Capitalization

Correcting the Problem

In the first sentence, the word King refers to a unique title and it, therefore, needs to be capitalized. In the second sentence, mathematics refers to a general subject and not a specific course. It needs to be in lower case.

Correct: The King of Persia was assassinated.

Correct: The courses in English are challenging, but the courses in mathematics are impossible.

The most general rule for capitalization is to use capital letters always:

• To begin a sentence
• For unique people, places, or things
• For some abbreviations

Correct: Considering economic differences between North and South, the Civil War was inevitable.

Capitalization in Sentences

Always begin sentences with a capitalized word. This may mean changing numerals to letters:

Correct: One hundred and thirty-five votes were needed to win the election.

Correct: Nineteen Eighty-Four was written by George Orwell.

Capitalization rules also apply to excerpts and quotations when you adapt these to begin a sentence. Here is one example:

[Line as it appears in the text]:

Correct: But Mario couldn't deliver my note as no one really knows to this day where Lio is.

[As it appears when included in your paper at the beginning of a sentence]:

Correct: 'No one really knows to this day where Lio is' serves to affirm the author's reality, that Lio is yet another victim of the dictator's cruel and motiveless inhumanity.

But when a sentence is broken up into fragments for emphasis, subsequent parts are not capitalized:

Correct: What should I do? stay? or leave?

Word Capitalization

Capitalize the following words:

• Individual, unique names, and attached titles
  • John Smith
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Governor Schwartz
• Places and regions
  • Chicago
  • Midwest
  • South America
  • the North Pole
• Groups or organizations
  • Olympics Committee
  • Chicago Bears
  • Supreme Court
  • Lions Club
  • Kiwanis
• Languages
  • Spanish
  • English
  • Tagalog
• Trademarks and company names
  • Coca-Cola
  • Ford
  • IBM
  • Hyundai, Inc.
• Historical events, periods, documents
  • Middle Ages
  • Declaration of Independence
  • the Magna Carta
  • the Civil War
• Lists after colons
  • Our mother had rules for us: 1) Come home on time. 2) Eat dinner. 3) Go to bed.
• Days, months, holidays
  • Monday
  • March
  • New Year's Day
• But not seasons or centuries
  • fall
  • spring
  • eighteenth century

Capitalize the following words:

• Book titles, but not their prepositions or articles
  • Gone with the Wind
  • Under the Tuscan Sun
  • the Koran
  • How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
  • the Bible
  • The Old Man and the Sea
• The names of ships are both capitalized and italicized
  • the Queen Mary
  • the Lusitania

Note the exception: unlike other books, sacred writings are neither italicized nor underlined.

Abbreviations

• States (omit periods)
  • NJ
  • CA
  • USA
• Time Periods
  • BC
  • BCE
  • CE
  • AD
• Educational Degrees
  • MA
  • BA
  • Ed.D.
  • PhD

Always consider your audience. Abbreviations should be used only when they are terms familiar to your reader.

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