Muslims are more devout/devouted than....

[Ashraful Haque]

1. Are muslims more devout than people of any other faiths?
2. Are muslims more devouted than people of any other faiths?
3. Are muslims more devouted to their religion than people of any other faiths?

I'm pretty sure 2 and 3 are wrong. I tried looking them up but couldn't find any good results. I wonder why it doesn't work like other adjectives.

 

[Piscean]

I'm pretty sure 2 and 3 are wrong.

They are.

I wonder why it doesn't work like other adjectives.

What other adjectives?

 

[emsr2d2]

When you say "devouted", I think you might be confusing it with the word "devoted".

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, you need to capitalize "Muslims". Two, I'm not sure why you think you need "any" in those sentences.

 

[probus]

Two things. One, you need to capitalize "Muslims". Two, I'm not sure why you think you need "any" in those sentences.

Why do you need to capitalize muslim? According to Google ngrams both muslim and Muslim are frequently found in books, although the capitalized version has recently increased in frequency.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've never seen the name of a religion not capitalised.

 

[jutfrank]

Why do you need to capitalize muslim?

The main historical reason for capitalisation I think is to show respect.

However, I'm in the very small minority of people who think it shouldn't have to be capitalised. We've discussed this a few times since I became a member here on the forum. I thought I was the only one of the longer standing members who thought in this way so I'm pleasantly surprised by your comment.

 

[probus]

I've never seen the name of a religion not capitalised.

You've never seen "protestant"? I recently used it myself in this forum in parallel with Catholic (which I did capitalize).

 

[emsr2d2]

You've never seen "protestant"?

Not that I'm aware of! I'd expect them all to be capitalised, whether as an adjective or a noun.

She's Christian.
She's a Christian.
He's Buddhist.
He's a Buddhist.
We're Muslim.
We're Muslims.
Are you Catholic or Protestant?
Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?
Was she Baptist?
Was she a Baptist?
He's Sikh.
He's a Sikh.
She's Hindu.
She's a Hindu.

 

[smalltalk]

Now I’m wonderfully confused. I see that the OED has Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc. So, without the capitals we might have jehovah’s witnesses, buddhists, as well as marxists, tories, republicans? Oh dear – potterites?

 

[SoothingDave]

Just capitalize all religions. I have no idea why someone would argue not to capitalize "Muslim" or "Protestant."

 

[jutfrank]

I have no idea why someone would argue not to capitalize "Muslim" or "Protestant."

The only two arguments I can see in favour of capitalising these words when used as adjectives (I'm in total agreement they should be capitalised when nouns) are a) as a sign of respect and b) a prescription based wholly on usage. Still, if you want to argue usage, you'd have to consider the minority of users and style guides that do accept the lower case versions.

One argument in favour of lower case is to help make a distinction between adjectives and nouns.

 

[Skrej]

The only place I ever foresee this making an actual difference is when writing a paper for some class assignment. In such cases, follow whichever guidelines your instructor offers if you don't want points marked off.

 

[jutfrank]

Just capitalize all religions.

By the way, I don't want anyone to think that I disagree with your good advice. On the contrary.

 

[SoothingDave]

I have no doubt some style guides might say something else.

I fail to see why respect is supposed to disappear when using the name as an adjective.

Especially because words like "catholic" and "orthodox" have meanings unrelated to the churches. So you have to capitalize in order to make the distinction. But then we can leave "lutheran" or "buddhist" as lowercase?

 

[jutfrank]

I fail to see why respect is supposed to disappear when using the name as an adjective.

Especially because words like "catholic" and "orthodox" have meanings unrelated to the churches. So you have to capitalize in order to make the distinction. But then we can leave "lutheran" or "buddhist" as lowercase?

I think there's a half-decent argument to be made that there are somewhat wider, more generic senses of some of these words, which denote broader concepts relating less directly to any specific church . These are the cases where lower case are by some preferred.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Two things. One, you need to capitalize "Muslims". Two, I'm not sure why you think you need "any" in those sentences.

I don't know either. It's just something I wrote subconsciously.
I'd like to know the difference between 'any other faiths' and 'other faiths' here please.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

When you say "devouted", I think you might be confusing it with the word "devoted".

2. Are muslims more devoted than people of any other faiths?
3. Are muslims more devoted to their religion than people of any other faiths?

Are the sentences correct now?

 

[Tarheel]

2. Are muslims more devoted than people of any other faiths?
3. Are muslims more devoted to their religion than people of any other faiths?

Are the sentences correct now?

Number 2 makes no sense to me. I would phrase it this way: "Are Muslims more devoted to their religion than people of other faiths?"

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Number 2 makes no sense to me. I would phrase it this way: "Are Muslims more devoted to their religion than people of other faiths?"

This is what I understand.

1. Are Muslims more devout than people of other faiths?
Since the word 'devout' means to be deeply devoted to a religion or belief system, there's no need to mention 'religion.'

2. Are Muslims more devoted to their religion than people of other faiths?
'Devoted' means to be committed to someone or something through love and loyalty. The word 'religion' is necessary since it doesn't specify what exactly Muslims are devoted to.

Please let me know if I understand it.