Guide to Literary Terms Group

Question:

nitrategal
nitrategal

Is mama a proper noun?

 

Should mama be capitalized as a proper noun?

Rate question:

Posted by nitrategal on Monday September 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM and tagged with common or proper noun, guide to literary terms.

Answers:

  1. slchanmo1885
    slchanmo1885 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    If it is being used as a name, then it should be capitalized.

    Proper nouns are nouns that are the names of specific people, places, titles, cities, countries, organizations, or objects. They are always capitalized because they are the name of something. "Mama" is a proper noun if it is being used as the woman's name, such as in the following example, "Mama, I had a great day at school today!" However, if it is just being used as an alternate term for a "mother" then it is not proper and does not need to be capitalized, such as in the following example, "My mama is prettier than your mama." Here is it not used as a name, so it is not considered proper, and is not capitalized.

     

    Rate answer:

    Posted by slchanmo1885 on Monday September 28, 2009 at 4:34 PM

  2. pinmar
    pinmar Teacher
    Elementary / Primary

    No, mama is a common noun.  It does not get capitalized.  Proper nouns are names of specific people, places, or things such as my name, Mary Lou (there may be more than one person named Mary Lou, but there is only one of me!).

    Rate answer:

    Posted by pinmar on Wednesday September 30, 2009 at 12:13 PM