5.10: Capitalization

Successful College Composition (Crowther, et al.) · LibreTexts

0%

Contents

    Text

    Size
    100%
    Theme
    Typeface
    Line length
    Spacing

    From LibreTexts, under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    Rules for Capitalization

    • Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
    • Always capitalize nationalities, races, languages, and religions. For example, American, African American, Hispanic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and so on.
    • Do not capitalize nouns for people, places, things, streets, buildings, events, and titles when the noun is used in general or common way.
    • Capitalize days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.
    • Capitalize titles of positions when they are accompanied by proper names.
      • Examples: President Obama, Governor Scott Brown, Judge Wheeler.
    • Capitalize the names of specific movements or events.
      • Examples: the Civil Rights Movement, World War II, D-Day
    • Capitalize the letters that make up abbreviations for organizations or agencies.
      • Examples: FEMA, EPA, NFL. CNN.
    • Computer-related words such as “Internet” and “World Wide Web” are usually capitalized; however, “email” and “online” are never capitalized.
    • Proper nouns—the names of specific people, places, objects, streets, buildings, events, or titles of individuals—are always capitalized.
    Table of Common vs. Proper Nouns
    Common Noun Proper Noun
    museum The Art Institute of Chicago
    theater Apollo Theater
    country Malaysia
    uncle Uncle Javier
    doctor Dr. Jackson
    book Pride and Prejudice
    college Smith College
    war the Spanish-American War
    historical event The Renaissance
    Key Takeaways
    • Learning and applying the basic rules of capitalization is a fundamental aspect of good writing.
    • Identifying and correcting errors in capitalization is an important writing skill.

    This page titled 5.10: Capitalization was last modified on Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:08:21 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kathryn Crowther et al. (GALILEO Open Learning Materials) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.