Today we’ll look at the basic concept of capitalization and essential rules to help you capitalize the letters correctly.
To lead a life with rules will save it from haphazard and last moment chaos. Rules are essential to all of us since they give a face, way, and stability to a specific project and life. English then has many writing rules, which we all know as grammar, capitalization being one of it.
What is Capitalization?
English distinguishes the two kinds of letters we use: frequently used, the lower case, and the other uppercase. Capitalization is a rule in English grammar for writing the initials in uppercase and the rest in lowercase. Every rule in grammar serves a motive. The motive of capitalization is to establish the importance of a word by separating it from the rest, conveying a precise meaning.
Writing in English entails quite a bit more than simply knowing to begin names and titles with capital letters. There are numerous rules as to when to capitalize. Still, some of them are fundamental, like, you know, capitalizing after the full stop, capitalizing proper nouns, but many of us don’t remember capitalizing when we write in quotation marks. Down here, focusing on such rules, some basic and some not so essential, is crucial both academically and professionally, so let’s get learning.
1. Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence
This one’s easy. Always capitalize the first word of a sentence.
- The cat is sleeping.
- My roommate lost her spectacles.
2. Capitalize Names and Other Proper Nouns
- You should always capitalize people’s names.
- My roommate’s name is Vagisha Kashyap.
- Have you met my dog, Hershey?
Names are proper nouns. The names of cities, countries, companies, religions and political parties are also proper nouns, so you should capitalize them, too.
- The capital of India is Delhi
Words like mom and grandma should also be capitalized when used in addressing.
- My mom reminds me to take my medicine every day.
3. Don’t Capitalize After a Colon (Usually)
In most cases, you don’t need to capitalize after a colon.
I have one true passion: wombat racing.
There are a couple of standard exceptions. One is when the word following the colon is a proper noun.
- There is only one place I want to visit: New York City.
The other exception is when the words following the colon form one or more complete sentences.
- She wears a brimmed cap at all times for two reasons: Strong light often gives her a headache. She also likes the way it looks.
4. Capitalize the first word of the Quote (sometimes)
Capitalize the first word of a quote when the Quote is a complete sentence.
- His last words to me were, “remember we’ll meet again.”
Don’t capitalize the first word of partial quotes.
- Nowadays, my friends think I am “way too busy” to hang out.
5. Capitalize Days, Months, and Holidays, But Not Seasons
The names of days, months, and holidays are proper nouns, so you should capitalize them.
- I hate Mondays!
- My birthday is in November.
- Oh no! I forgot about the Sunday mass.
However, the names of seasons are not proper nouns, so there’s no need to capitalize them.
- I love winter!
- Having birthdays during autumn is best.
6. Capitalize Most Words in Titles
The capitalization rules for books, movies, and other works vary a little between style guides. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like, is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositions—however, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters.
- Sense and Sensibility are better than Pride and Prejudice.
- The first movie of the series is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
7. Capitalize Time Periods and Events (Sometimes)
Specific periods, eras, and historical events that have proper names should be capitalized.
- Most of the World War I veterans are now deceased.
- In the Middle Ages, poor hygiene was partly responsible for the spreading of the bubonic plague.
- However, centuries—and the numbers before them—are not capitalized.
- In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, England blossomed into an empire.
8. Capitalize Titles of Signature Line of a Letter
- Sincerely,
Vicky Marquez, President
OR
Ms. Vicky Marquez
OR
- Hello, Senator. It’s nice to see you again.
Do not capitalize titles when they are not used as a direct address to a person. For example:
- The senator will be in town today to inspect the building of the railway.
Capitalization is found in Shakespeare’s literary pieces, which is when it starts, the rule flourishing till now serving writing, making us write and understand better. We hope you have learned the most important but basic rules of proper title capitalization.
You can download the following image to quickly go through all the rules whenever required.
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