Capitalization: Rules & Guidelines

1. Capitalization: Rules & Guidelines English 8

2. Proper Nouns & Adjectives • Proper noun: name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea. • Canada vs. Canadian

3. Names of People • Capitalize the names of people and also the initials or abbreviations that stand for those names. • Samuel L. Jackson

4. Titles Used with Names • Capitalize titles used with names of persons; also capitalize abbreviations standing for those titles. • Dr. Linda Trout • President Barack Obama • Rev. Jim Zavaski

5. Words Used as Names • Capitalize words such as mother, father, aunt, and uncle when these words are used as names. • “So, Mom, what are you doing here?” (Mom is used as a name.) • Uncle Martin sat on the couch (Uncle is a part of this person’s name.) • DO NOT capitalize these words is they come after a possessive pronoun (my, his, our). • My aunt just called me. (The word aunt describes this person but is not used as a name.)

6. School Subjects • Capitalize the name of a SPECIFIC educational course, but NOT the name of a general subject. • Exception– the names of all languages are proper nouns and are always capitalized: French, English, Latin, etc. • Roberto is taking a math class. • Roberto is taking an Algebra class.

7. Official Names • Capitalize the names of businesses and the official names of their products. • Apple • Do not, however, capitalize a general word like “toothpaste” when it follows the brand name. • Crest toothpaste

8. Races, Languages, Nationalities, and Religions • Capitalize the names of languages, races, nationalities, and religions, as well as the proper adjectives formed from them. • Swedish meatballs • Judaism

9. Days, Months, and Holidays • DO NOT capitalize the names of seasons. • Capitalize the names of days of the week, months of the year, and special holidays. • Thursday • Independence Day • September

10. Historical Events • Capitalize the names of historical events, documents, and periods of time. • World War II • the Bill of Rights • the Stone Age

11. Geographic Names • Capitalize the following geographic names: • Planets, continents, countries, states, provinces, counties, cities, bodies of water, landforms, public areas, roads and highways, buildings, and monuments. • Lowercase the word “earth” except when using it as the proper name of the planet. • What on earth are you doing here? • Same has traveled across the face of the earth several times.

12. Particular Sections of the Country • Capitalize words that indicate particular sections of the country. Also capitalize proper adjectives formed from names of specific sections of a country. • Having grown up on the East Coast, I find life in the South to be refreshing. • DO NOT capitalize words that simply indicate a direction. • The town is located east of Memphis.

13. First Words • Capitalize the first word of every sentence and the first word in a direct quotation. • Marty Becker, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, reports, “Seven out of ten people let their pets sleep on the bed.”

14. Titles • Capitalize the first word of a title, the last word, and every word in between except for articles (a, an, the) short prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions. • Locked in Time (book) • “Roses are Red” (poem) • The Phantom of the Opera (play)

15. Abbreviations • Capitalize abbreviations of titles and organizations. • Dr. (Doctor) • Mr. (Mister) • UPS (United Parcel Service)

16. Organizations • Capitalize the name of an organization, an association, or a team. • the Red Cross • the Minnesota Vikings • Republicans

17. Letters • Capitalize the letters used to indicate form or shape. • T-shirt • U-turn • A-frame