PART 5 MECHANICS

20. CAPITAL LETTERS

What’s the difference between Mark Twain, author of Tom Sawyer, and the mark you got on your last math test? One Mark is capitalized, and the other isn’t.

Vacationers might visit a grand canyon in Puerto Rico, but they can visit the Grand Canyon only in Arizona.

In general, names of specific persons, places, and things are capitalized. These names are known grammatically as proper nouns. General persons, places, and things (common nouns) are not capitalized.

Adjectives made from proper nouns (like “Puerto Rican vacation”) are also capitalized. The following examples will give you more details about when to capitalize words.

A proper noun is a word, which is the name of a unique person, place, event, or thing.

Proper nouns should be capitalized.

Philadelphia   Exxon   Beyoncé

If a name contains more than one word, each word is capitalized, though minor words within these names (e.g., of, in, the) are not.

Mexico City   Raiders of the Lost Ark   Thomas Jefferson

Adjective forms of proper nouns are also capitalized.

Exxon-like   Jeffersonian

A title or rank preceding a proper noun should be capitalized.

President Kennedy had a mixed-breed dog named Pushinka, a gift from Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union.

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However, titles that precede common nouns usually are not capitalized.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanding general in World War II and president before Kennedy, had a parakeet named Gabby.

While the abbreviation of academic and professional degrees (MD, PhD) is always capitalized, the full name (doctor of medicine, doctor of philosophy) is not.

A family relationship (sister, nephew, grandfather, etc.) should only be capitalized when it is part of a proper name, or when it substitutes for a proper name.

Eleanor Roosevelt often referred to President Theodore Roosevelt as her “Uncle Ted.” [Here, Uncle is part of a proper name, Ted.]

The Roosevelt children soon learned that Granny, Eleanor’s mother-in-law, would give them anything they wanted. [Here, Granny substitutes for the grandmother’s proper name.]

In fact, Eleanor’s mother-in-law encouraged her grandchildren to think of her as their real mother! [Here, the family relationship does not function as a proper name.]

Names of religions and deities should be capitalized, along with the words denoting the followers of a religion.

Singapore is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, with large numbers of people who follow Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.

About 5 percent of Singaporeans are Hindus, who worship such divinities as Vishnu and Shiva.

While more than 800,000 citizens of Singapore are Muslims, fewer than 6,000 are Jews.

Proper nouns that name a geographic place, region, or feature should be capitalized.

If the proper noun is a phrase, minor words like of and the are not capitalized.

Garden of the Gods is a national park in Colorado.

Directional words, like north, south, east, west, northwest, etc., are capitalized if they are part of a place name. Otherwise they are not capitalized.

The team bus traveled east from Ohio to get to the game in West Virginia.

A common noun that is part of a place name is capitalized.

Yonge Street in Toronto, according to some, is the

longest street in the world.

Days of the week, months, and holidays are capitalized. Seasons and academic terms are not capitalized.

This year, many students will celebrate the end of the spring semester on Thursday, May 24, just before leaving for the Memorial Day holiday.

A historical event is a specific happening in history; it’s not just any revolution, but the American Revolution or the Russian Revolution. Some time periods or eras in history are known by a name. In the U.S., the 1920s were called the Roaring Twenties.

Historical events, periods, and documents should be capitalized.

The exception to this rule is when the event or period is referred to not by a name but by a phrase.

Some events may be known by a single name, which is capitalized. When the term is used in a more general sense, it is not capitalized.

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After the Revolution, many people in the new United States wanted George Washington to become king.

The twentieth century saw one revolution after another in African nations that had been colonies of European powers.

An institution is an entity such as a school, government, or business.

Names of institutions should be capitalized, except for minor words like of and the.

Howard University Bank of America

Federal Bureau of Investigation

In addition to names of schools and colleges, names of departments and specific courses should also be capitalized. Notice in the example below the difference between capitalized names and common nouns.

My local junior college, Winslow County Community College, has a number of excellent departments.

After talking to some faculty in the Department of Natural Sciences, I signed up for Introduction to Biology.

Titles of created works like books, movies, or newspaper articles, should have first, last, and all main words in between capitalized.

Toni Morrison was a single mother when she began writing her novel The Bluest Eye.

In the early 1950s, artist Helen Frankenthaler created a new type of art when she used poured paint instead of brushes in her work Mountains and Sea.

A New York Times critic wrote in 1987 that I Love Lucy “is a cultural fact of life.”

Minor words in a title are generally not capitalized unless they come first or last in the title, or follow a colon. Minor words include articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and prepositions (such as in, on, at, of, from).

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel

The first letter of a quoted sentence should be capitalized.

On the subject of the weather, Mark Twain said, “It is best to read the weather forecast before we pray for rain.”

Only the first word of a quoted sentence is capitalized, even when you break the sentence with your own words.

“The proper office of a friend,” Mark Twain wrote in his notebook, “is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you are in the right.”

When a quote is longer than one sentence, each sentence should begin with a capital letter.

“He was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth,” said Mark Twain of George Washington. “He would not even lie.”