nouns - When should "Mom" and "Dad" be capitalized?


I am trying to understand capitalization rules with Mom and Dad. I believe I have it correct below, but please let me know if I do not.



The one thing I learned from my dad was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad has shown me how good that a dad can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad wasn't there, I ran outside....



The above passage is just made-up just so that you would see what I mean about capitalization. Let's put numbers by each one, like so:



The one thing I learned from my dad(1) was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad(2) has shown me how good that a dad(3) can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad(4) wasn't there, I ran outside....





  1. This is one where I'm not certain. I believe in this sense I'm showing possession here with "my", and it just didn't seem right saying "my Dad". I don't know what the grammar rule is here, or if I even have it right.




  2. This one is obvious—it starts the sentence.




  3. In this case, I'm using Dad like a name instead of saying "Larry". Therefore, it should be capitalized.




  4. Again, just like 3.





Answer



"Dad" is a specific reference (when you say it you mean somebody different from when I say it), so it gets capitalized like any proper noun. On the other hand, "dad" is a common noun meaning "father" (anybody's). You only use disambiguators like "my" or "a" with common nouns ("my dad", but not "my Dad" just like you wouldn't say "my John Smith").


So the passage you quoted has it right. (3) is not capitalized because it's using a common noun ("a dad"), not a proper one ("Dad").


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