This is perhaps the easiest and most straightforward of the capitalization rules, as there are virtually no exceptions or other complications. If it's the first word in a sentence, capitalize it. Specific people, places or things will generally be capitalized. It's what differentiates proper nouns from common nouns. For example, a common noun would be tower , while a proper noun would be the Eiffel Tower. Proper nouns become proper adjectives when they describe nouns.
Examples of proper adjectives include:. You can form proper adjectives from nearly every proper noun. Note that you wouldn't capitalize any prefixes such as "pre-Shakespearean" or "post-Orwellian" or hyphenated words such as "Irish-born" or "Christian-minded".
It's only necessary to capitalize other pronouns when they begin a sentence. However, the pronoun "I" is always capitalized, no matter where it falls in a sentence. Books, movies, poems, and other creative works often require capitalization for their titles. It depends on the style guide you're using, but generally, you capitalize the following words in a title:. The first letter of a work of art is always capitalized, even if it's an article, preposition or conjunction.
The last word of these titles always receives a capital too. If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence, capitalize it, but only if it's a complete sentence. If it's merely a phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it doesn't require capitalization. Here are some examples:. Not only do you capitalize the first letter of a person's first, middle and last names John Quincy Adams , but you also capitalize suffixes like Jr. Titles can be as simple as Mr. Capitalize people's titles if they come before the person's name or are used instead of the person's real name.
The same goes for family titles, such as "Uncle Joe" or "Grandma Janet. Acronyms , where the first letter of each word comes together in a new word, are always capitalized. Examples include:. They're often pronounced as a single word, but you wouldn't spell them "Nasa" or "Fifa. Finally, you always capitalize initials when a person goes by the first letter of each of their names. Famous examples include:. When you look at a calendar, almost every word is capitalized. Additionally, holidays are also capitalized whenever you write them.
When we sign off on letters, we generally close with a valediction like "Sincerely" or "Yours truly. Capital letters are useful signals for a reader. They have three main purposes: to let the reader know a sentence is beginning, to show important words in a title, and to signal proper names and official titles.
Capitals signal the start of a new sentence. This is a stable rule in our written language: Whenever you begin a sentence capitalize the first letter of the first word. This includes capitalizing the first word or a direct quotation when it's a full sentence, even if it appears within another sentence.
Her daughter loved the valentine. Her brother could have cared less. Languages and nationalities are capitalized as well. A person who is from K enya, is a K enyan and likely speaks S wahili. A C hilean is a person from C hile, where the official language is S panish. Acronyms should be capitalized. Of course, in informal conversations like texting , acronyms lol , brb , idk , etc. Not all rules apply to very casual writing styles.
Of course, you already know to capitalize at the start of each sentence. There are other interesting sentence structures that require capitalization. Because the sentence continues after the attribution, the word but is not capitalized. Get grammar check, spelling help and more free! Similarly, a colon may introduce a quote that comes after an independent clause.
The colon emphasizes the coming quote. Capitalization after a semicolon is not required and would be grammatically incorrect. When an explanation takes the form of a second independent clause that follows a main independent clause, you can join the two clauses into a single sentence with a colon. Feedback Dictionary. Word of the Day. Meanings Meanings.
Capitalize the first word in every sentence You should always capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, no matter what the word is. Capitalize the pronoun I Pronouns are words that replace nouns. Capitalize proper nouns A proper noun is the special noun or name used for a specific person, place, company, or other thing.
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