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Capitilization Notes

This document provides guidelines for capitalization in the English language. It discusses when to capitalize words in parentheses, sections of the country versus directions, races, nationalities, languages and religions. It also covers capitalizing titles, names of organizations and abbreviations. Additionally, it notes when to capitalize personal names, courses versus fields of study, and words like freshman and sophomore. Finally, it lists instances when not to capitalize words, such as prefixes, seasons, common nouns after proper nouns, and words appearing in proper nouns but not actually part of them.

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274 views3 pages

Capitilization Notes

This document provides guidelines for capitalization in the English language. It discusses when to capitalize words in parentheses, sections of the country versus directions, races, nationalities, languages and religions. It also covers capitalizing titles, names of organizations and abbreviations. Additionally, it notes when to capitalize personal names, courses versus fields of study, and words like freshman and sophomore. Finally, it lists instances when not to capitalize words, such as prefixes, seasons, common nouns after proper nouns, and words appearing in proper nouns but not actually part of them.

Uploaded by

api-264119200
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Capitalization Notes

1.

Parenthes
es

Capitalize the first word that is enclosed in


parentheses if that sentence comes before or after
another complete sentence:
Then Mary took that fuzzball right inside the school!
(Is that weird or what?)

2.

Sections
of the
country
versus
directions

3.

Capitalize
races,
nationaliti
es,
languages,
and
religions

Sections of the country such as I live in the North


should be capitalized but NOT directions: Drive north
two miles then turn left.

French, English, Catholic, Muslim

4.

5.

6.

7.

Capitalize
the first
word of a
title, the
last word,
and every
word in
between
except a,
an, the
Capitalize
the name
of an
organizati
on, an
associatio
n, or a
team and
its
members
Capitalize
abbreviati
ons
Personal
names

Chicago Tribune
Nothing Gold Can Stay
To Kill a Mockingbird

The Detroit Lions


Carter Drama Club
Republican Party

U.S.A.

NAACP

M.D.

Ph.D.

A.D.

B.C.

Capitalize words like father, mother, uncle, senator


if they are parts of a personal address.
Hi, Uncle Don.
My uncle has a new car.
Did you know Senator Brown is a good man?
The senator is a good man.
Did Mom (Sue) say we should go?
Did your mom (Sue) say we should go?
Test: Put a proper noun in place of the word. If the
noun fits, the word should be capitalized.

8.

9.

Courses
versus a
field of
study
Freshman,

If the word is part of a course name, capitalize it:


I am taking History 202.
Do NOT capitalize it, if it is a field of study.
The teacher that teaches history is nice.
Capitalize these words if they are part of an official

10.

11.
12.
13.

sophomor
e, junior,
senior
Holy books
and words
referring
to a
supreme
being
Do NOT
capitalize:
Do NOT
capitalize:
Do NOT
capitalize:

14.

Do NOT
capitalize:

15.

Do NOT
capitalize:

title:
The Sophomore Banquet is tomorrow.
The sophomores are studying Latin.
God, Him, Jehovah, the Lord, the Savior, the Koran,
Bible, Jesus

A prefix before a proper noun: Example:


Un-American
Seasons of the year:
Example: spring, winter, fall, summer
A common noun coming after two or more proper
nouns:
Example: Missouri and Ohio rivers
Words that appear to be part of a proper noun but
are NOT:
-Kansas High School
-a Kansas high school
Words that appear to be part of a proper noun but
are NOT:
-Governor Rick Snyder
-Rick Snyder, our governor

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