what are the nine rules for the use of capital letters

What are the nine rules for the use of capital letters?

Full Answer

Do you know when to use capital letters?

When to Use Capital Letters

• To Start a Sentence. There are no exceptions to this rule. ...
• Titles. In titles, capitalise only the important words, not minor words such as ‘and’ and ‘but’. ...
• For Proper Nouns. ...
• Acronyms. ...
• Contractions. ...
• Overusing Capitals is Rude. ...
• One Final Word of Advice. ...

Is it rude to write in capital letters?

Writing in All Capital Letters WRITING ENTIRELY IN BLOCK CAPITAL LETTERS IS SHOUTING, and it’s rude. In email etiquette, online chats, or forum posts, writing in all capital letters is the online equivalent of shouting or yelling. It’s rude, so best not to do it unless you do want to shout at someone.

What are some rules for using capital letters in English?

You should always use a capital letter in the following situations:

• In the names of people, places, or related words. Use a capital letter when you are writing the names of people, places, and words relating to them:
• At the beginning of a sentence.
• In the titles of books, films, organizations, etc.
• In abbreviations.

What key is used to make capital letters?

Using the Shift key is the most common method of creating a capital letter on a computer. Where the Google Chromebook is different from other keyboards is the Search Key, which replaces the Caps Lock key as shown in the picture. To turn Caps Lock on and off on a Google Chromebook press the Alt and Search at the same time.

What are the rules for using capital letters?

English Capitalization Rules: Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence. ... Capitalize Names and Other Proper Nouns. ... Don't Capitalize After a Colon (Usually) ... Capitalize the First Word of a Quote (Sometimes) ... Capitalize Days, Months, and Holidays, But Not Seasons. ... Capitalize Most Words in Titles.More items...•

What are the 15 rules of capitalization?

Here are the details:Capitalize the First Word of A Sentence. ... Capitalize All Proper Names in A Sentence. ... How to Capitalize Titles of People. ... Capitalize Common Nouns When They Are Used to Name A Specific Entity. ... Capitalization After Colons. ... Capitalization of the First Word of Quotations. ... Capitalize Days, Months, Holidays.More items...

What are the 12 capitalization rules?

Capitalization: 12 RulesThe first word in a sentence. ... A person's first and last name. ... Names of cities, states, countries and other such places. ... A trademarked term, such as a brand name. ... Government bodies, agencies and the like. ... The main words in the title of a work, such as a book, song, movie or TV show.More items...•

What are the 4 reasons to use capital letters?

Capital LettersCapitals 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. ... Capitals show important words in a title. ... Capitals signal proper names and titles.

What are the 10 capitalization rules?

What are the 10 rules of capitalization?Capitalize the first word of a sentence. ... Capitalize proper nouns and names. ... Capitalize the majority of titles. ... Capitalize events and periods. ... Capitalize “I” as a pronoun. ... Capitalize any locations and direct addresses. ... Capitalize family relationships.More items...

Where do we use capital in a sentence?

A capital (or 'upper case') letter is used to mark the beginning of a sentence.

What words do you not capitalize in a title?

The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as “play with”), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length).

Do you write Mom and Dad with capital letters?

If used as common nouns, don't capitalize, as in: We honor all mothers in May. In other words, capitalize words such as Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis when they are used in place of the person's name.

What three words should be capitalized?

There are three main types of words that need to be capitalized: (1) the first word of a sentence, (2) titles of books and other works, and (3) proper nouns and adjectives.

What is the importance of capitalization rules in writing?

Capitalization is important in writing to show readers the importance of specific words and to indicate change in meanings. The first rule is to always capitalize proper nouns, which are the names of specific nouns.

How do you teach capital letters to write?

0:030:47Teaching Handwriting -- Capital Letter Basics | Parents - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThis is a more efficient approach because you're getting every capital letter at the top helps kidsMoreThis is a more efficient approach because you're getting every capital letter at the top helps kids develop good writing habits early and eliminates the thought process. So it becomes automatic.

Why are names in all capital letters?

Every time a child is born, a corporation/trust is created using his or her name in all capital letters. They do this because governments are corporations and they operate under commercial law, the law of contracts.

What words dont you capitalize in a title?

Words Not Capitalized in Title Case Articles (a, an, the) Coordinating Conjunctions (and, but, for) Short (fewer than 4 letters) Prepositions (at, by, to, etc.)

Which word should not be capitalized in the sentence?

Ordinary nouns and pronouns are not capitalized in sentence case.

What is the criteria to capitalize an asset?

Generally, the rules for determining whether or not an asset is capitalized are based on if the asset will have a useful life that is greater than one year and the cost of the asset is above a threshold that is set by the business. For example, a small business might set a threshold of $500.

What three words should be capitalized?

There are three main types of words that need to be capitalized: (1) the first word of a sentence, (2) titles of books and other works, and (3) proper nouns and adjectives.

What are the Capital Letters?

Capital letters are the upper-case alphabets of English which are present with our 26 letters. The capital letters are generally more in height than the small letters.

When writing a sentence that is quoted under quotation, should the first letter of the quoted sentence be a capital letter?

4. If we write a sentence that is quoted under quotation. The first letter of the quoted sentence should always be a capital letter .

What does a small letter look like?

The small letter looks like – a, b, c, d…...z

Do you start a sentence with a small letter?

3. Whenever we start a sentence the first letter should always be in capital letters. We never start a sentence with a small letter. It’s an important rule for capitalizing letters.

Is it correct to write "vedant" in a letter?

We are not supposed to write his name as vedant. We can properly see that there is no change in the spelling of the name, but the first letter of the name is in a small letter which is an incorrect way of writing anyone’s name. Proper capitalizing always plays an important role in the English subject.

Do you capitalize the first letter of your name?

We have always learned that whenever we write our name, we keep the first letter of our name capital always. It is the most basic and important rule towards capitalization.

Is "a suitable boy" a capital letter?

A Suitable Boy (We generally don’t write the word ‘A’ as a capital letter if it’s present in between any title but because the word ‘A’ is used as the first word we write it in capital letter.)

What are the rules for capitalizing?

11 Common Capitalization Rules. 1. First Word of a Sentence. This is one of the first rules you learn when writing in English. You always capitalize the first word of a sentence. No matter if it’s a statement, question or exclamation, it should start with a capital letter! 2.

What are some examples of proper nouns?

Proper nouns are specific people, places or things and they get capitalized. Examples include: countries, street names, nationalities, and languages. 8. Time Periods and Events. If you want to reference a specific time period or major event, you must capitalize it.

What does it mean when a brand name starts with a lowercase letter?

If a brand name purposely begins with a lowercase letter, then you leave it that way to accurately refer to it. For example, iPhone and eBay fall into this category.

Do you capitalize the first word of a list of items?

When you use a colon to initiate a list of items, you do not capitalize the first word. The same goes for semicolons that are used to connect two independent sentences. Even though the sentence that comes after a semicolon is a complete thought, it’s being paired with the first sentence, so the first letter remains as lowercase.

Do you capitalize academic subjects?

When referring to the title of a specific course in university, then you would capitalize it, but you do not capitalize academic subjects. For example, you may say, “I am enrolled in Nutrition as part of the health science program at University of the People .”

Do brand names have to be capitalized?

Since brand names serve as proper nouns of specific things, they too get capitalized (i.e. Nike, Fendi, Reebok).

Do you capitalize "Jr"?

When you’re writing your own or someone else’s name, it should be capitalized, including suffixes like “Jr.”. The same goes for proper nouns. Titles of people can be a tricky case, however. When you are using the title to represent a specific person or as their designation before their name, then it is capitalized.

What are some events that are not capitalized?

However, names of events that occurred at different times in different places are generally not capitalized: the recession, gold rush, secession movements.

What does it mean to capitalize a word?

One final note: in these guidelines capitalize means to use upper case for the first letter of a word.

What to do if your organization has a house style guide?

So don't regard these "rules" as the final word. If your organization has a house-style guide, stay in house . And if you run across a word or phrase not covered by these guidelines, consult a dictionary.

Do you capitalize names?

Capitalize the names and nicknames of particular persons and characters.

Do you capitalize the first word of a quote?

Likewise, capitalize the first word of a quotation if it's a complete sentence: Jorge said, "The game is over.". But don't capitalize the first word if the quotation is not a complete sentence: Jorge said that the game was "all but over" by the seventh inning.

Do you capitalize proper nouns?

Capitalize proper nouns and most adjectives formed from proper nouns.

Do you capitalize the names of the books of the Bible?

Also capitalize the names of books of the Bible: Genesis, Psalms.

When do you capitalize titles?

Capitalize people's titles if they come before the person's name or are used instead of the person's real name.

When do you capitalize "yours truly"?

When we sign off on letters, we generally close with a valediction like "Sincerely" or "Yours truly." The first word in these farewell words or complimentary closes should be capitalized, just like the beginning of a sentence. For example:

What are proper nouns?

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. Categories of proper nouns include: Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills, and volcanoes (Mount Olympus, Mount Vesuvius) Cities, countries and continents (Austin, Argentina, Europe) ...

What are some examples of acronyms?

Acronyms, Initialisms and Initials. Acronyms, where the first letter of each word comes together in a new word, are always capitalized. Examples include: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) FIFA (Federación International de Fútbol Asociación) DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)

When do proper nouns become proper adjectives?

Proper nouns become proper adjectives when they describe nouns. Examples of proper adjectives include:

Do you capitalize a book title?

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 word. adjectives. nouns. verbs. the last word. Meanwhile, you generally don't want to capitalize:

Do you capitalize the first letter of a sentence?

The First Letter in a Sentence. It's important to always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. 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.

When to use capital letters?

When and how to use capital letters can be a thorny problem. It may be acceptable to drop capital letters when writing casually to friends but if you are writing anything more formal then you need to use capital letters correctly.

Why do you use lower case or block capitals?

It’s also much harder to read block capitals as all the letters are the same height, so you will make your point much more easily if you use lower case. Sometimes, especially when completing a handwritten form, BLOCK CAPITALS are preferred since this can make data entry or automatic computer recognition of handwriting easier and more accurate.

Do you use capitals in a sentence?

Is it always necessary to use capitals to start a sentence? The answer is definitely yes.

Do you capitalize "but" and "and"?

In titles, capitalise only the important words, not minor words such as ‘and’ and ‘but’. ‘ Title Case ’, with all the important words capitalised, is rather out of fashion at the moment. Most academic journals and standard referencing systems, for instance, prefer what is known as ‘sentence case’, with a single initial capital. ...

Do you use capital letters after a full stop?

This means that, after a full stop, you always use a capital letter. If the previous sentence ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, you should also use a capital letter, ? and !, like full stops, indicate the end of a sentence.

Is "university" capitalized?

The word 'university' should not be capitalised as it is not specific.

Is science fiction capitalized?

The way to deal with these is to write out the phrase and have a look. Although the words that are ab breviated may not be capitalised, as in ‘science fiction’, the abbreviation always contains capitals for the start of each new word to make the word boundaries and pronunciation clear.

How to remember capitalization rules?

In sum, the best way to remember the rules of capitalization is to keep writing. Practice and you’ll get the hang of it. You can always keep the rules on hand to refer back to as needed.

How to capitalize a word?

1. Capitalize the first word of a sentence. This is one of the easiest, most straightforward rules of capitalization. Whenever you start a new sentence, capitalize the first letter of the first word. Simple as that! 2. Capitalize proper nouns and names. A proper noun is a specific name for a person, place, or thing.

What is a proper noun?

A proper noun is a specific name for a person, place, or thing. These types of nouns should always be capitalized, no matter where they land in a sentence. Proper nouns include but aren’t limited to: companies, countries, cities, political parties, and religions.

Is a capitalized noun lowercase?

In both of the incorrect examples above, the capitalized noun should have been lowercase. This is because they are common nouns instead of proper nouns.

Do you capitalize holidays?

Capitalize months, holidays, and days. The names of months, holidays, and days are considered to be proper nouns. This means they need to be capitalized. Knowing this capitalization rule, a lot of people mistakenly capitalize the names of seasons. But seasons like winter and summer should NOT be capitalized.

Do you capitalize a colon after a word?

The final rule on our list is a little different. This one tells you when NOT to capitalize. In general, you shouldn’t capitalize the word following a colon. You aren’t starting a new sentence, so there’s no need for it.

Do you capitalize directions that aren't part of a name?

Pro Tip: Directions that aren’t part of a name do not need to be capitalized .