|
I. Capitalize the first word
in a SENTENCE.
|
-
“It was the best of times, it
was the worst of times . . . .”
-
“Call me Ishmael.”
-
"If you really want to hear
about it, the first thing you'll
probably want to know is, where
I was born, and what my lousy
childhood was like, and how my
parents were occupied and all
before they had me, and all that
David Copperfield kind of crap,
but I don't feel like going
into it, if you want to know the
truth."
-
"They shoot the white girl
first."
-
"1801. -- I have just
returned from a visit to my
landlord -- the solitary
neighbour that I shall be
troubled with."
|
II. Capitalize the first word
in a QUOTED SENTENCE.
|
-
An unwise man once said, “Honey,
I don't think you should wear
that dress."
-
“I can’t believe you said that!”
shouted Gina. “You are so
insensitive some times!”
-
“I am,” Luke apologized, “quite
sorry for suggesting that that
dress makes you look
fat.”
*NOTICE
that “quite” is not
capitalized because it does
not start a new sentence; it
simply continues one.
|
III. Capitalize the first word
in a LINE of POETRY, even if it is
not the first word in a sentence. :
|
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou
art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And
summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And
often is his gold complexion dimm'd.
And
every fair from fair sometime declines,
By
chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.
But
thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor
lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor
shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When
in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
(Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18)
|
IV. Capitalize the first word
in a SALUTATION and COMPLIMENTARY
CLOSE:
|
-
Dear Ms. Whitford,
-
My dearest Jayne,
-
Yours affectionately,
-
Sincerely yours,
|
V. Do not capitalize
the first word following a COLON, an
EXCLAMATION POINT, or a
QUESTION MARK:
|
|
1) PEOPLE’S NAMES:
|
-
(a) GIVEN NAMES:
-
Capitalize given
names (first names).
-
Maria, Juanita,
Rosemarie,
Shannon
|
-
(b) SURNAMES:
-
Capitalize surnames
(last names).
-
Washington,
Adams,
Jefferson,
Madison
-
*EXCEPTION:
-
With certain
last names—those
beginning with O
and
Mc—capitalize
both letters.
-
O’Malley,
O’Sullivan,
O’Henry
-
McCartney,
McWilliams,
McLean
-
*EXCEPTION:
-
However, usage
varies
with surnames
that begin with
Mac, van, von,
de,
and
du.
-
When in doubt,
ask the person
or consult a
dictionary or
encyclopedia.
|
-
(c) ABBREVIATIONS:
-
Capitalize the
abbreviations Sr.,
Jr., and Esq. when
they follow a name.
-
Also, use a comma
before these
abbreviations and a
period after them.
-
Martin Luther
King, Jr.
-
William J.
Butler, Sr.
-
Daniel P.
Webster, Esq.
|
|
2) COMMON NOUNS and PRONOUNS: |
-
Capitalize common nouns and
common adjectives when they are
part of the name.
-
Otherwise,
do not capitalize them,
as mentioned above.
Trail
of Tears |
a trail through
the woods |
Pike’s
Peak |
the peak of his
desire |
Panama
Canal |
canal
equipment |
Highland Falls
High School |
high school
dropout |
|
3) GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES: |
-
Capitalize geographical names
-
(a) POLITICAL UNITS:
-
countries (Slovakia,
Brazil),
states (Utah,
Georgia),
-
counties (Bedford
County, Luzerne
County)
-
townships (Trevorford
Township, Kingston
Borough)
-
cities (San
Angelo, Juno)
|
-
(b) LAND MASSES and
LAND FORMS:
-
continents (Africa,
South America)
-
islands (Long
Island, Canary
Islands)
-
peninsulas (Yucatan
Peninsula)
|
-
(c) TOPOGRAPHICAL
LAND FEATURES:
-
mountains (Appalachian
Mountains, Mount
McKinley)
-
canyons (Grand
Canyon, Bryce Canyon)
-
deserts (Gobi
Desert, Sahara
Desert)
-
plains (Northern
Great Plains)
-
forests (Allegheny
National Forest,
Petrified Forest)
-
parks (Yosemite
National Park)
-
dams and others (Hoover
Dam, Indian Echo
Caverns)
|
-
(d) BODIES of WATER:
-
oceans (Artic
Ocean),
seas (Dead
Sea),
-
lakes (Lake
Superior),
-
rivers, harbors, and
others (Susquehanna
River, Boston
Harbor, Bering
Strait, Walden Pond)
|
-
(e) STREETS and ROADS:
-
River Street, St.
Mary’s Road, Warren
Avenue,
-
Maryland Boulevard,
Griffith Lane, Route
322,
-
Northern Central
Expressway, King’s
Highway,
Forty-second Street
-
(*Notice in the
last instance
the second word
is not
capitalized; see
#8.)
|
|
4) Names of COMPASS DIRECTIONS: |
-
Capitalize compass directions
only when they are used as
names of specific sections of
a country or the world.
-
Do
not capitalize them when
they simply indicate direction:
the Far East
|
east
of Eden |
the
West |
go west, young
man |
the
Southwest |
moving
southwest |
-
*Do not capitalize an
adjective that indicates
direction unless it is part of a
political unit or a
recognized region:
-
southern Iowa
-
the Southern Hemisphere
and a northerly wind
-
Northern Ireland
|
5) Names of ORGANIZATIONS,
BUSINESSES, GOVERNMENTAL BODIES:
|
-
Capitalize the names of the
following:
-
(a) ORGANIZATIONS
and INSTITUTIONS:
-
United States
Marine Corps,
Young
Republicans,
Brownsville
Board of
Education,
-
Philosophy
Department,
Buffalo Springs
Community
College,
-
American
Association for
the Arts
|
-
(b) GOVERNMENT
BODIES:
-
United States
Senate, United
Nations,
Department of
the Interior,
House of
Commons,
-
Department of
Homeland
Security, Social
Security
Administration,
-
Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency, United
Nations, Hague
Peace Conference
|
-
(c) BUSINESS
FIRMS, BRAND NAMES:
-
Petty
Publishing,
Inc., Interstate
Savings and
Loans,
Coca-Cola,
Saucony
-
EXCEPTION
(BRAND NAMES):
-
Do not
capitalize
common nouns or
adjectives that
follow brand
names:
-
Aim
toothpaste,
Zest soap,
Cadillac
sedan
|
-
(d) TRAINS,
PLANES, SHIPS,
BUILDINGS:
-
Orient
Express,
Spirit of St.
Louis,
-
Titanic,
Empire State
Building, Ford
Theatre, Bates
Motel
|
-
(e) SPECIAL
EVENTS:
-
Olympic Games,
Buick Open,
Junior-Senior
Prom,
-
Democratic
National
Convention,
World Series
|
-
(f) HISTORICAL
EVENTS and PERIODS:
-
Wars of the
Roses, French
Revolution,
-
Constitutional
Convention,
Middle Ages,
-
Information Age,
the Restoration
|
-
(g) CALENDAR
ITEMS:
-
Friday,
November, Labor
Day, Christmas,
Ramadan, Earth
Day
-
*EXCEPTION
(SEASONS):
-
Do not
capitalize the
names of seasons
unless they are
personified:
-
O Summer,
thou art
gone!
BUT
Today is
the last day
of summer.
-
He looked
like Old Man
Winter.
BUT
“Now is
the winter
of our
discontent
made
glorious
summer by
this sun of
York [. . .]
.”
(from
Shakespeare’s
Richard
III)
|
-
(h) RACES,
RELIGIONS,
NATIONALITIES,
TRIBES:
-
Caucasoid,
Australoid,
Mongoloid,
Negroid,
-
Methodist,
Islam, Roman
Catholic,
-
Brazilian,
Italian,
Cherokee, Bantu
|
-
(i) SCHOOL
SUBJECTS:
-
Do not
capitalize the
names of school
subjects except
-
1) proper
nouns or
adjectives
-
English,
French,
Russian,
Greek
-
2) course
names
followed by
numbers
-
Civics
II,
Advanced
Composition
222
English, German |
classical literature |
Applied Mathematics
III,
Typing II |
mathematics, typing,
American history |
|
|
6) Names of TITLES: |
-
(a) personal titles:
-
Capitalize personal (civil,
religious, military,
professional)
titles only if they precede
the name; if titles follow a
name or stand alone,
capitalize them only if they
refer to a high official or
to someone to whom you wish
to show especial respect.
Queen Elizabeth I;
Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland |
the Queen; a queen
|
the President of the
United States |
President Cleveland, a
president |
President Brown |
Jennifer Brown,
president of Rice University |
Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court; the Governor of New York |
Your Highness, Your
Excellency, Your Eminence, Your Honor |
the Secretary of the
Interior |
Thomas Ewing,
Secretary of the Interior |
Father Murphy |
A father in the church visited the
sick. |
Professor Jenkins |
Jessica Jenkins,
professor of biology, a professor, the professor |
Captain Queeg,
Sergeant York |
A captain in the US
Navy and a sergeant in the US Army discussed politics. |
-
*EXCEPTION
(PRESIDENT):
-
The
titles president and
vice-president are both
capitalized when they refer
to the leader of a nation.
-
The President will
address the nation.
-
*EXCEPTION
(PREFIXES):
-
Do
not capitalize ex-, -elect,
former, or late when they
are used with personal
titles:
-
ex-Senator Hartley,
Congresswoman-elect
-
O’Leary, former
President Milton, the
late Governor Novitsky.
-
*EXCEPTION (FAMILY MEMBERS):
-
Family titles (mother,
father, grandmother, sister,
brother, aunt, uncle)
are capitalized only when
they precede a name or when
they are used in place of a
proper name, especially when
used in direct address.
-
Do
not capitalize such
titles when they are
preceded by a possessive
pronoun AND are not part of
a person’s name.
-
I
heard Uncle Albert went
down to Junior’s farm.
(proper noun, part of
name)
-
My uncle and I
watched that horror
movie on television.
(not proper noun)
-
My
Uncle Albert and I made
microwavable popcorn.
(part of name)
-
*EXCEPTION
(DIRECT ADDRESS):
-
Capitalize titles used in
direct address:
-
Will this hurt, Doctor?
-
Tell me what it is like
to be a mother, Mother.
|
-
(b) titles of WORKS of
LITERATURE or ART:
-
Capitalize the first
word, the last word, and all
important words in titles of
books, magazines,
newspapers, articles, works
of art, movies, television
shows, laws, historical
documents.
-
Stephen King’s
The Drawing of the
Three
-
New York Times
-
“War is Over”
-
Vincent van
Gogh’s Sunflowers
-
Star Wars
-
The X-files
-
Second Amendment
-
United States v.
Four Hundred
Twenty-two Casks of
Wine
-
Freedom of
Information Act
-
Bill of Rights
-
*EXCEPTION (ARTICLES):
-
Capitalize the articles
a, an, and the only when
they begin a title (see
Stephen King’s title above).
-
Do not capitalize the
articles when they are in
the middle of titles and, in
sentences, when they come
before a newspaper or
magazine (unless, of course,
they appear in the actual
title).
-
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
-
“A Rose for Emily”
-
I read the Daily
News today.
-
*EXCEPTION (LINKING
VERB):
-
Capitalize forms of the
linking verb “to be,” such
as is, am, are, and be.
-
*EXCEPTION (LONG
PREPOSITIONS):
-
Capitalize long prepositions
(5+ letters) within a title
of a work.
-
Do not capitalize short
prepositions within a title.
-
The Issue Concerning
Mike
-
Three Days of the
Condor
-
*EXCEPTION (COORDINATING
CONJUNCTIONS):
-
Do not capitalize
coordinating conjunctions
within a title.
-
There but for the Grace
of God
|
7) Names of the MONOTHEISTIC
DEITY:
Capitalize words referring to the
Judeo-Christian, Muslim God |
-
God, Jehovah, the Father, the
Son, the Messiah, the Almighty,
Allah
-
*Pronouns
referring to God are often
capitalized as well:
-
He, Him, Who, Whom
(rarely)
-
EXCEPTION (MYTHS):
-
Do not capitalize
the word "god" when it
refers to the figures of
ancient mythology:
-
The ancient gods and
goddesses lived on Mount
Olympus.
Some of the Greek and
Roman gods were
Zeus/Jupiter, Hera/Juno,
Helois/Sol, and
Venus/Aphrodite.
|
8) Names of PARTS of a COMPOUND WORD:
Capitalize parts of a compound word
as if they stood apart |
-
Arabic-speaking students, God-given rights
-
anti-American sentiment, pro-Brazilian support, post-Hellenic
society, pre-Victorian England
-
Slovakian-American, Indo-European, Anglo-Saxon English
|
|
|
|
|