Grammar Question--capitalization

[barackmyworld]

I am writing about the mental health report by the Surgeon General, and I am not sure when to capitalize "report." Take these two examples:

1) the Surgeon General produced an extensive report

2) After affirming the connection between mental illness and neuroscience on the first page, the report

Should it be capitalized in both cases? One of them? Neither?

Please advise!

[trotsky]

1. Neither.

Only capitalize a word like report if it is part of the title.

The Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health (if it was published with that title, of course!)

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. Neither.

I was a journalism major. Trust me. :D

[LynzM]

3. Neither, I think?

It's not a specific report, so I don't believe it's capitalized in either instance. If it were, for example "produced the extensive writing, the Somename Report", then it's part of a title and so I think you'd capitalize it then. But when you're just using it as a plain, old noun, no caps.

But just wait for the real grammar gurus to come correct me, ok? :)

[Webster Green]

4. Neither....

I can't see any reason to capitilize.

[trof]

5. Only if used as as title.

As in "The Surgeon General's Report On Whatever".

[oneighty]

11. There is Trof

Where you been? Oystering I bet.

180

[DemoTex]

17. 180 and trof! I'll chime in and make it a trifecta.

Bon Secour?

Mac


Half dozen Bon Secures with Lagniappe

[DemoTex]

23. Also, from the Bon Secour files:

Shrimp boats! Nothing like Mobile Bay! I was born in the Mobile Infirmary and dodged bull alligators on Dog River as a toddler.

[oneighty]

30. Shrimp

Shrimp boats is a'coming there be dancing tonight. (Pay check too)

I was once a poor little Yankee boy in Sheffield Alabama.

They called me 'Yank'

180

[DemoTex]

32. Damn! My dear 84 year-old mother still sings that song.

In fact, they are coming up here to the mountains to visit me tomorrow. My 85-yo dad loves shrimp. Looks like a run into Brevard's only seafood store tomorrow. Know what I mean, Vern?

[mike_c]

6. neither....

Capitalize proper nouns. If the title of the report is capitalized, e.g. A Report from the Surgeon General on the Condition of Blah Blah Blah you should capitalize it only when quoting the report title, not when simply using the word "report." That's my non-grammarian two cents worth.

[hyphenate]

7. Neither

Unless you are directly alluding to the word "report" in the actual title of the report, it stays uncapped.

[barackmyworld]

8. thanks for the consensus!

neither it is.

[joeybee12]

9. Let me add to the consenus--if you give the formal title of the report..

...and capitalize everything and the final word in the title is report, then capitalize that Report!

[Left Is Write]

10. My completely superfluous contribution: capitalize it in neither place.

[chaska]

12. while on the subject ... how about a lesson on yours vs. your's.

Is the latter ever correct?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Maybe...

What's yours is yours.

But if you were using the word "your" as a subject, you could contract your and is to create your's.
For example:
"Your's the form of the possessive case of the personal pronoun you."

It would be an abominably awkward use of a contraction, though.

[DS1]

21. I can't say I've ever seen ~your's~, I don't think your is ever contracted

unless it's pregnant.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. It certainly wouldn't be common

But it would be possible. Consider:
"Your is the form of the possessive case of the personal pronoun you."
Contracted to:
"Your's the form of the possessive case of the personal pronoun you."

If you were using the word your as the subject of the sentence as we do when we discuss grammar.

Here's another awkward sounding sentence that could be contracted in a similar vein:

"We is a pronoun."
"We's a pronoun."

This isn't unlike this pair:

"Susie is a proper noun."
"Susie's a proper noun."

[LynzM]

14. Check this out

Funny, and a good grammar bit: http://www.earlygirl.com/sincerely.shtml

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. That's great!

I love it!

And if caring about grammar is anal, I say not caring about it is like having the runs. :hi:

[LynzM]

19. Yeah, I love her stuff!

www.tomatonation.com (and some other tv-related sites I don't visit)

[tjwmason]

27. I love the analogy

Bad grammar frequently makes the meaning ambiguous, but any attempt to introduce a dash of precision is met with derision - a good come-back.

[Left Is Write]

26. No.

[RebelOne]

28. There is no such contraction as your's.

Yours is the possessive. And report is not capitalized unless it is part of a title. Take it from me. I earn my living as a copy editor.

[welshTerrier2]

16. capital letters are kind of, i don't know, uppity ...

i've stopped using them completely ...

every letter can aspire to be elitist or common ... why let them pretend to be something they're not ???

capital letters have very bad attitudes ... they always want to be the first letter in a sentence or the first letter in a word ...

what's up with that ???

[Cuban_Liberal]

18. Neither. n/t

[DS1]

20. Neither

Now, I'm no English Major, perhaps SOteric may add something to this, because she is, but in my humble opinion, if the report was an annual thing, such as the State of the Union Address, report should be. If it's a one off report, that the Surgeon General decided to put out, then no, it's just another report.

If that helps.

[bridgit]

22. neither case, unless...

The Surgeon General Report; and even then on the outside so as to say

[Bouncy Ball]

24. Another vote for neither.

[Floogeldy]

25. When you are referring to the actual report, i.e., as a source . . .

. . . I say capitalize it.

For example, "The Report states . . . ."

But when referring to it more generically, as in, "produced an extensive report," do not capitalize.

I think this will help the reader more readily understand when you are referring to the contents or substance of the Report.

[texanwitch]

29. Words that represent a person, place, or thing need to be

capitalized, this is what I learned in school.

Hope it helps.

[malta blue]

31. Neither n/t