|
Titles
and Capital Letters
A biz
tip reader wrote: I often see titles written without capitals,
for example, Joe Blow, pharmacy manager, … . I would
normally use capitals on these words but maybe a rule has
changed, and I missed it!
Answer: The style today with regard to capitalizing words
within sentences is called modified down. In other words,
lowercase words are generally preferred.
Therefore, if a title follows a name and is separated from
it by a comma, use the lowercase for the title.
Example
Joe Blow, pharmacy manager, chaired the meeting.
Tony Clement, federal health minister, attended the conference.
If a formal title directly precedes the name, then it would
be capitalized.
Example
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
However, if the title stands alone or is plural, write it
as a lowercase,
Example
The mayor was re-elected.
Two premiers, Gordon Campbell and Gary Doer, met to discuss
the issue.
Don’t forget
that occupations are always lowercased: nurses, doctors,
teachers, engineers, etc.
|
