Capitalization Rules

Use these capitalization rules to rule the world of capitalization!

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 Adjectives

Proper nouns are nouns that name specific people, places, or things.

James, Paris, Colorado, Costa Rica

Proper adjectives are adjectives that are formed from proper nouns.

Proper Nouns: Spain, Ireland, Italy

Proper Adjectives: Spanish, Irish, Italian

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

Uncle Jack, Grandma Marge, Papa Phil

* Don't capitalize words that show a family relationship when you use them before a possessive pronoun.

my mother, his sister, our grandma

B. Capitalize

I am excited to study history this summer.

I'll be taking History 101 at the community college.

* Always capitalize the names of languages.

I'd love to speak French, English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese

C. Capitalize

This Wednesday, we'll study World War II, and then we will watch the Cambrian Tennis Championship.

2. Capitalize the First Word in Every Sentence

That is one of the easiest capitalization rules to remember,

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 Quotation

My sister asked, "Where are my shoes?"

sentence fragment

My sister claims that I "did not do the dishes correctly."

4. Capitalize the First and Last Words of Titles & Every Word Between Except Articles & Short, Unimportant Words

Wow. 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.

Reader's Digest (magazine)

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (poem)

The Lord of the Rings (movie)

5. Capitalize Abbreviations of Titles and Organizations

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases.

I live in the U.S.A.

Today I will see Dr. Shriver.

This is my neighbor, Mr. Botts.

6. Capitalize the Pronoun I

That 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.

I am going to buy oranges.

Sentence Diagramming

Yeah! You made it through the list of capitalization rules. It's time for you to learn a little sentence diagramming. Are you interested? It's fun!

If you want to teach or learn grammar the easy way, then follow a step-by-step program that clearly lays everything out for you and allows you to move at your own pace. The Get Smart program is presented in a meaningful sequence, so it's not an overwhelming mishmash of information. Before you know it, you'll be a grammar and sentence diagramming pro!

The whole program is online, so you have instant access to these lessons and videos. It's easy and fun. You can get it at www.English-Grammar-Revolution.com/daily-diagrams.html

Keep learning and have fun!

Elizabeth O'Brien is the creator of the Grammar Revolution step-by-step grammar and sentence diagramming programs. Her programs are guaranteed not only to teach you grammar, but also to give you more confidence in your communication skills.

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