Capitalization!

Names

• People’s names• Titles before names (President Bush) but not

titles by themselves. (a president)• Mom, Dad, Son, Aunt, Uncle, etc. when they are

used as the person’s name (Mom, can I go to the party? Yes, Daughter you may!)

• Do NOT capitalize Mom, Dad, Son, Aunt, Uncle, etc when there is a possessive word before it. (Yes, that is my aunt Mary.)

I

Always! Forget texting! Always capitalize the pronoun I.

Let’s Talk about God.

• All words referring to God, to the Holy Family, and to religious scriptures

• Bible• The books of the Bible• The names for other Holy Books• The names of God in all religions• The names of religions• Personal pronouns referring to God (e.g. They gave

thanks to God for His bounty.)• When in doubt, if it’s about somebody’s God, capitalize

(except when referring to gods and goddesses in mythology).

Geography

• States• Countries• Continents• Bodies of water• Land forms like mountains, caverns, and canyons that

have specific names• Streets, roads, and highways• Buildings with specific names (the Empire State Building)• Sections of the country, and the adjectives that come

from them (Bella loved visiting the South and eating Southern fried chicken.)

Still More Proper Nouns and Adjectives!

• Days of the week, months, and holidays• Races, languages, nationalities, and any

adjectives that come from them (Even though she is Spanish (adj), Maria still wants to take French (noun).

• Historical events, documents, and periods of time

• Ships, trains, airplanes, and automobiles• B.C. and A.D.

Organizations and Institutions

• Political parties (Republican, Democrat)• Governmental bodies or agencies (Department

of Transportation)• Schools and colleges• Churches• Hospitals• Clubs (League of Women Voters; Rotary Club)• Businesses (IBM, The Gap)• Abbreviations of the above names (DOT)

Titles!

• The first word of a title—always• All important words in the title• Do NOT capitalize: a, an the in the middle of the

title, short prepositions, coordinating conjunctions

• These rules apply to titles of books, newspapers, chapters, magazines, articles, short stories, essays, poems, songs, CDs, plays, movies, works of art, and TV shows.

First Words First

• The first word of a sentence

• The first word of most lines of poetry

• The first word of a direct quotation

• The first word in the greeting of a letter (Dear…)

• The first word only in the closing of a letter (Very truly yours,)

• The first word of each item in an outline

Do NOT Capitalize:

• Seasons• North, south, east, and west when they

are indicating direction instead of an area of the country

• School subjects that aren’t languages and don’t have a course number attached

• The first word of the second part of a divided quotation (“I’m glad,” said Teddy, “that Martha won the election.”)