Capitalization

 

CAPITALIZE:

 

• The first letter of the first word of a sentence 

 When Pete tells a joke, he makes all of us laugh.

• The pronoun " I " 

The last time I talked to Annie, she was still helping CC to unpack.

• Proper nouns 

(the names of specific people, places, organizations, and things)

Lincoln Highway

Grand Canyon
Supreme Court

Dave Beckham

Cairo, Egypt
Suez Canal
Canadian  Royal Mounted Police

Yo-Yo Ma

• Family relationships (when used as proper names)

I like Aunt Clara because she has a parrot that swears.

BUT: I like my aunt because she has a parrot that swears.              

 I never knew Grandfather to get angry.

BUT: I never knew my grandfather to get angry. 

• The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books

Allah
the Virgin Mary
the Torah
Aphrodite

Moses
St. Peter
Buddha
the Pope

Exception: Do not capitalize the non-specific use of the word god. 

 Some cultures worship more than one god.

• Titles that precede names, but not titles that follow names 

• Directions that are names

(North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions)

• The days of the week, the months of the year, and holidays 

Thanksgiving

Thursday

February

Ramadan

summer

fall

winter

spring

 

Exception: Seasons are capitalized when in a title. They are not capitalized when you write about seasons in a general sense, unless it's the first word of a sentence.

The Spring Style Show will take place at the end of May. BUT: Some cities get snow in the winter.

• **All names of countries, nationalities, and languages 

Mexico

German

Arabic

Mandarin

•The first letter of the first word in a sentence that is a direct quote 

Hamlet said, "To be or not to be, that is the question."

• The major words in titles of books, articles, and songs, (but not short prepositions.) Capitalize the articles the, a or an only if one of them is the first word of the title.

One of Marvin's favorite books is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing is one of her favorite songs.

The Grapes of Wrath

• Members of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups 

Manchester United Football Club

Irish-Americans

anti-Semitic

Scots

Swedes

Hungarians

Malaysians

Lebanese

Tories

Friends of the Wilderness

Interpol

Palestinians

Greeks

Chileans

Turks

**All nationalities must be capitalized!

• Periods and events   (but not century numbers)

Victorian Era

World War I

World Cup

twenty-first century

• Brand names

Dr. Pepper (soda)

Gateway (computers)

Pringles (potato chips)

Swisher Sweets (cigars)

• Words and abbreviations of specific names. Do not capitalize names that were once specific items, but became general vocabulary terms. Words like those are called EPONYMS. Do a Google search to find other websites that have lists of eponyms. Notice in the following table which ones are proper names, and which have become eponyms.

Rubenesque of, relating to, or suggestive of the painter Rubens or his works; especially refers in a pleasing or attractive manner to a  plump or rounded woman, way; a Rubenesque figure, said of full-figured women

 

USA

 

gerrymander (Elbridge Gerry, American politician. A method of defining election districts)

 

boycott (Charles C. Boycott, Irish land agent.  To refuse to do business with someone, or to refuse to buy a certain product because of a personal belief you have.)

 

braille (Louis Braille, French teacher, writer and musician invented a method by which the blind can read and write.)

 

quisling (Vidkun Abraham Quisling, Norwegian politician: a person who collaborated with the Nazis; a traitor.)

  

 Halley's comet

CBS

 

pasteurization (named after Louis Pasteur, who invented a non-chemical method of sterilizing milk)

 

sandwich (John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich,, English diplomat. He put meat between two slices of bread so he could eat without having to leave the gambling table.)

 

guillotine (Joseph Ignace Guillotin, French physician. An instrument of execution.)

 

Casanova (Giovanni Jacopo Casanova, Italian adventurer. A man who likes the attentions of many ladies.)

 

marmalade (Joγo Marmalado, Portugal. A fruit spread put on bread.)

 
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