Capitalization RulesUse these capitalization rules to rule the world of capitalization! The truth is, in most grammar books, you'll find pages and pages of capitalization rules. I focused on the nitty-gritty here, and I've only given you six main rules and a few sub-rules to remember. 1. Capitalize Proper Nouns & Proper AdjectivesProper nouns name specific people, places, or things. Proper adjectives are formed from proper nouns. Sometimes it can be hard to know when a word is being used as a proper noun or not. Here are a few more tips that will help you. A. Capitalize words that show a family relationship when you use them with a person's name. * Don't capitalize words that show a family relationship when you use them before a possessive pronoun. B. Capitalize the names of school subjects only when you use them to refer to a specific course. I'll be taking History 101 at the community college. * Always capitalize the names of languages. C. Capitalize the names of holidays, historical events, and periods. 2. Capitalize the First Word in Every SentenceThat is one of the easiest capitalization rules to remember, right? The only trouble comes when you can't tell where one sentence ends and another begins. Wrong: I would love to eat ice cream tonight because it is so yummy my favorite flavor is chocolate. Right: I would love to eat ice cream tonight because it is so yummy. My favorite flavor is chocolate. 3. Capitalize the First Word in a Direct QuotationA. If the quotation is not meant to stand alone and is only a sentence fragment, you don't need to capitalize it. 4. Capitalize the First and Last Words of Titles & Every Word Between Except Articles & Short, Unimportant WordsWow. That was long. Do this for titles of books, poems, stories, movies, paintings, and magazines. When the above rule says not to capitalize articles, it's referring to a specific kind of adjective called an article. The articles are a, an, and the. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (poem) The Lord of the Rings (movie) 5. Capitalize Abbreviations of Titles and OrganizationsAbbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. Today I will see Dr. Shriver. This is my neighbor, Mr. Botts. 6. Capitalize the Pronoun IThat rule is short and sweet. Just remember that whenever you use this pronoun, you capitalize it. Note that this does not apply to any other pronoun.
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