Capitalization Chapter Notes | Basic English Grammar for Competitive Exams - Bank Exams PDF Download

Capitalization Rules in English

• In English, a capital letter is used for the first word of a sentence and for all proper nouns (words that name a specific person, place, organization, or thing).
• In some cases, capitalization is also required for the first word in a quotation and the first word after a colon.

Capitalization rules

Recognizing proper nouns

Michelle Obama, who served as the former first lady, grew up in Chicago and earned her degree from Harvard Law School.

On the other hand, a common noun indicates a general, non-specific type or category. These are typically not capitalized unless they start a sentence or appear in a title.

Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy are types of governments that are grouped based on who holds the power to govern.

In the example above, no proper nouns are used. Terms like democracy, government, and authority represent broad ideas and categories, not particular names.

Common nouns can turn into proper nouns when they are used to refer to a specific individual entity: 

Times and events

• The Middle Ages were regarded as outdated by thinkers of the Renaissance.
• The Paleozoic Era began 541 million years ago.
• The Great Depression had an impact on nearly every nation across the globe.
• Impressionism was an important art movement in the nineteenth century.

Names of the days of the week (such as Wednesday), months (like August), and holidays or festivals (such as Christmas and Ramadan) are capitalized. On the other hand, the four seasons are treated as common nouns and are only capitalized when they are part of a proper name.

• I’m planning to visit New York during the summer.
• I’m planning to attend the Summer Olympics next year.

Directions and regions

• I live five miles north of London.
• Warm winds from the west moved through the city.
• The fire only damaged the northern part of the forest.

However, these terms are capitalized when they appear in proper names or refer to clearly defined regions:

• The North Pole has greater biodiversity than the South Pole.
• The book focuses specifically on the history of Western civilization.
• Cameroon’s East Region shares a border with the Central African Republic.

Whether an area is considered a distinct region can differ by country.

• They drove along the West Coast of theUnited States.
• We drove up the west coast of Scotland.

If you are unsure whether to capitalize the name of a place or region, consult a dictionary or reliable academic references to determine the standard usage.

Theories, models and disciplines

However, note that the names of existing tests, inventories and questionnaires should be capitalized.

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
• UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist

Capitalization within quotations

John asked, “Are these library books overdue?”

When the quote is a fragment incorporated into your own sentence, the first word is not capitalized.

She referred to him as “a plague sore.”

Capitalization after a colon

She packed the picnic basket with different snacks: cookies, bread, dips, and fruits.

However, when a colon introduces a complete sentence, capitalization depends on the style guide. The APA style recommends capitalizing the first word after the colon.

She had stayed up all night to study: She was set on achieving the highest grade in the class.

In contrast, the Chicago style only calls for capitalization of the first word after the colon if more than one complete sentence follows.

She had stayed up all night to study: she was set on achieving the highest grade in the class.
She had stayed up all night to study: She was set on achieving the highest grade in the class. It would help her secure the prestigious scholarship.

Capitalizing titles

Though the rules for capitalizing titles of books, articles, films, artworks, and other creations may differ slightly across style guides, major formats like APA, MLA, and Chicago generally agree on the following:

• Capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle (if present)
• Capitalize the final word
• Capitalize all major words including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and subordinating conjunctions
• Use lowercase for articles (a, an, the), prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions

Examples:

• I prefer The Taming of the Shrew over Romeo and Juliet.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the final installment in the trilogy.

Capitalizing headings in papers

Emerging Coffee Markets in North America

The other is sentence case, where only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized:

Emerging coffee markets in North America