When To Use Capital Letters
The rules of capitalization in English may seem pretty direct. For example, most people know to capitalize the first letter of every sentence and the personal pronoun “I.” There are some gray areas, though. Should sentences after colons begin with a capital letter, too? How about titles and headlines? We’ll answer these questions and go over some basic guidelines for capitalization.
- Mrs. Johnson states that our homework assignments are due every week on Friday.
There are several rules to keep in mind when deciding when to use capital letters.
1. “Capitalizing” the First Word of a Sentence
This one is first because it’s the most common and straightforward rule: The first letter of a sentence must always be capitalized. A capital letter shows the reader that a new sentence has begun, the same way a period shows that a sentence has ended.
Direct quotes within a sentence should also be capitalized:
However, if the quote is a phrase or sentence fragment, then it does not need to be capitalized.
2. “Capitalizing” Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are always capitalized. These are words that identify individual or unique nouns, unlike common nouns (which identify general or nonspecific nouns). Proper nouns include names of people, places, events, companies, and organizations.
How about titles like uncle, mom, and grandpa? When they immediately precede a proper name, then the first letters of those words should be capitalized. When they’re used in place of a personal name, they should also start with a capital letter.
However, if these titles are preceded by a possessive pronoun, noun, or article, if they follow a personal name, or if they don’t refer to a specific person, then they do not need to be capitalized.
Because specific days, months, and holidays are proper nouns, they also have to be capitalized.
Keep in mind that proper adjectives should be capitalized, too.
3. “Capitalizing” Titles in Names
An additional, identifying name or title, like Dr. Strange or Mr. Bean, are always capitalized.
4. “Capitalizing” Titles and Headlines
Capitalizing titles differs depending on the style guide. However, the most common rule is this: Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs should be capitalized. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions should be left in lowercase (unless they are the first word).
5. What About “Capitalizing” After Colons?
Should sentences after colons be capitalized as well? This is another rule that depends on style. Most of the time, words after colons are not capitalized. Some exceptions are if (one or more) complete sentences or a proper noun is found right after the colon.
All of these guidelines are important. But the two capitalization rules you must always adhere to is capitalizing the first word in a sentence and proper nouns. Capitalization rules of titles and after colons vary, so always make sure to ask for a style guide if you’re unsure what to do.
