Addressing Titled Characters

[Rob P]

Some characters have titles and can be addressed using these titles either on their own or in connection with their name. It's something that's bugged because I don't entirely know, even having read many books.

Let's use Admiral Blewitt. If we just refer to him by his title but not physically address him, do we capitalise or not.

For instance. The admiral barked an order. Is it admiral or Admiral?

Or are we in the realms of writing styles?

This also brings in another area of trouble for me. Commas before Names. Do you use it all the time or only when the Name is used in a certain context.

For instance.

'Hello,' Bob said.
Mike couldn't hear, Bob talking. (comma yes or no?)

Your advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Ayaka Di'rutia]

For your first question, I believe it is a question of writing styles. In one of my series, I at first didn't capitalize a title because it was not as important to the character. When the character realized how important the title was to herself, that's when the title became capitalized. You can use it to emphasize the importance of the title and the characters themselves, and, as in my case, as a story element.

For your second question, no, do not put the comma between the verb "hear" and the direct object "Bob". If you say it out loud with the proper pause after a comma, you should be able to tell it sounds wrong. If you're unsure about your sentences, reading them out loud can be a great help

Hope I helped

 

[Chilari]

When a title is used as a descriptor, don't capitalise. When it's used to directly address someone, do capitalise. For example:

The admiral barked an order. "Get your men on my ships, Colonel!"

Generally the difference is when "the" is used in front of it, although there are exceptions. For example:

The royal ball's door announcer tapped his stick on the ground. "The Admiral and Lady Silverspoon."

Some people regard it as a stylistic thing. In my day job I see a lot of "we will assign a Project Director to oversee the project. The Project Director will be responsible for..." and in that professional context it is sometimes suitable, though when they start writing "we will liaise with the Client and the Client's representatives" I start decapitalising. In fiction, I'd use lower case when using a title to describe something where it can be replaced by another noun, for example the king, the man, the cat, the ambassador, the blacksmith, and still make sense (out of context - you might not have a king putting a horseshoe in water). But where a name follows directly, or could follow directly, it's capitalised: King Bob, Colonel Joe, Ambassador Inara etc. E.g:

"Good morning, Ambassador," Mal said. "The shepherd was looking for you. Oh, hello, Shepherd Book. I was just telling the ambassdor you were looking for her."

As for putting a comma in front of a name, unless it would be there anyway without the name, it shouldn't be there with the name. "Mike couldn't hear, Bob talking" is NOT correct. "Mike couldn't hear the cat meowing" doesn't have a name and doesn't have a comma. The same is true when there's a name: "Mike couldn't hear Bob talking."

With dialogue, the comma goes at the end whatever follows, if the sentence continues:

"Hello," Bob said.
"Hello," said Bob.
"Hello," the man said.
"Hello." Bob shut the door.

In the final example, the sentence "Hello." ends; there's no speech tag, but the events that follow are done by the speaker so can be in the same paragraph and in this example are used as a means of identifying the speaker without using a speech tag.

I have never heard of putting commas before names before, except where they'd be without names, like lists. Where did you get the idea that you should?

 

[BWFoster78]

Here's my understanding (and I don't think that this is stylistic as most sources seem to give the same advice):

Capitalize the title if it's part if the direct address - When writing "Admiral Blewitt," "Admiral" is indeed supposed to be capitalized.

Do not capitalize the title if you're using it as a general word - When writing "the admiral barked an order," "admiral" is not capitalized.

One easy tip for remembering, if you can substitute the person's name, capitalize the title:

Her dad went fishing. (doesn't sound right to say "her Bob went fishing.")
She and Dad (Bob) went fishing.
The duke went fishing. (doesn't sound right to say "The Bob went fishing.")

You do not need a comma before a name unless you're directly addressing that person. In your first example, the comma is there because that's the proper way to punctuate dialogue. In the second sentence, the comma should not be used.

Hey, Bob. What's up? (I'm directly addressing Bob, so I need a comma.)
She and Bob went fishing. (no comma needed before Bob)
"I'm punctuating dialogue," he said. (always need a comma if you're not using another form of puncuation before the end quotes)

Hope that helps!

Brian

 

[Butterfly]

With the comma being needed beforethe name... you would use it in dialogue where one character is addressing another. "As you know, Bob." thing, and as in Chilari's perfectly correct example of "Good moning, Admiral.'

You wouldn't need the comma where one character is referring to another. "What do you think about that Bob fella."

Same with titles. Unless you are talking about a general rank or title as an object you don't capitalise. Otherwise treat is as an extension of a character's name.

 

[Rob P]

I have never heard of putting commas before names before, except where they'd be without names, like lists. Where did you get the idea that you should?

It was all to do with my never fully understanding using the comma prior to a person's name when addressed as opposed to their name just being used.