Grammar Rules of Capitalization

Grammar Rules of Capitalization

Where to use full caps

How to use caps for titles, articles and books

How to manage sentence caps

            Geographical names

            Ethnic/racial groups

Capitalization in Writing

FULL CAPS are used when every character of the word is capitalized. Full caps are used only in major titles and headings. By contrast, heading caps mean that only the first character of the word is capitalized. These are the heading/ headline caps used in most citation styles, with the exceptions listed below.

Heading caps are used to capitalize the first character in all meaningful parts of speech, including nouns and verbs, pronouns and adjectives, as well as subordinating conjunctions. If a colon is used in a title or a subheading, the first character following the colon should be capitalized. All major words in titles, headings and subtitles require capitalization. These rules apply equally to all written works, publications and musical compositions, television, radio programs and theatrical plays/ performances, paintings and movies, electronic systems and software products, ship and airplane names, monuments and awards.

When it comes to book titles or journal/ article names, do not forget to use heading caps. In documents and titles of articles, heading caps are also placed in quotes.

Never capitalize:

-          Articles and prepositions (a, an, the, between, against, of, in)

-          Conjunctions (but, nor,  and, so, or)

-          Infinitives.

In sentence caps only the first word of the sentence and a word following the colon are to be capitalized. Capitalization is used only in case these words are represented by a proper noun, verb, and other meaningful part of speech. The first word of the sentence and the word following the colon are to be capitalized, when they are part of a complete sentence/ phrase.

-          Heading caps are used for book and article titles that are mentioned in the main text

-          Heading caps are used for the major headings included in the main text (no heading caps for run-in subheadings are to be used);

-          Sentence caps are used for the majority of titles, when they refer to non-English works;

-          Sentence caps are used for run-in paragraph subheadings.

Ethnic/Racial Groups. Ethnic/racial groups and their names require capitalization, only when they represent a large language group or a certain geographical region. For example, use capitalization when you talk about Asians and Appalachians.

Geographical Names. When it comes to geography, use capitalization only when terms and titles are represented by proper nouns. Capitalize geographical names and titles when they describe a well-recognized place. Make sure to capitalize such titles and names as proper nouns.