Capitalization

Capitalization General Rules

Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence

• Where did I put that book?

• Hey! It’s great to see you! How have you been?

Capitalize Names and Other Proper Nouns(The names of cities, countries, companies, religions, and political parties are also proper nouns)

• My favorite author is Jane Austen.

• We experienced some beautiful Southern California weather last fall

Don't capitalize a title used in place of a person's name

• The pastor will be gone next weekend.

• The doctor is out today.

Don’t Capitalize After a Colon (Usually)

• I have one true passion: wombat racing.

• I went to the store and bought a lot of fruits: peaches, apricots, apples, and oranges.

Capitalize the First Word of a Quote when the quote is a complete sentence.

• Mario asked, “What is everyone doing this weekend?”

• Gretchen said she was “way too busy” to join the gym.

 Capitalize Days, Months, and Holidays, But Not Seasons

• I hate Mondays!

• Having a summer birthday is the best.

Capitalize Most Words in Titles

• Sense and Sensibility is better than Pride and Prejudice.

• The first movie of the series is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Capitalize Cities, Countries, Nationalities, and Languages

• My mother is British, and my father is Dutch.

• English is made up of many languages, including Latin, German, and French.

Specific periods, eras, and historical events that have proper names should be capitalized.

• Most of the World War I veterans are now deceased.

• However, centuries—and the numbers before them—are not capitalized.

• In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, England blossomed into an empire.

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Write the word that contains a capitalization error.

In the centuries after English settlers came to the new world, many words from American Indian languages became a part of english.

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But the English did not have to leave england for their languages to gain new words.

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Huge forces from denmark and from France invaded at two different times early in English history, bringing with them foreign languages that would add many new words to English.

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The "Great Army"of vikings from denmark was the first to come.

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Things looked grim until 870 when a new King, Alfred the great, took the throne in wessex.

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The new york library contains hundreds of books about the history of our language.

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Although coke is brand name, some people use it to refer to all kinds of carbonated beveragaes.

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Some companies like microsoft, come from a combination of words.

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Astronauts named the gemini spacecraft after an astronomical constellation.

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The name of organizations can be shortened:the veterans of foreign wars is well known simply as the VFW.