adjective!

[ellanovella]

Does anyone know if "Spartan" has to be capitalized if it is being used as an adjective?

[Sound of Silence]

Yep, it does. :)

Think of: The wild English man

'wild' is your adjective (or describer)
'English' used as an adjective here, lets you classify 'what type' of man (and as English is a proper noun, it keeps its capitalisation)
and 'man' is your main head-noun.

Hope that helps. It might be useful to know what context you're using Spartan in (what's the sentence?)

;)

[ellanovella]

thanks. the context that i was using is:


She entered a rather Spartan room, noting the simple bed and table set against one wall.

[Sound of Silence]

Are you sure you don't mean 'sparse' room? Spartan usually means of or pertaining to the race of Spartans (e.g. wild, reckless men etc), It might be the difference in nationality here, though. I'm English and just I find the sentence a little awkward, it could be perfectly natural to you.

[ellanovella]

I'm totally positive it's used in that way. I know that we learned about it in English, I simply can't remember if it was capitalized or not.


From dictionary.com:

Spar·tan (spär'tn)
adj.

1. Of or relating to Sparta or its people.
2. also spartan
... 1. Rigorously self-disciplined or self-restrained.
... 2. Simple, frugal, or austere: a Spartan diet; a spartan lifestyle.
... 3. Marked by brevity of speech; laconic.
... 4. Courageous in the face of pain, danger, or adversity.

The second example under the second list item was what I was thinking of. I am going to assume, however, that because it is not is capitalized in the second "definition," that being used in that way would result in the first letter being lower case.

[Sound of Silence]

Ah... I see.

[TokeBernbole]

Ya never really heard that expression but it certainly makes sense, and it seems that you would only use the capital case if you were actually describing the nation Sparta's people, the Spartans. I think I'm gonna file that one away for future use xD