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In Italian they have this way to show formal respect to another person in writing, by capitalizing all the direct or indirect references to him.

A random example might be: "Porgo i miei più sentiti ossequi a Lei e alla Sua signora."

So, sometimes I feel like doing the same in English, like for instance: "I thank You", "I hope to have the honor to work with You" and so on...

The question is, would this form of capitalization be understood as an expression of respect, or more likely seen as an error (and hence perhaps disrespect) ?

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It would just look odd, and is not to be recommended. –  Barrie England Feb 27 '13 at 11:57
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marked as duplicate by Hugo, tchrist, cornbread ninja 麵包忍者, Kristina Lopez, MετάEd Feb 27 '13 at 18:58


2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Don't use a capital Y in you (unless in a title or the start of a sentence), it looks strange and marks you out immediately as non-native writer.

I've seen it fairly often from writers of other languages that do use a capital for respectful forms of you. English, however, does not, and it can cause confusion. I remember how odd it looked to me the first time I saw it.

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Thanks a lot to all. Very helpful. –  Pam Feb 27 '13 at 13:31
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It’s definitely an error.

The only personal pronouns which are capitalised in English are “I” and those referring to God in certain religious traditions. “I” is always capitalised; God’s pronouns are not always treated so.

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