# Part of speech / capitalization **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152 "2015-01-06T19:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/1 "2015-01-06T19:40:40Z")
In “Send in the Clowns,” what part of speech is “in,” and should the “i” be capitalized? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/2 "2015-01-06T20:18:35Z")
A preposition and typically not, but the latter is style rather than grammar. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/3 "2015-01-06T20:23:41Z")
I don’t think it’s a preposition in this case. It seems to be part of the verb. It’s not “[Send] [in the Clowns],” but “[Send In] [the Clowns].” ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/4 "2015-01-06T20:28:54Z")
Adverb. Send them _where_? > [@](#): > > … should the “i” be capitalized? No. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/5 "2015-01-06T20:38:02Z")
These types of verbs are called [phrasal verbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasal_verb), and as the article notes > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The terminology of phrasal verbs is inconsistent. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/6 "2015-01-06T20:40:56Z")
I read “Send in the clowns” as simply being “Send the clowns in” with a variant word ordering. Here, “in” is a preposition, with the remainder of the prepositional phrase being implicit. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/7 "2015-01-06T20:43:05Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > These types of verbs are called [phrasal verbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasal_verb), and as the article notes So in this sense, “In” is a particle. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/8 "2015-01-06T20:46:52Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > So in this sense, “In” is a particle. Yes. And you capitalize, by almost all style guides, in the same way you capitalize “over” for the song “(Just Like) Starting Over.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/9 "2015-01-06T20:51:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I read “Send in the clowns” as simply being “Send the clowns in” with a variant word ordering. Here, “in” is a preposition, with the remainder of the prepositional phrase being implicit. The phrasal “send in” is separable. It’s not a preposition. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/10 "2015-01-06T20:57:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes. And you capitalize, by almost all style guides, in the same way you capitalize “over” for the song “(Just Like) Starting Over.” That seems at odds with what Wikipedia says about [capitlization of titles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#Titles): > [@](#): > > In English, some authors/publishers capitalize the first word and the last word of titles. In addition, they believe that all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions should be capitalized. Articles and coordinating conjunctions are not capitalized, while sources disagree on the capitalization of prepositions. For example, **no prepositions are capitalized in the title of a book, a movie, or a play** according to some style guides, for example the Chicago Manual of Style. The APA style guide, for example, however says: Capitalize major words in titles of books and articles within the body of the paper. **Conjunctions, articles, and short prepositions are not considered major words; however, capitalize all words of four letters or more.** Emphasis mine. So Chicago apparently excludes all prepositions from capitalization, while APA would exclude all “short” prepositions (under four letters). I will say, just looking at it, I would usually not expect either “in” nor “the” to be capitalized. For what it’s worth, neither word is capitalized in the song listing on [Stephen Sondheim’s](http://sondheim.com/works/a_little_night_music/) website. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/11 "2015-01-06T21:09:30Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > That seems at odds with what Wikipedia says about [capitlization of titles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#Titles): > > Emphasis mine. > > So Chicago apparently excludes all prepositions from capitalization, while APA would exclude all “short” prepositions (under four letters). > > I will say, just looking at it, I would usually not expect either “in” nor “the” to be capitalized. For what it’s worth, neither word is capitalized in the song listing on [Stephen Sondheim’s](http://sondheim.com/works/a_little_night_music/) website. As discussed above, though, it’s not a preposition. It’s part of the verb. It’s a particle. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/12 "2015-01-06T21:28:02Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > As discussed above, though, it’s not a preposition. It’s part of the verb. It’s a particle. I’m not convinced that it is. Phrasal verbs, as I understand them, tend to be a single semantic unit, and have a meaning as a unit that cannot be deduced from the literal definition of the two parts. For example, “look up” (find in a reference book), “tell off” (criticize), “give up” (surrender), etc. I don’t believe that “send in” has this sort of independent meaning. To me, its meaning is the same as the literal understanding of the words. It means to send the clowns in (to a particular area, in this case the area occupied by the singer). To add to my previous post, on looking further, I don’t believe that the [Sondheim.com](http://Sondheim.com) site that I linked is actually affiliated with Stephen Sondheim. Nevertheless, nearly all references to the song that I can find online style it as “Send in the Clowns.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/13 "2015-01-06T23:47:30Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > . . . nearly all references to the song that I can find online style it as “Send in the Clowns.” Of course. They all erroneously consider “in” to be a preposition . . . probably Sondheim as well. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/14 "2015-01-07T05:50:45Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I’m not convinced that it is. Phrasal verbs, as I understand them, tend to be a single semantic unit, and have a meaning as a unit that cannot be deduced from the literal definition of the two parts. For example, “look up” (find in a reference book), “tell off” (criticize), “give up” (surrender), etc. While many phrasals indeed are opaque, just as many are not (e.g., get up, set aside, grow up, etc.) But if you really have doubts, you can do several syntactic tests (and a pronunciation test) to determine whether the word in question behaves as a preposition or the particle of a phrasal. **Separability** As I mentioned above, _send in_ is separable. Many phrasals are separable. A preposition attached to a verb is not: \*Send in the clowns. Send the clowns in. Believe in God. \*Believe God in. \* **Adverb Insertion** An adverb can intervene between a verb and its preposition, but not within a phrasal: \*They walked into the room quickly. They walked quickly into the room. They send in the clowns often. _They send often in the clowns_. **Pronunciation** The particle of a phrasal is stressed (about the same as the verb). A preposition (normally) is not stressed: SEND IN the CLOWNS beLIEVE in GOD **“Front-loading”** A preposition can be “front loaded” with the interrogative pronoun of a question, while a phrasal particle can’t: \*He believed in God. In what did he believe? He sent in the clowns. _In who did he send?_ **“Passivization”** A transitive phrasal can be rendered passive unmarked, but rendering a verb with its collocative preposition in the passive violates its syntactic frame, and normally is only done for humorous effect: \*The clowns were sent in by me. ?God is believed in by me.\* If that’s not enough to convince you, the _Oxford English Dictionary_ lists _send in_ as a phrasal verb, between _send forth_ and _send off_. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/15 "2015-01-07T09:42:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Of course. They all erroneously consider “in” to be a preposition . . . probably Sondheim as well. I’m having a hard time believing anyone considers Sondheim to be a preposition. I’ll have to ask for a cite. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/part-of-speech-capitalization/709152/16 "2015-01-07T14:42:37Z")
**guizot** , that was a very informative post. Thank you.