Help with iPhone!!!!

[makaveli]

Hi teachers,

Hope you can clear this one up for me as it came up in class today!

We are learning about possessive pronouns and the sentence was:

The iPhone is mine.

Now iPhone is a proper noun but Apple spell it with a small 'i' and just to make it more confusing followed by a big 'P' on their website and I believe the phone itself!

I told the kids that because they had branded it this way although it was a proper noun to use this grammatically! Then straight after had my doubts!


If anyone could enlighten me it would be appreciated!!

Mak

[jlinger]

It is a proper noun, yes. However, you do still respect the tradename and never capitalize the i.

In formal writing, however, you need to avoid the oddity of starting a sentence like this:

iPhones are here to stay.

You do this by recasting the sentence:

It is clear that iPhones are here to stay.
The iPhone is here to stay.

The problem is not a new one. We've had it ever since e e cummings, and by the time he went out of style, k d lang reminded us of it.

[BobK]

Your advice was right, although a patent lawyer would favour some ridiculously heavy-handed circumlocution like 'My "iPhone" brand mobile telecommunications device'. (Lawyers get very touchy about using a brand name as a proper noun; it makes the IPR harder to protect. But do people really say 'Things go better with "Coca-Cola" brand cola-flavoured drink'? )

b