Capital Letters

Capital letters are used to make certain words stand out.

Learning Objective

Identify words that must be capitalized

Key Points

Three situations in which a capital letter should always be used are at the start of sentences, proper nouns, and for the pronoun "I."
Names and nicknames, languages, geographical names, religions, days of the week, months, holidays, and some organizations are considered proper nouns.
In titled works (such as books, articles, or artwork) the majority of the words are capitalized.

Terms

capitalization
Writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (upper-case letter) and the remaining letters in lower case.
proper noun
A word denoting a particular person, place, organization, ship, animal, event, idea, or other individual entity.

Full Text

Capital letters identify proper names, people and their languages, geographical names, and certain government agencies. Different style manuals have different rules for capitalization, so it's important to have a style guide on hand while you write in case you have a question about capitalization. There are manuals for MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and other styles.

However, there are general rules for capitalization which apply to all writing.

Starting a Sentence

Always capitalize the very first word of a sentence, no matter what it is.

Experienced cooks usually enjoy experimenting with food.

The Pronoun "I"

Always capitalize the first-person singular pronoun "I."

Sometimes, I wish I could cook with them.

Quoting Others

Directly quoted speech is capitalized if it is a full sentence.

The head chef said to me, “Anyone can become a good cook if they are willing to learn.”

Proper Nouns

Names or nicknames, people, languages, geographical names, religions, days of the week, months, holidays, and some organizations are considered proper nouns. Proper nouns should always be capitalized.

Names and Nicknames

A name or nickname should always be capitalized. This includes brand names.

John Paul II
Cindy Parker
Buffalo Bill
Pepsi
Nike
Scotch tape

People and Languages

Names referring to a person’s culture should be capitalized. Languages are also capitalized.

African Americans
Caucasian
Eskimos
French
English
Japanese

Geographical Names

The names of cities, states, countries, continents, and other specific geographic locations are capitalized.

Arctic Circle
China
New York
Europe

Organizations

Government agencies, institutions, and companies capitalize their names.

Ford Motor Company
International Red Cross
Internal Revenue Service
University of South Carolina

Days, Months, and Holidays

Days of the week, months, and holidays are always capitalized. However, seasons (fall, spring, summer, and winter) are not capitalized.

Tuesday
October
Independence Day

Religions

Religions and their adherents, holy books, holy days, and words referencing religious figures are capitalized.

Christianity and Christian
Hinduism and Hindu
Islam and Muslim
Judaism and Jew
Bible, Koran, Talmud, Book of Mormon
Easter, Ramadan, Yom Kippur
God, Allah, Buddha

Titled Work

In titled works (such as books, articles, or artwork) the majority of the words are capitalized. A few exceptions are a, an, the, and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. These words are only capitalized if they come at the beginning of the title. This can vary based on style, so be sure to check your manual for specifics.

The Scarlet Letter
From Here to Eternity
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Girl with a Pearl Earring

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