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Hey everyone, I'm having some grammar trouble with my personal statement, and I was hoping for some clarification. I always thought that it was proper to capitalize titles when referring to a specific position (e.g., I was in Washington D.C. today, and I overheard the President and the Secretary of State discussing Russia). I was surprised after doing an online search that "president" and "secretary of state" should NOT be not capitalized in that sentence. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I obviously understand that you always capitalize titles when they appear right before a person's name (e.g., Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with President Obama today).

Thanks for the help!

ETA: I'm writing my personal statement about my experience at a DA's office, and I wanted to know if I should capitalize "district attorney" (e.g., "the district attorney gave me the responsibility of supervising the investigators.")

Genuine4ps wrote:Hey everyone, I'm having some grammar trouble with my personal statement, and I was hoping for some clarification. I always thought that it was proper to capitalize titles when referring to a specific position (e.g., I was in Washington D.C. today, and I overheard the President and the Secretary of State discussing Russia). I was surprised after doing an online search that "president" and "secretary of state" should NOT be not capitalized in that sentence. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I obviously understand that you always capitalize titles when they appear right before a person's name (e.g., Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with President Obama today).

Thanks for the help!

ETA: I'm writing my personal statement about my experience at a DA's office, and I wanted to know if I should capitalize "district attorney" (e.g., "the district attorney gave me the responsibility of supervising the investigators.")

http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/grammar/Capital3.html

Question: When using AP style, would you capitalize a formal title that was used after a name. Such as:

Mr. Belo has served as chief deputy commissioner for 12 years.
Answer: No. Formal titles used after a name are lowercased in AP style (q.v. AP entry "titles"): "In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name."

This generates

President Bill Clinton
President Clinton
Bill Clinton, president of the United States
Clinton has served as president since 1993.

ph14 wrote:

Genuine4ps wrote:Hey everyone, I'm having some grammar trouble with my personal statement, and I was hoping for some clarification. I always thought that it was proper to capitalize titles when referring to a specific position (e.g., I was in Washington D.C. today, and I overheard the President and the Secretary of State discussing Russia). I was surprised after doing an online search that "president" and "secretary of state" should NOT be not capitalized in that sentence. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I obviously understand that you always capitalize titles when they appear right before a person's name (e.g., Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with President Obama today).

Thanks for the help!

ETA: I'm writing my personal statement about my experience at a DA's office, and I wanted to know if I should capitalize "district attorney" (e.g., "the district attorney gave me the responsibility of supervising the investigators.")

http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/grammar/Capital3.html

Question: When using AP style, would you capitalize a formal title that was used after a name. Such as:

Mr. Belo has served as chief deputy commissioner for 12 years.
Answer: No. Formal titles used after a name are lowercased in AP style (q.v. AP entry "titles"): "In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name."

This generates

President Bill Clinton
President Clinton
Bill Clinton, president of the United States
Clinton has served as president since 1993.

Thank you! It just seems really strange. I guess I've been screwing that up my entire life.

Genuine4ps wrote:

ph14 wrote:

Genuine4ps wrote:Hey everyone, I'm having some grammar trouble with my personal statement, and I was hoping for some clarification. I always thought that it was proper to capitalize titles when referring to a specific position (e.g., I was in Washington D.C. today, and I overheard the President and the Secretary of State discussing Russia). I was surprised after doing an online search that "president" and "secretary of state" should NOT be not capitalized in that sentence. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I obviously understand that you always capitalize titles when they appear right before a person's name (e.g., Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with President Obama today).

Thanks for the help!

ETA: I'm writing my personal statement about my experience at a DA's office, and I wanted to know if I should capitalize "district attorney" (e.g., "the district attorney gave me the responsibility of supervising the investigators.")

http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/grammar/Capital3.html

Question: When using AP style, would you capitalize a formal title that was used after a name. Such as:

Mr. Belo has served as chief deputy commissioner for 12 years.
Answer: No. Formal titles used after a name are lowercased in AP style (q.v. AP entry "titles"): "In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name."

This generates

President Bill Clinton
President Clinton
Bill Clinton, president of the United States
Clinton has served as president since 1993.

Thank you! It just seems really strange. I guess I've been screwing that up my entire life.

Well, I know some publications might have different internal style rules, so you might not be wrong. But I go with the Chicago Manual of Style as my authoritative source if it answers a question I have. (I didn't link the Chicago Manual though as it's behind a log-in wall and I don't know if you have access. I didn't check it either so I would double-check if you have access to it.)

Go pack!

irish921 wrote:Go pack!

?

Genuine4ps wrote:

irish921 wrote:Go pack!

?

Completely unrelated. The grammar page linked was from NC State University, whose mascot is the wolfpack.

irish921 wrote:

Genuine4ps wrote:

irish921 wrote:Go pack!

?

Completely unrelated. The grammar page linked was from NC State University, whose mascot is the wWolfpack.

ftfy