Capitalization

Capitalize the first word in every sentence.

My brother asked, “Will you drive me to school?”

Also remember that traditionally the first word in a line of poetry is capitalized

– KeysTo have a keyIs to open up doors,Open your imaginationLet your thoughts run wildly through theDark crisp night.Chant words and phrases over and overUntil you are delirious.

Capitalize the interjection O and the pronoun I.

The interjection O is usually used only for invocations and is followed by the name of the person or thing being addressed.– Don’t confuse O with oh.Example:Walt Whitman’s tribute to Abraham Lincoln begins, “O

Captain! My Captain!”

Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives.

A common noun names one member of a group of people, places, or things. – These are only capitalized if they begin a sentence,

begin a direct quotation, or are part of a title. A proper noun names a particular person,

place, or thing. Proper adjectives are formed from proper

nouns.

Proper nouns and proper adjectives

Common Nouns

Proper Nouns Proper Adjectives

a writer Shakespeare Shakespearean characters

a country New Zealand New Zealand coastline

a president Jefferson Jeffersonian ideals

an island Hawaii Hawaiian climate

More on Proper Nouns

In proper nouns made up of two or more words, all articles coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions (those with fewer than five letters)are not capitalizedExamples:

Queen of Spain American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty

to Animals

Compound Words

The parts of a compound word are capitalized as if each part stood aloneExamples:African American Central American nationsChinese checkers English-speaking touristsNote: Proper nouns and proper adjectives may lose

their capitals after long usage. Examples: madras, sandwich, watt, puritan

Capitalize the names of persons.

Given Names: Patricia, Brian, Toshio, Aretha

– Surnames: Sanchez, Goldblum, Williams, Ozawa

Some names contain more than one capital letter.

– Usage varies in the capitalization of van, von, du, de la, and other parts of multiword names.

– La Fontaine, McEwen, O’Conner, Van Doren, van Gogh

Capitalize geographical names.

Type of Name Examples

Towns, Cities Boston Denver South BendTokyo Chicago Rio de Janeiro

Counties,Townships

Marion County Nottinghamshire Lafayette Parish Lewis Township

States Wisconsin New York OklahomaRegions the East Northern Hemisphere

the Southwest New England

Words that are indicating direction are not capitalized

North, western, southeast, east of the river, driving south, western Iowa

The abbreviations of names of states are always capitalized.

Other Capitalization Situations

Countries United States of America, MozambiqueContinents North America, Asia, Africa, EuropeIslands Catalina Island, Greater Antilles, Florida

Keys, Isle of PinesMountains Blue Ridge Mountains, Sierra Nevada,

Humphrey’s Peak, Mount McKinleyOther Land Formations

Cape Cod, Isthmus of Panama, Mojave Desert, Horse Cave, Mississippi Valley, Point Sur

More Capitalization Situations

Bodies of Water Pacific Ocean, Great Lakes, Strait of Hormuz, Saint Lawrence Seaway

Parks Point Reyes National SeashoreGates of the Artic National ParkMahoney State Park

Roads, Highways, Streets

Route 30, Michigan Avenue, Interstate 55, North Tenth Street, Pennsylvania Turnpike, Morningside Drive