Grammar Made Easy: Should I Capitalize "Mom" and "Dad"?

Everyone knows to capitalize names. I mean “patrick” looks so weird that spellcheck tried to automatically fix it. But it’s very common to get tripped up when we’re talking about Mom and Dad.

Or is it mom and dad? My Mom? Our dad?

What should be simple can leave you second-guessing or using inconsistently.

I’ve got you covered.

Grammatically, here’s where you should and shouldn’t capitalize your parents.

If it’s used as the equivalent of their name (as in “Mom loves the color red” or—in dialogue—“I love you, Mom”), then capitalize it.

But if it’s used as a role/position (as in “My dad enjoys a good steak, while your dad is a vegetarian”), don’t capitalize it.

Using “my Mom” or “my Dad” just reads odd (and a little creepy) . . . like you own them.

And you’d never say, “Hi, my dad.” You’d say, “Hi, Dad.”