When using papá or mamá as a proper noun, is it capitalized?

Question

In English, any proper noun is capitalized. When using "mom" or "dad" as a proper noun, it is written with an initial capital letter. Do we do the same thing in Spanish dialogue when speaking directly to mamá or papá? Or are "mamá" and "papá" never capitalized?

welcome to the forum, :) - 006595c6, Jul 26, 2017

Answer 1

Good question Orlando.

On the one hand you could consider "Mamá / Papá" as names, which would be capitalised.

On the other hand you could consider them titles, which would not.

I'm not a native speaker so I can't say for sure, but a quick check on reverso-contexto showed all examples of "Mamá" as the first word in a sentence, and many examples of "mamá" when it was being used as the proper noun "Mom / Mum" so I'm guessing lower case is correct even in this context.

indeed, lower case it is, good answer :) - 006595c6, Jul 26, 2017

Gracias Heidi :) - jellonz, Jul 26, 2017

Answer 2

Hello!

The first word in a Spanish sentence structure is always capitalized. The rest and others are lower-case letters. Here's a link from 2012 regarding capitalization. I Didn't Know That! (Rules of Spanish Capitalization)

Hope this helps.

Regards!