WHEN ARE CAPITALS APPROPRIATE, and when are they not appropriate? If you
haven't noticed, capitalization varies somewhat from publication to publication. But there
are some universal rules about capitalization which almost every publication, whether it
be a newspaper or magazine or novel, generally follow without exception. The following
list will attempt to point out these generally accepted capitalization rules:
Always capitalize the first word of every sentence.
Capitalize the first word of every direct quotation.
John said, "The first thing I want to do is eat."
"William is my friend," he said, "but John is not."
("but" is not capitalized because it doesn't start a new
sentence.)
"We eat at six," he said. "Late comers will not be fed."
("Late" is capitalized because it starts a new sentence.)
Always capitalize the first word and the last word of every title. The words
in between are also capitalized unless they are prepositions (of, from, to, for,
etc.), short connecting words, the to in front of a verb, or the articles: a,
an, the.
Always capitalize the names of people (except names like e.e. cummings),
places, and languages/races/nationalities.
John, Uncle Roger, Aunt Martha, Marsha, Dr. Bob, etc.
Taft, Los Angeles, Lake Isabella, Russia, South America, etc.
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, etc.
Always capitalize the names of the months, the days of the week, and special
days such as holidays, but not the seasons of the year (fall, winter, spring, summer).
January, February, March, April, May, etc.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
Valentines Day, Fourth of July, Christmas, Columbus Day, etc.
Always capitalize a "title of relationship" it it takes the place
of the person's name or is used as part of the person's name. If a pronoun such as
"my" is in front of the word, a capital is not used.
I had dinner with Uncle Bill. But...I had dinner with my uncle.
I went with Mother to the store. But...I went with my mother to the store.
I spoke with Dad last night. But...I spoke with my dad last night and her mother
last night.
Always capitalize the names of particular people or things, but never
general ones.
I had dinner with Doctor Smith. But...I had dinner with the doctor.
I swam in the Kern River. But...I swam in the river and fished in the lake.
I signed up for Science 14A and History 17B. But...I signed up for science and
history.
I am taking history and math along with English and Spanish. (notice that English
and Spanish are capitalized because while they are not the names of specific
courses, they are the formal names of languages.)
I graduated from Hart High School. But...I graduated from high school.
I went to the University of the Pacific. But...I went to the university.
He goes to Taft College. But...He goes to college.
Always capitalize East, West, South, and/or North if they are locations, but
never capitalize them if they are directions.
I used to live in the East. But...I live east of Los Angeles.
Go west, young man, go west. But...I live in the Western part of the United States.
He went in a westerly direction; I used to live in Eastern Montana.
OWL