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Queen or queen



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Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:04 pm
Writersdomain says...



This question has been bugging me for a long time now.

I have a character whose name is not given for a long time in the story she's in. She's simply called the queen/Queen, always with the article 'the'. So, would queen be capitalized or not?

Example:

The queen shook her head.

or

The Queen shook her head
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Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:33 pm
Tyd says...



Well i think capitalised because that's the name you are giving to your character, for now. If say, you were speaking about the queen between other characters e.g. "yes well, the queen says we cannot eat with our hands anymore- she says it is rude!" then maybe you shouldn't use caps. But when describing her: "The Queen flicked her hair behind her shoulders, took one look at the man before her and then spat in his face!" then i think you should.

Not toooo sure though, so i'd like to here other people's replies too :P
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Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:13 pm
Rydia says...



I don't think it should be capitalised based on the fact that you wouldn't if you was refering to your character as the girl before you gave her a name. For example -

The girl stole across the street, under the shadow of the moon.

The Girl stole across the street, under the shadow of the moon.

Seriously, would you ever dream of bending the rules of grammar and using the second? Well I don't think it's any different when it's the queen instead of the girl.
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Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:18 pm
JabberHut says...



I would say capitalize because "the Queen" is the name you are giving the person. That is her title and, therefore, should be capitalized. If that is what the main character calls her, or if that's how the characters think of her, then it should be capitalized, 'cause 'the Queen' is her name to them.

If one doesn't know the lady:

"The Queen said this..."
"The Queen called me..."

However, if they do know that her name is Queen Elizabeth (just an example), then:

"The queen said we should all wait here."
"The queen needs dinner."

That's how I see it. Capitalize it if that is what the character calls her.

However, it's pretty much based on the author's style of writing. I don't believe there is a set rule on this.

Hope this helps! :wink:
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Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:03 pm
Dream Deep says...



I was under the impression that rank (in this case, 'queen') is only capitalized if it stands alone, as part of a name.

As in: "Queen Mary gave the order directly to me".

But if you're preceding it with 'the', I believe the designation stays lowercased.

As in: "The queen gave the order directly to me".


... but that's just my interpretation of it. I would try to find a Strunk & White somewhere to make double-sure. (Mine seems to be missing).
  





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Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:38 pm
Poor Imp says...



DD has the absolute there on point of correctness. ^_^

...But assuming you use this noun as her proper designation, it's acceptable if not preferable to capitalise it.

She is the Queen, yes? Like the Tower (of London) or some such thing.












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Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:05 pm
Leja says...



I'll just elaborate on what Dream Deep said...

This is like the president example, or the mother example (they always seem like common examples in my schoolbooks, anyway). In these cases, you capitalize the nouns when they are used in place of a name. For example, Joey's mom doesn't include a capitalized "mom" because it's referring to her as almost a title rather than a person. But if Joey were talking to his little brother, he might say "I'm going to tell Mom you broke the vase" because he's using "Mom" as if it is her given name.

In the president example, you'd say "President Washington cut down a cherry tree" because you're referring to him specifically, but you'd say "the first president of the United States cut down a cherry tree" (I think because it's more impersonal; it's not linked to a name)

Same goes for the queen example. You'd say "Queen Elizabeth entered the room" because you're referring to the queen (<-- unintended example :D) by her title-as-a-name. But you'd say "the queen entered the room and sat down" in the same way you'd say "the banker entered the room and sat down" because the banker or the queen could really be anybody. Well, everyone in the room probably knows who the queen is, but there have, and will be, future queens and bankers, but when someone says Queen Elizabeth, the person referred to is more likely to be known, even out of context (Not to say that there won't be future queens named Elizabeth, but people generally think of one in particular).

PM me if you have any more questions; I'd be glad to help ^_^
  








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