Punctuation and Capitalization: Capitalization

HUNTER COLLEGE READING/WRITING CENTER

GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS
Punctuation and Capitalization:
Capitalization

Generally, capitalize nouns and adjectives that refer to special, one- of-a-kind persons, places, or things and words that begin sentences, quotations, and titles.

CAPITALIZE: People's names and nicknames (Ted Johnson, Bubba, Dad); Titles that precede names (Doctor Brown, Sergeant Stover); Titles that clearly refer to only one person of high rank (President, Pope); Names of races and nationalities (Caucasian, African American, Spaniard, Indian); The pronoun I

DO NOT CAPITALIZE: Titles that follow names or appear without names; (Anna Maguire, professor of music; The doctor is in.); Family references preceded by a possessive word (my mother, Jerry's dad)

CAPITALIZE: Geographic places (Pensacola, Pace Boulevard, Okaloosa County, Mississippi River, Yellowstone National Park, Appalachian Mountains, Germany, Africa); Names of most stars and planets (Milky Way, Jupiter); Names of buildings, institutions, organizations, and government agencies (Barnett Bank, Florida State University, Audubon Society, National Security Agency); Compass points when they refer to a specific area of the country (Atlanta is in the South. Jack likes Western movies.)

DO NOT CAPITALIZE: General references to places (river, park, city, college, hotel); The following stars and planets: earth, sun, moon; Compass points when they refer only to direction (Jacksonville is east of Tallahassee.); Unimportant words within a longer name (a, an, the, conjunctions and prepositions of fewer than five letters [Statue of Liberty])

CAPITALIZE: Names of days of the week and months of the year (Monday, May); Names of holidays and historical events (Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Civil War, Industrial Revolution, Dark Ages)

DO NOT CAPITALIZE: Names of seasons (winter)

CAPITALIZE: Names of languages (French, German, English); Brand names (Kleenex, Heinz, Baby Ruth); School courses followed by a number (Algebra 101, Biology 220); The first and all important words in titles of books, magazines, newspapers, articles, poems, stories, etc. [see above for unimportant words] (Of Time and the River); Names of religions and sacred things (Baptist, Bible, Buddha)

DO NOT CAPITALIZE: The product--though you do capitalize the product name (Kleenex tissues, Heinz ketchup, Baby Ruth candy bars); General areas of study (Cathy is taking algebra.); The word "the" preceding names of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. (the Village Voice) unless the word is an official part of the title (The Glass Menagerie); Breed names of animals, generic names of plants, and names of diseases (cocker spaniel, rainbow trout, sugar maple, mumps); Some words that are already capitalized will appear in these names (English bulldog, Cornish hen, African violet, German measles)

CAPITALIZE: The first word in a sentence; The first word in a direct quote (Mary said, "Stop the car."); The first word in each item of an outline; The first word and all nouns in the greeting of a letter (My dear Sir); The first word in the closing of a letter (Sincerely yours)

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