Should one capitalize the word sir when it's used in dialogue?
Which of the following would be correct?
"Yes sir." -or- "Yes Sir."
Which of the following would be correct?
"Yes sir." -or- "Yes Sir."
Should one capitalize the word sir when it's used in dialogue?
Which of the following would be correct?
"Yes sir." -or- "Yes Sir."
I've seen it capitalised and exclamation-pointed ("Yes Sir!") to indicate a particularly sharp military delivery with strong emphasis on both words. I think the comma's left out for the same reason - because in that particular response type it very much isn't there in the way it is said.
Now I'm wondering how you'd present "sir yes sir", because I suspect that strictly it ought to be "Sir, yes, sir" and that doesn't look right for the delivery it would have at all. It just looks far too laid back.
Anyone write military fiction?
No capital. It's not a formal name. But you do need a comma:
"Yes, sir."
in the same way you would with a formal name:
"Yes, Mary."
I like "Hey Mary," better than "Hey, Mary."
Yessir!You might like it, but it's grammatically improper. If it hit my desk as an editor, I'd add the comma. Go look at any number of published books and see how it's done.
If it's a brisk military response "YES SIR"
Why would you need a comma? There is no pause. I can't find any rule that would require a comma.
I like "Hey Mary," better than "Hey, Mary." Most people would blend the two words together as one when speaking. Either could be used, but they do give a different feel to the sentence."
The idea that if you don't pause, there's no comma, and if there's no comma, you don't pause is a misunderstanding of comma use.
The comma marks divisions of structure within a sentence. Sometimes there's a coincidental natural pause; sometimes there isn't one.
The structure of "yes, sir" is a comma in dialog to separate the person addressed from the rest of the sentence. It's to avoid confusion, not force a pause.
Used many times here at AW as an example is eliminating the confusion between:
"Let's eat, Grandma."
and
"Let's eat Grandma."
Lastly, you'd be much better off writing "Grandma, lets eat." No confusion, even if you forget the comma, and more true to real life dialog. Awkward examples do not make the comma usage correct.
Lowercase -- sir and ma'am are respectful honorifics, not titles or rank labels.Basically, you wouldn't capitalize sir the way you wouldn't capitalize ma'am?
Yes, sir. -- Yes, Sir.
Yes, ma'am. -- Yes, Ma'am.
The latter of the two being incorrect and, to me, look rather funny either way.