{"id":9784,"date":"2015-07-24T09:54:05","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T16:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-crowdcontent.com\/?p=9784"},"modified":"2022-01-17T03:43:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T11:43:33","slug":"capitalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdcontent.com\/resources\/writer\/university\/grammar\/capitalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capitalization<\/h2>\n

There are five main things that you need to capitalize: the first letter in a sentence or direct quote, titles of writing and other creative works, proper nouns, the pronoun I, and abbreviations.<\/p>\n

Sentences: Starting with a Capital<\/h3>\n

The first rule is easy. Every time you start a sentence<\/a>, use an uppercase letter. So, for a word that follows a period, exclamation mark, question mark, or is the first word in your writing, press the shift key.<\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/strong><\/span> the shift key on my computer is broken. that\u2019s why everything is lowercase.<\/em><\/p>\n

Right:<\/span> <\/strong>T<\/span>he shift key on my computer is broken. T<\/span>hat\u2019s why everything is lowercase.<\/em><\/p>\n

You also need to shift up when you have a direct quote (a quote that uses quotation marks) because it\u2019s like a separate sentence, even if it\u2019s included inside another sentence.<\/p>\n

If you have a broken quotation (where you start the quote, have some non quoted writing, and then continue the same quoted sentence), don\u2019t capitalize the second part of the quote.<\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/span><\/strong> The lesson about capitalization begins, \u201ct<\/span>here are five main things that you need to capitalize\u201d. \u201cm<\/span>aking simple mistakes is embarrassing,\u201d thinks Amy, \u201cS<\/span>o I better learn those rules.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Right:<\/strong><\/span> The lesson about capitalization begins, \u201cT<\/span>here are five main things that you need to capitalize\u201d. \u201cM<\/span>aking simple mistakes is embarrassing,\u201d thinks Amy, \u201cs<\/span>o I better learn those rules.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Titles: Just the Important Words<\/h3>\n

Titles of writing, music, films, and art are on the list of things to capitalize, but you need to be discerning: not every word in the title gets capitalized.<\/strong> So here are the three rules for titles:<\/p>\n

1. capitalize the first and last words
\n2. capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, subordinate conjunctions, and interjections
\n3. make everything else lowercase<\/p>\n

If you ever forget these rules, just go to this website<\/a> and type in your title. Voila! Perfectly capitalized.<\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/span><\/strong> s<\/span>even s<\/span>ecrets y<\/span>ou n<\/span>eed to u<\/span>se for the p<\/span>erfect b<\/span>log p<\/span>ost<\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/strong><\/span> Seven Secrets You Need T<\/span>o Use F<\/span>or T<\/span>he Perfect Blog Post<\/p>\n

Right:<\/span><\/strong> S<\/span>even S<\/span>ecrets Y<\/span>ou N<\/span>eed t<\/span>o U<\/span>se f<\/span>or t<\/span>he P<\/span>erfect B<\/span>log P<\/span>ost<\/p>\n

Nouns: Only the Proper Ones<\/h3>\n

What is a proper noun? Well, it\u2019s just a noun that refers to something specific. Improper nouns aren\u2019t worse than proper nouns; they just apply to broader categories. For example, your father is a dad (improper noun), but you might call him Dad (proper noun, since that\u2019s his name).<\/p>\n

Here are some more examples of proper nouns:<\/p>\n

Names:<\/strong> Barack Obama, Crowd Content, Coca-Cola
\nGeographic locations:<\/strong> New York City, Australia, Atlantic Ocean, Saturn
\nEthnicities and languages:<\/strong> First Nations, Russian, Thai
\nDays and months (but not seasons):<\/strong> Sunday, November
\nHolidays:<\/strong> Christmas, Ramadan, Canada Day
\nReligions, deities, (and corresponding adjectives):<\/strong> Hinduism, God, Jewish
\nTitles that are included as part of a name:<\/strong> Pope Francis, Doctor Doolittle, President Lincoln
\nHistorical periods and events:<\/strong> World War II, the Middle Ages<\/p>\n

Are you getting the hang of it? If you need more help, here\u2019s<\/a> a long list of words that should be capitalized.<\/p>\n

I Am Always a Capital<\/h3>\n

Leaving the pronoun \u201cI\u201d in lowercase might be fine for texting, but it\u2019s definitely not professional when you\u2019re writing a blog that you want thousands of people to read. Have a little self-esteem and capitalized your I\u2019s<\/strong>; you deserve it!<\/p>\n

(Some) Abbreviations Get All Caps<\/h3>\n

Usually, a word that\u2019s in all caps SEEMS LIKE IT\u2019S SHOUTING.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u201d is all caps, but it\u2019s so short that you hardly notice it anyway. Another exception to the no all caps rule is abbreviations.<\/p>\n

USA, FIFA, and EU go in all caps because they\u2019re proper nouns. In their non-abbreviated form they\u2019re United States of America, F\u00e9d\u00e9ration International de Football Association, and European Union.<\/p>\n

When you abbreviate, you take the first letter of each word and stick the letters together, without changing the capitalization.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With abbreviations of a single word, only capitalize the first letter:<\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/strong><\/span> MRS<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Right:<\/span><\/strong> Mrs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrong:<\/span><\/strong> FR<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Right:<\/span><\/strong> Fr<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Learn More:<\/p>\n