English translation: God/Lord + associated pronouns are usually in capital...
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:
you(r) vs. You(r)
English translation:
God/Lord + associated pronouns are usually in capital...
English to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Religion / use of capitals
English term or phrase:you(r) vs. You(r)
I'm reviewing some subtitles about a religious institution. I've come across phrases like
"My life is in *Your* hands, oh Lord";
"Without *You* I have nothing";
"God is our *father*";
"Jesus Christ *Our* Lord. Amen."
"He takes care of all *his* children"
"those *He* cares for"
Now, while I'd definitely put "Father" with a capital F and "our (Lord)" with a small o, I'm not sure about "You/Your". At the same time, though, I'd capitalise "He/His".
Should I capitalise everything (except for "our" Lord) to be on the safe side? Wouldn't it look a bit much?
Thanks a million.
irene
Explanation: .. in religious literature. So I'd put He/His as well as You/Yours in capital (if "You" refers to God), but not "our" as in "our Lord".
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 10 mins (2010-04-14 15:32:42 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Hmmm, not quite so sure about "you" anymore, after a quick Google search reveals that while "He" is always capitalised, there is no agreement on "you".
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 mins (2010-04-14 15:38:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Further to my added note, I believe you have to be consistent, so either capitalise He as well as You, or capitalize neither.
Some interesting info here:
"English style
is a moving target, and there is not widespread agreement on
capitalization of pronouns referring to God. In the time of the King
James Version, it was common practice to capitalize pronouns pertaining
to any king or other national leader. Since God is the King of Kings,
it only made sense to capitalize pronouns referring to God. In modern
English, we don't do that, even when writing very respectfully. In
modern English, it is considered correct to either capitalize or not
capitalize pronouns referring to God, but the practice should be
consistent within a book. Other contemporary translations of the Holy
Bible into English are pretty much evenly split between capitalizing
and not capitalizing these pronouns.
(...) By not capitalizing pronouns
pertaining to God, we as translators preserve the ambiguity of the
original Scriptures and leave the application to the Holy Spirit and
the reader. http://stason.org/TULARC/education-books/bible-world-english...
That's exactly the point. Capitalising pronouns feels like a religious statement. On the other hand, these are religious people and therefore using "You" and "He" would probably give the right emphasis to their words.
Yet, since this is not a scriptural text, it *might* be an idea to capitalize pronouns (even "you", etc.) for added effect (if these are direct addresses to the deity, as they seem to be).
Just my €0.02 :=)
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
8 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
you(r) vs. you(r)
Capitalize "You" and "Your" when referring to God
Explanation: For the same reason that you capitalize the pronouns "He" and "His." It is that simple.
Robert Forstag United States Local time: 22:10 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2