CAPITALIZATION RULES

RULE EXPLANATION EXAMPLES

1. Capitalize the First Word  Always capitalize the first word of your sentence, I ordered a new laptop online.
of A Sentence whether it is a proper or common name. The baby is crawling.
2. Capitalize All Proper  A proper noun is the specific name of a person, place,
Names in A Sentence object, or organization to make it more specific such
as Alice, Chicago, Tuesday.
 The first letter of a person’s first, middle, and last George Washington was an American political
names should also be capitalized (John Fitzgerald leader who served as the first president of the
Kennedy, Thomas Alva Edison). United States.
 All proper nouns -even adjectives derived from a
proper noun- should be written with capital letters
regardless of where they appear in a sentence
(Filipino, Italian)

 The names of cities, towns, countries, counties, Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as
companies, religions, and political parties are also Universal Orlando or simply ‘’Universal,’’ is a
considered proper nouns and should be written with theme park based in Orlando, Florida.
capital letters.
 You should also capitalize words like mom, dad, Mom, can you please help me in my assignment?
grandma, and grandpa when you use them as a form
of address.
3. How to Capitalize Titles  capitalize suffixes, titles, epithets Sir Isac Newton
of People Mr. Andrew Simmons
John Peters, Jr.
Alfred the Great
Philip the Prudent
Honest Abe
 Do not capitalize occupations and titles when they are The journal’s chief editor attended the meeting.
not used as part of a name. versus
Chief Editor Martha Schaum attended the
meeting.

 Do not capitalize titles when used descriptively. Dr. Lawrence, who will chair the meeting, will be
here soon.

 Titles immediately following the name do not Dr. Lawrence, the chairperson, will join us at the

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 ordinarily require capitalization. meeting

 When the article ‘‘the’’ appears in front of the job Lawrence, the chairperson, will be here soon.
title, do not capitalize.

 Capitalize titles in signature lines. _______________________

 Capitalizing a titles when they follow the name on the Mike Lawrence, Chairperson
address or signature line.
Fr. Roderick G. Villamar, CICM
President
Saint Louis College

4. Capitalize Common  Common nouns are considered proper nouns when The President will speak to the nation (common
Nouns When They Are they are used to name a specific entity. noun) this weekend.
Used to Name A Specific Versus
Entity The action has not been approved by the United
Nations (proper noun).
.

5. Capitalization After  List of things or a phrase I have read about several medical topics last
Colons  When a colon introduces a list of things or a phrase night: cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
that is not a complete sentence, do not capitalize the
In British English, the first first word after the colon unless it is a proper noun or
letter after a colon is a common noun that is used to name a specific entity.
capitalized only if it’s a
proper noun or an  Complete sentence (check your style guide) They have agreed on the outcome: Informed
acronym. However, the first  When a colon introduces a complete sentence, you participants perform better than do uninformed
word after a colon is need to check your style guide to see whether you participants.
sometimes capitalized in capitalize the first word after the colon.
American English if it  In APA style, if the clause following the colon is a
begins a complete complete sentence, it begins with a capital letter.
sentence.
 The other basic rule of APA Style is to capitalize the The Impact of Job-Related Stress on Burnout: A Florida Case
first word after the colon in a title. Study

 Never capitalize a word after a colon when introducing The variables of the study are as follows: burnout,

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 a list job-related stress, and health-related quality of
life.

6. Capitalization of the First  When the quote is a complete sentence, you should James said, “The motorcycle slid sideways and
Word of Quotations capitalize the first word of the quote. skidded approximately 50 meters.”

 Do not capitalize the first word of partial quotes. “The motorcycle slid sideways,” James said,
“and skidded approximately 50 meters.’’
7. Capitalize Days, Months,  The names of days, months, festivals, and holidays are Tuesday was more productive than Monday.
Holidays considered proper nouns and, therefore, should be
capitalized. I love the Fourth of July.

8. Capitalize Time Periods  Specific time periods, eras, and historical events are The Reformation is considered one of the major
and Events considered proper names and thus need to be movements within Western Christianity in 16th-
capitalized. century Europe.

History is commonly divided into three separate

periods: the Ancient Period, the Middle Ages, and
the Modern Time.

9. Do Not Capitalize  Centuries—and the numbers before them—should During the eighteenth century, slave trading and
Centuries not be capitalized. human trafficking expanded on a global scale.

10. Do Not Capitalize  However, the name of the four seasons are not proper The night is the winter, the morning and evening
Seasons nouns, so should not be capitalized unless they appear are the spring and fall, and noon is the summer.
as part of a proper noun.
Versus

I live near Winter Park.

The Italian city of Turin hosted the 2006 Winter
Olympics.
11. Capitalize Countries,  The names of countries, cities, nationalities, and My father is Irish, and my mother is British.
Cities, Nationalities, and languages are considered proper nouns, and they
Languages should be capitalized. I am studying French and German and Latin and
Greek.
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 On their refusal, the Russians attacked them at
midnight.

Few cities in Europe can match the cultural

richness of Berlin.
12. Capitalize the Most  In general, you need to capitalize all major words Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the
Words in Headings and (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and all proper nouns) in seventh and final novel in the series.
Titles titles and headings. That means articles, conjunctions,
and prepositions should not be capitalized. However,
the capitalization rules for the titles and headings
sometimes differ according to style guides.

13. Capitalization of  Do not capitalize north, south, east, and west I live in the south of France.
Directions and Regions (including derivative words) when they refer to a
direction or general area or when they designate The main parts of the southern region of the
definite regions or are an integral part of a proper country were not affected by the ongoing drought
name.

 However, capitalization is required when these words Record temperatures continued to bake the
are part of a proper name or refer to a specific region. Midwestern and Southern states.

The South Pole is claimed by seven nations.

He’s from the Far East, not from the Middle East.

Western Christianity has played a prominent role

in the shaping of Western civilization.

 Capitalize well-known region names such as East The East Coast of the United States is also known
Coast, West Coast, and Southern California. However, as the Eastern Seaboard.
a geographical area considered a distinct region might
vary by country. The West Coast is the coastline along which the
continental Western United States meets the
North Pacific Ocean.
14. Theories, Laws, Models,  In general, there is no need to capitalize the names of Scientific theories and models

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Diseases, Therapies, and laws, theories, models, disciplines, statistical
Disciplines procedures, or hypotheses as they can be understood rational choice theory, social constructionist
to serve more as common nouns as opposed to theory, germ theory of disease, Newton's law of
proper nouns. gravitation, problem solving model, crisis
intervention model
Note that proper nouns within these terms are capitalized.
Laws and schools of thought

Maslow’s law of hierarchy, behaviorism, the

German historical school, French liberal school

Disciplines

economics, anthropology, chemistry

Keep in mind that the names of inventories,

questionnaires, or tests should be capitalized.

Maslach Burnout Inventory

Transformational Leadership Scale

Diseases, therapies, treatments

 Do not capitalize the names of diseases, treatments, diabetes, tuberculosis, bone marrow transplant,
therapies, theories, concepts, etc. except if they were autism spectrum disorder
named after a specific person. versus
Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
Freudian theory

15. general subjects  General subjects are lowercase, but the names of algebra, chemistry
specific courses are capitalized versus
Algebra I, Introduction to Sociology
16. Academic  The Associated Press Stylebook (AP) recommends no bachelor's degree
capitals when referring to degrees in general terms master’s degree
(bachelor's, master's, doctorate, associate degree) but versus
always capitalizing specific degrees
Bachelor of Arts
Master of Science
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 17. Closing a Letter with A  When we sign off on letters or send emails, we Regards,
Valediction generally close them with valediction Sincerely,
 The first word in these farewell words or Cordially yours,
complimentary closes should be capitalized, just like
the beginning of a sentence.
https://besteditproof.com/en/academy/15-capitalization-rules-for-english-grammar
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/capitalization/diseases-disorders-therapies