Capitalizing husband and wife in direct address

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   kookoo88posted 13 years ago

   I know that when you direct address mother or father, they should be capitalized, what about brother, sister, cousin, husband and wife?
   
   example: "How are you, Husband?" - - "I'm fine, Wife."  Is that correct?

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      camloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're calling your wife 'Wife', or your husband 'Husband', then it's correct.

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         kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I think so too.  Would it be the same for cousin or any other familial relationship?

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            china manposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I guess that would be right because you make the noun into a Proper Noun if you make it a name. 
            
            Are you Chinese kookoobaba ?

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               kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I am not.  I'm American.   "kookoo" is short for "koo koo cachoo" from a Beatle's song.  I used to say it all the time.  88 is a number I like.

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                  china manposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  That would be from the Walrus -
                  
                  I asked because 8 is "ba" so 88 is ba-ba and used for online   bye-bye   here

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                     kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     I see.  That's cool.  I didn't know that.
                     
                     kookoo cachoo is also in "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkle.  I've always liked the sound of it.

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      Shadesbreathposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Brother and sister and son, etc., all work the same.  Capitalize when being used as in place of/as a name.

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         kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Excellent.   I thought so, but I just wasn't certain.  Thank you.

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   couturepopcafeposted 13 years ago

   Shadesbreath is correct.  When used as a pronoun, capitalize.

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      kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you very much for the verification.

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   Jaggedfrostposted 13 years ago

   It is sad how grammar has degraded so that education in general doesn't always yield such information.  One would think that extensive reading might fill the gap but apparently not.

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      kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Very good point.  After I graduated high school I took a private course for management.  The teacher became so frustrated with my poor grammar that she made me take an intensive grammar course which included things like defining and writing sentences for every use of the word "the"  lol.
      
      That was about 20 years ago.  Even with that, the English language tends to be a bit fuzzy and inconsistant about some rules.  Also, I've been analyzing different books lately, only to find that many authors don't have very good grammar either.
      
      At this point I'm actually fairly good at it.  However, I'm still uncertain about various rules, so I ask and become a little better.

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      AdeleCosgroveBrayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      
      I have to agree with your comment about grammar.  Punctuation has also suffered in a similar fashion.  So many internet writers don't seem to grasp even the basics of these techniques.

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         kookoo88posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That is extremely true.  Some of the rules are fuzzy too, so it becomes much more difficult.  As I've been writing my book, I re-examine different rules to make sure that I'm doing things correctly.  Even then, I'm still making mistakes here and there.  It's also easy to lose focus after thousands of words.

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