
20
votes
6answers
5k views
Why is the “ph” pronounced like a “v” in “Stephen”? Is this the only word like that?
While I know how my name is pronounced, I've run into many non-native english speakers who have stumbled over this unique exception to English. Even in the female name, "Stephanie", the ph is ...
17
votes
5answers
1k views
How do I pluralize a name ending in “y”?
Frequently when I refer to or address a family, I do so by pluralizing their last name, e.g., The Smiths, or The Ramones. But suppose I want to address a family whose last name ends in a "y", e.g., ...
4
votes
3answers
390 views
Words based on the names of gods [closed]
While the word christen means "to baptise" or "to make Christian", in another sense, it has shed its religious connotations to simply mean "to name" or even "use for the first time". Is there any ...
21
votes
5answers
2k views
How do you spell Muammar Qaddafi?
This name, which is spelled القذافي in Arabic, is spelled in so many different ways in the Latin alphabet:
Gadafi, Gadaffi, Gaddafi, Gaddaffi, Gadhafi, Gadhaffi, Ghadafi, Ghadaffi, Ghaddafi, ...
10
votes
3answers
501 views
Why are nouns sometimes pejorative when used attributively?
Certain nouns can often be used as noun adjuncts in place of a corresponding adjective, with no change in literal meaning, where:
The noun is not pejorative when used nominatively by itself.
Nor is ...
6
votes
3answers
806 views
Capitalization: when does a phrase become a proper noun?
This is a question on capitalization. Proper nouns are capitalized. But how can I tell which parts of a term constitute a proper noun?
Take, for example, the nickname for traveler's diarrhea (sorry, ...
4
votes
6answers
746 views
City names with articles
Typically we don't use articles with city names, e.g. "Seattle" and not "the Seattle." I know at least one exception though which is The Hague. Are there any other city names which we use with the ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
Yoga (proper-case) or yoga (lowercase)?
I've seen it written in both ways. I'm tempted to use the proper case, because I was under the impression that it is also a form/name of religion. What do you think?
19
votes
10answers
4k views
About definite article before “Earth”, “Moon” and “Sun”
In what cases do we have to put the definite article the before each of these words:
Sun
Moon
Earth
and in what cases do we not need to?
12
votes
4answers
4k views
Why does Germany's English name differ from its German name?
Germany in German is Deutschland and the language is Deutsch. I'm used to words being anglicized, but why is there a complete replacement in this case?
6
votes
2answers
254 views
Why is “a” necessary before “Mr. X” and “Mrs. Y”?
There is the following sentence in the scene a reputed lawyer, Thomas Cohen gives advice to 16-year old client William Kane, the son of deceased bank owner on the issue of inheritance of his father’s ...
5
votes
8answers
666 views
Should Philip have P. or Ph. as an initial?
In the context of scientific articles and technical white papers, references to other publications typically include the author’s surname with, depending on the format of the specific publication, ...
4
votes
10answers
703 views
Why does English have city/country names that differ from the local language?
For example:
Italy = Italia
Florence = Firenze
Rome = Roma
Venice = Venezia
Munich = München
Different reasons for different cities? Anglicised for pronunciation? The name changed and English ...
4
votes
6answers
687 views
2
votes
2answers
61 views
Capitalization of “School” as an adjective
I am working on a research poster, and the teacher supervising wrote the following language. It doesn't seem to me like "School" is a proper noun, but he tells me it is when referring to a specific ...
2
votes
2answers
422 views
Why there is an “h” in proper names like Afghanistan, Baghdad and Lamborghini?
An "h" may be used to prevent the "g" from being soft, as in spaghetti, but there is no need for an "h" in the mentioned proper names.
2
votes
4answers
1k views
Why is god, a common noun, capitalized? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should the word “God” be capitalized?
I thought god is a common noun, but many people capitalize it when it is not the first letter of a sentence or a ...
1
vote
2answers
4k views
Jones's or Jones'? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
When did it become correct to add an 's' to a singular possessive already ending in 's'?
I've always heard that ...
-2
votes
2answers
581 views
significance of “The” before country name [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using the definite article before a country/state name
I am from India, and I do not say that I am from “the India”. But someone from USA would say “I am from the ...
