Enter the room No.3

[Elenichka]

Please explain if the article "the" is used correctly or it mustn't be used when the number is mentioned. Thank you!

 

[tedmc]

I think "room" should be capitalized since the name is "Room No. 3".

 

[tedmc]

It's not a name as such. There is no need for any capital letters.

Some sources do recommend rooms with numbers to be capitalized:

http://www.darton.edu/programs/Humanities/writing/pdfs/OWC/Grammar/Capitalization.pdf (Item 8)
https://brand.utexas.edu/editorial-style/capitalization
http://web.calstatela.edu/faculty/pthomas/BUS305/buseng/capitalization.htm

 

[Tarheel]

Q: What's my room number?
A: Number 3. Here is the key to room number 3.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree with the non-capitalisation of "room" in Tarheel's last post. However, if the word "number" were omitted, I would write "Here is the key to Room 3".

 

[jutfrank]

In my opinion, the simplest and clearest way to approach this is to follow this simple rule of use: capitalise if you intend to show a word is part of a name and don't capitalise if not.

This rule, though, may have a bearing on whether to use an article. For example, we would not say:

• She entered room.

because, since room is a general noun, this is ungrammatical without an article. But we would say:

• She entered Room 3.

without an article, since Room 3 is a name.

So when we encounter a phrasing as in the OP, which includes the word 'number':

• She entered the room No.3.

we must decide whether to keep the article, in which case we're saying the name of the room is just 'No.3',

• She entered (the room) No.3.

(which sounds a bit odd to me) or remove the article and make the name of the room 'Room No.3',

• She entered Room No.3.

which I personally think is more logical and more elegant.