God saves you.

[tufguy]

If you don't know how many states are there in the USA then God saves you.

What do we say "god save you" or "god saves you"?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If you don't know how many states there are in the USA then God help you.

Do we say "God save you" or "God saves you"?

We say "help." But I don't think it's important to know how many states we have unless you live here or come from here.

 

[GoesStation]

What do we say, "God save you" or "God saves you"?

Can you express your idea with different words? I can't guess what you mean.

 

[Phaedrus]

What do we say, "God save you" or "God saves you"?

"God save/help you" (cf. "God save the king"; "God bless America) is a sentence in the present subjunctive, comparable to "May God save/help you."

"God saves/helps you" is a sentence in the third-person singular present indicative. An expansion might be: "God helps you when you ask for His help."

 

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher
------

"God helps you when you ask for His help."

Why is His capitalized? Is that a sign of respect toward the deity?

I remember I was once corrected on this forum for using lowercase god when referring to the Judeo-Christian deity. It's simply a name and should be capitalized as such; it has nothing to do with belief, respect, or atheism - a simple distinction between any deity and the particular deity.

What's up with capital His?

 

[Tarheel]

It's convention. We capitalize His when the word refers to the deity (God). Whatever the reason, it's always been done that way.

 

[Glizdka]

It's convention. We capitalize His when the word refers to the deity (God). Whatever the reason, it's always been done that way.

I see. We do the same in Polish. Just wanted to confirm it.

If I don't believe in any deity whatsoever, am I free to leave it lowercase, or should I still capitalize it anyway?

What if I talk about a different god/goddess, say, Aphrodite or Mars? Does the convention also apply, or is it only used for God?

 

[Tarheel]

It doesn't matter whether you're a believer or not. As for Aphrodite or Mars, no. They are not accorded that respect.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I see. We do the same in Polish. Just wanted to confirm it.

If I don't believe in any deity whatsoever, am I free to leave it lowercase, or should I still capitalize it anyway?

What if I talk about a different god/goddess, say, Aphrodite or Mars? Does the convention also apply, or is it only used for God?

Good question!

I'm an atheist, too.

It's good to capitalize God (and He and His and Him) when talking about the almighty Judeo-Christian deity. It avoids confusion with discussion of other gods.

As Tarheel says, it's a convention, like capitalizing I. We just do it that way.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Not a teacher
------



Why is His capitalized? Is that a sign of respect toward the deity?

I remember I was once corrected on this forum for using lowercase god when referring to the Judeo-Christian deity. It's simply a name and should be capitalized as such; it has nothing to do with belief, respect, or atheism - a simple distinction between any deity and the particular deity.

What's up with capital His?

Same thing. We just do it.

 

[GoesStation]

It doesn't matter whether you're a believer or not. As for Aphrodite or Mars, no. They are not accorded that respect.

Their names are capitalized just like "God" is when it's a name.

 

[Tarheel]

The question was do you use uppercase G or lowercase g for the Greek gods? (The gods of ancient Rome get the same treatment.)

The names of the individual gods are, of course, capitalized.

 

[GoesStation]

I haven't used a initial capital for pronouns referring to God since I left school in 1964.

The practice is much less common than it used to be.

 

[Phaedrus]

Why is His capitalized? Is that a sign of respect toward the deity? . . . What's up with capital His?

To add to what the others have said, I do view it as a sign of respect or humility. As Piscean's post indicates, this capitalization custom is no longer observed very widely. Among those who practice the custom authentically, not as a mere act of imitation or mockery, the capitalization of pronouns referring to a monotheistic deity, of whichever religion, signifies, I think, that the speaker is referring conscientiously to a higher being, that the pronouns are being employed, if you will, as super-pronouns.

Rarely will you see the custom consistently followed in all cases, even by those who strive to follow it. Whether through lack of grammatical understanding or lack of grammatical mindfulness, people who follow the custom with He, His, You, Your, Thee, and Thou usually fail to follow it with Who, Whom, Whose, That, and One. Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626), who supervised the translation of the King James Bible, was exceptional in his adherence to the custom. Below is an excerpt from one of his sermons:

"Here is a speech; but we know not whose, nor to whom, nor yet (well) concerning whom; only concerning certain persons, whom the speaker (whoever he is) calleth his 'anointed.' It behoveth us to know these three, who they be.

"The Person, Whose the speech is, Persona loquens, He That saith Meos, Him we find at the fourteenth verse. Ipse est Dominus Deus noster, 'He is the Lord our God:' God it is, That speaketh here: He That challengeth them for His, by calling them 'Mine.'"

- Lancelot Andrewes

 

[emsr2d2]

I haven't used a initial capital for pronouns referring to God since I left school in 1964.

I don't think I've ever needed to write a pronoun for God/god. My use of the word is solely in expressions like "Oh, for god's sake" and, as you can see, I don't capitalise it. There's also, of course, the more modern issue of people automatically using "he" when referring to the Christian god.

 

[Glizdka]

To add to what the others have said, I do view it as a sign of respect or humility. As Piscean's post indicates, this capitalization custom is no longer observed very widely. Among those who practice the custom authentically, not as a mere act of imitation or mockery, the capitalization of pronouns referring to a monotheistic deity, of whichever religion, signifies, I think, that the speaker is referring conscientiously to a higher being, that the pronouns are being employed, if you will, as super-pronouns.

"Super-pronouns"...hmm... I like it! I'll henceforth use capital He, Him, His, Himself.

I don't think I've ever needed to write a pronoun for God/god. My use of the word is solely in expressions like "Oh, for god's sake" and, as you can see, I don't capitalise it. There's also, of course, the more modern issue of people automatically using "he" when referring to the Christian god.

What's the issue? I'm clueless.

 

[Rover_KE]

"Super-pronouns"...hmm... I like it! I'll henceforth use capital He, Him, His, Himself.

I don't recommend it—you'll be joining a diminishing minority.

What's the issue? I'm clueless.

Forget about it. Move on to something else.

 

[tufguy]

Can you express your idea with different words? I can't guess what you mean.

I was trying to know which one is correct "god save you" or "god saves you".

 

[emsr2d2]

I was trying to [STRIKE]know[/STRIKE] find out [STRIKE]which one is correct[/STRIKE] whether "god save you" or "god saves you" is correct.

Read posts 2, 3 and 4 again, taking careful note of everything that was said, and of the changes in the quote boxes.

 

[GoesStation]

If you don't know how many states are there in the USA then God saves you.

What do we say "god save you" or "god saves you"?

I was trying to know which one is correct "god save you" or "god saves you".

Both phrases are correct. They mean different things; the first is an imperative asking God to save you. The second uses the present simple to say that you expect God to save you in the situation you tried to describe.

I asked you to use different words to explain the idea you're trying to express. You haven't done so and you've ignored the corrections I and other moderators have made to help you. Thread closed.