Notes on Capitalization

1. Capitalize the first word in every sentence.

Ex.) That dog knows several tricks. It will shake hands or roll over when I tell it to.

-Also capitalize the first word in a direct quotation, whether or not the quotation starts the sentence.

Ex.) Mrs. Hernandez said, “Don’t forget to bring your contributions for the bake sale.”

2. Capitalize the pronoun I. Ex) I have to write two papers.

3. Capitalize proper nouns. A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea.

Ex) Scottsboro High School Molly Sanders

4. Capitalize geographical names. (continents, countries, cities, towns, states, islands, bodies of water, streets, highways)Ex) Europe, England, Alabama, Scottsboro, Long Island, Amazon River, Main Street, Ventura Highway

5. Capitalize the names of organizations, teams, businesses, institutions, and government bodies.

Organizations: Boy Scouts, Drama Club

Teams: Atlanta Braves, Scottsboro Wildcats

Businesses: Walmart, Allstate Insurance Company

Institutions: Westside Regional Hospital, Scottsboro Junior High School

Government Bodies: United Nations Peace Corp

6. Capitalize the names of historical events and periods, special events, and calendar items.Historical Events/Periods: Revolutionary War, Middle AgesSpecial Events: Super Bowl, Special OlympicsCalendar Items: Monday, December, Christmas Day, Easter

7. Capitalize the names of nationalities, races, and peoples.Ex) American, Caucasian, Cherokee

8. Capitalize the brand names of business products.Ex) General Electric stove, Pepsi Cola bottle

9. Capitalize the names of ships, trains, airplanes, and spacecraft.Ships: Queen Elizabeth 2Trains: Orient ExpressAirplanes: Air Force OneSpacecraft: Voyager II

10. Capitalize the names of buildings and other structures.Ex) Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower

11. Capitalize the names of monuments and awards

Ex) Statue of Liberty, Nobel Prize

12. Capitalize the names of religions and their followers, holy days, sacred writings, and specific deities.

Ex) Judaism, Christian, Muslim, Easter, Koran, Bible, God, Allah

13. Capitalize the names of planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies.Ex) Mercury, Venus, Andromeda,Ursa Major

14. Capitalize proper adjectives. A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and is always capitalized.Ex) Greek theater, Japanese tea ceremony

15. Do not capitalize the names of school subjects, except languages and course names followed by a number.Ex) English, Spanish, History 101

16. Capitalize the title of a person when the title comes before the name.Ex) President Lincoln, Ms. Thurmond- Capitalize a title used alone or following a person’s name only when you want to emphasize the title of someone holding a high office.Ex) The Secretary of Defense held a news conference.I it very serious, Doctor?

17. Capitalize a word showing a family relationship when the word is used before or in a place of a person’s name.Ex) We expect Uncle Fred and Aunt Helen soon.Both Mom and Dad work at the hospital.- Do not capitalize a word showing a family relationship when a possessive comes before the word.Ex) We asked Pedro’s mother and his aunt Celia to be chaperons.

18. Capitalize the first and last words and all important words in titles of books, magazines, newspapers, poems, short stories, movies, television programs, works of art, and musical compositions.

Books: Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s StoneMagazines and Newspapers: Seventeen, Sports Illustrated, The Daily

SentinelPoems and Short Stories: “The Time of Silver Rain”, “The Night the

Bed Fell”Movies and Television Programs: Transformers, That Seventies ShowWorks of Art and Musical Compositions: Mona Lisa, “America the

Beautiful”**”unimportant” words in titles include:Articles: a, an, theConjunctions: and, or, for, nor, so, but, yetPrepositions with fewer than five letters: of, by, on, for, with

The End.