# capitalized pronouns



## cyanista

Hello everyone!

I have always thought that German is the only language that has capitalized pronouns. Polite "you" is always capitalized, singular and plural "you" are commonly capitalized in letters. The spelling reform tried to cancel the latter but after numerous protests it was agreed that both spelling variants should stay in use.
Today I've learned that Czech has capitalized pronouns as well! 
So I wonder, are there even more languages that require some pronouns to be written with a capital letter?

Thanks in advance for your answers,

cyanista


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## modus.irrealis

Well, you used a capitalized pronoun a few times in your message.  English, of course, capitalizes I.

And I believe Italian capitalizes its polite you's as well, Lei and Loro.


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## Mutichou

In French, pronouns aren't normally capitalized (except in some religious texts when the pronoun is related to God).


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## robbie_SWE

In Swedish it's very uncommon nowadays to capitalize pronouns. But in some cases it's still acceptable. If you are writing a formal letter, let's say for a job or an application to the University, you use the formal form of you (in this case, instead of "*du*" we use "*Ni*"). Otherwise it's never used. 

 robbie


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## cyanista

modus.irrealis said:
			
		

> Well, you used a capitalized pronoun a few times in your message.  English, of course, capitalizes I.



LOL, you may laugh but it honestly didn't occur to me!  But then, the obvious is often overlooked in seeking the distant! (See my new signature)

Thanks to all who have answered so far! This phenomenon seems much more common than I had thought!

By the way, does anyone know how "I" came to be capitalized?


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## optimistique

In Dutch the polite 'you' is often capitalised, but just as much it is not. So you see *u* & *U* and their respective possesive pronouns *uw* & *Uw* both. Also when referred to God, people capitalise 'he' (*hij*) -> (*Hij)*.


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## Dr. Quizá

In Spanish we use even less capitalisation than in English. There's a Spanish word for the German "Sie": usted(es), but it has no special capitalisation.


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## Outsider

cyanista said:
			
		

> By the way, does anyone know how "I" came to be capitalized?


See this thread: "I vs. i"


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## cyanista

Thanks a bunch, Outsider! That thread not only answers my question about "I" but also mentions another interesting case of capitalization: the Spanish "usted" is written "Ud" or "Vd" when abbreviated.


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## diegodbs

cyanista said:
			
		

> Thanks a bunch, Outsider! That thread not only answers my question about "I" but also mentions another interesting case of capitalization: the Spanish "usted" is written "Ud" or "Vd" when abbreviated.


 


> De sus distintas abreviaturas (_Ud., Vd., U. _y _V._), la más frecuente hoy, y también la más recomendable, es _Ud.,_ cuyo plural es _Uds_.


 
Nowadays, the most used and recommended is "Ud."


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## Jana337

I think we should distinguish two cases:

1. Some pronouns are capitalized always (I, Lei in Italian, Sie in German). It would be grammatically incorrect not to capitalize them. Politeness does not matter.

2. In some languages, "you" (formal or informal) is capitalized in letters for the sake of politeness. In Czech books, you normally read "ty". But in a letter or even e-mail to someone with whom I am on very informal terms, I would always write "Ty".

Jana


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## ronanpoirier

I Portuguese I see pronoums such as _senhor_, _dona _(I can't remeber how they are called_)_ and so on, written with capital letters when they are followed by the last name of a person. And in English they have a different translation.

O *senhor* gostaria de ver um filme comigo? = Would you (formal) like to watch a movie with me?

O *Senhor* Pereira é um homem muito interessante. = Mister Pereira is a very interesting man.

Corrections please! It was just what I noticed.


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## cyanista

ronanpoirier said:
			
		

> I Portuguese I see pronoums such as _senhor_, _dona _(I can't remeber how they are called_)_ and so on, written with capital letters when they are followed by the last name of a person. And in English they have a different translation.
> 
> O *senhor* gostaria de ver um filme comigo? = Would you (formal) like to watch a movie with me?
> 
> O *Senhor* Pereira é um homem muito interessante. = Mister Pereira is a very interesting man.
> 
> Corrections please! It was just what I noticed.




I believe _senhor_ is a pronoun only in the first example. It replaces _você_ in a formal statement. In your second sentence _Senhor _is a "tag" (I 'd like to say form of address but he is not being addressed here) that gives us information about Pereira's sex.
It's just how I see it, I have no idea about the formal status of _Senhor _in this case.


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## Outsider

"Senhor" is a noun, not a pronoun. Capitalizing it is the same as capitalizing "Sir" in English.


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## cyanista

OK, it's not a pronoun but it *functions* as a second person pronoun (in the first sentence).
_
O senhor gostaria de ver um filme comigo?_ is a special form of address that actually means _Would you care to watch a movie with me? 

_You can observe the same phenomenon in Polish.



> Polish has several equivalents which express the single English second person pronoun ‘you’. In addition to the familiar singular and plural forms ty and wy, there are forms which are marked for politeness, which share the root *pan*-, in both singular and plural numbers, as well as masculine, feminine, and mixed genders. *The words for 'you', based on the stem pan-, all have their own core meanings (**gentleman, lady, etc,), in addition to their use as second person pronouns.* While the pronouns ty and wy require second person agreement, *the pan- series has third person agreement, in spite of its second person reference*.


Source


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## Outsider

It seems that Polish is similar to Portuguese, in this respect!


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## Whodunit

German "*Er*" and "*Sie*" (singular) were capitalized when they addressed their bosses or lords in the third person singular. The same phenomenon is still observable in Spanish.


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## kota

So when it comes to capitalizing "he" in referring to God, the effect has been emasculated. It's like there's no difference anymore.


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## ukuca

As far as I know, In Turkish we don't have any capalized pronouns. If there's one correct me please


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## kriumif

In Maltese we usually use it for God only. For example, I adore God = nadura*H*.

Don't forget, Maltese is a mixture of Roman and Arabic languages so we take "the best" out of both


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## kota

Interesting! I'm really in for what language can teach us in so many ways. For example, it can teach us how much respect we put in our creator just by one aspect like capitalizing.


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## kriumif

yes exactly, in fact this is dying out in Malta. In olden times Malta was 100% Catholic, no doubts anywhere... however as time goes by devotion is lacking and importance is not given to this sort of thing anymore... Nowadays the trend is "what you feel inside"!


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## kota

I know of a group that does not capitalize 'satan,' for example, but is very careful in capitalizing pronouns when it refers to God.

kriumif, I find your last letter, H, being capitalized, interesting.

nadura*H*. Is this already one sentence and the H stands for God?


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## kriumif

kota said:
			
		

> I know of a group that does not capitalize 'satan,' for example, but is very careful in capitalizing pronouns when it refers to God.
> 
> kriumif, I find your last letter, H, being capitalized, interesting.
> 
> nadura*H*. Is this already one sentence and the H stands for God?


 
Yes it is just one sentence: I adore : nadura
                                      Him      : Hu
In Maltese, God is Alla, and we say, they crucified him...
they crucified: salbu
Him (God)     : Hu
Therefore, sallbu*H*.

 I am proud enough to say that our language is very rare and special, although it is verrrrry limited, due to a very small population!  But we try our best to keep it alive!


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## Honour

turkish: all private nouns (nouns defining unique existance), and of course first letter of sentences are capitalized. There are some details too. For instance, when one says "how on earth you could do bla bla" there is no need to capitalize the word earth since it doesn't mean the earth in term. But when it is something "there are five continents on the earth" then it should be capitalized because this time earth refers to the earth itself in term meaning.


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## cyanista

@Turk: And what about *pronouns*? (It's the topic of this thread, actually.) Are they all written in lower case as Ucuca said? Or are there exceptions?

@kriumif: I'm putting Maltese on my to-learn list! Unfortunately, it's already half a mile long.


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## kota

Thanks, cyanista,
On the pronouns, please!

More so on reference to God. 
Does everybody capitalize when it comes to God?

There are languages that capitalize all pronouns and I was saying that there would be no difference then when "He" is capitalized in the middle of a sentence when it comes to God. 

In other words, some langauges take care to make a difference, like the Maltese.


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## ivanbcn

In Italian you should capitalise the formal *Lei* and all the derived forms (*Le* and *Suo/a/oi/e,* but if you do not do it, it's not a big problem, it depends on how formal you want to be, in a letter for example):

Vorrei chieder*Le* ...
(I would like to ask *you* - formal- ...)

... come da *Sua* richiesta, *Le* invio ....
(... as for *your *request, I send *you *- formal - )

There are two other formal pronouns (less used) *Loro* And *Voi *(with the adjective form *Vostro/a/i/e*), that should be capitalised in formal writing.


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## kriumif

kota said:
			
		

> Thanks, cyanista,
> On the pronouns, please!
> 
> More so on reference to God.
> Does everybody capitalize when it comes to God?
> 
> There are languages that capitalize all pronouns and I was saying that there would be no difference then when "He" is capitalized in the middle of a sentence when it comes to God.
> 
> In other words, some langauges take care to make a difference, like the Maltese.


 
yes, that's it. Well guess the Italians do so too.


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## Honour

cyanista said:
			
		

> @Turk: And what about *pronouns*? (It's the topic of this thread, actually.) Are they all written in lower case as Ucuca said? Or are there exceptions?



ah yes,  almost all pronouns are written in lowercase. Just the ones in third singular form referring to god and historically important and respectful personalities are capitalized and any suffixes added are separated with an apostrophe. (this is a rule of turkish grammar)


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## kriumif

yes, exactly  Maltese and Turkish, although not the same in calligraphy have similar rules. We do not follow the Italians in respect to capitalising in the following circumstance:

Italian : Siamo italiani. [we are Italian]
Maltese : Ahna Maltin. [we are Maltese]


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