Monday, December 10, 2018

grammar - Wrote first letter of a specific course with capital letter in a paragraph, but marked as grammatically incorrect!



I have a quick question for you guys. In my resume, I wrote this:




  • Repaired computers in the computer lab along with the instructor and team members, for current Hardware and Software course students, to do the practical exam.



The instructor pointed out a grammatical error in "Hardware and Software", and says to use the use lower letter for "H" and "S" like this "hardware and software".




I have an objection to it because this course name is a specific course name, and not a general course. So, I think I'm correct, and it should be capital.



What do you think, who is right? Thanks a lot!



NOTE: The instructor is not an English instructor. She helps me in resume stuff.


Answer



I agree with the comments above that hardware and software sound generic, and capitalizing the words may be seen as a spelling mistake.



Nevertheless, it is conventional to capitalize course titles. For example, The Right Word at the Right Time (p119) states:





The names of recognized subject fields are often not capitalized, but
tend to be capitalized when the reference is to a course, degree or
examination in the subject: She studied chemistry (= the subject
chemistry), She won the Nobel Prize for chemistry (= the subject
chemistry), but She got a distinction in Chemistry (= a chemistry exam
or course).




And The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition (p425) has this entry under Capitalization:





8.85 Courses of study. Official names of courses are capitalized.




  • I'm signing up for Archaeology 101

  • A popular course at the Graham School of General Studies is Basic Manuscript Editing.





If the OP considers it important to include this information and that the reader understands Hardware and Software as a course title, then it could be italicized:




Repaired computers in the computer lab along with the instructor and
team members, for current Hardware and Software course students, to do
the practical exam.



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