Capitalization is the practice of writing in capital letters or writing an initial letter of a word/sentence in capital. From our childhood we have learnt that we must always write the first letter of any new sentence in capitals, but is that all there is to capitalization? No! In English Grammar there are a few rules on how to use capitalization while writing in English. They are as follows:
1. First word of a Sentence: Always capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence.
For example: The dog is chasing a cat.
Where did you go?
Proper Nouns: Always capitalize proper nouns like people’s names, names of continents, countries, cities, religion, companies, languages, nationality etc.
For example: Andy is a good boy.
She lives in London.
I work in Google.
I can speak two languages: Hindi and English.
Don’t capitalize after Colon: You don’t need to capitalize after you have used a colon in a statement. However, if a colon is followed by a proper noun, you will need to capitalize the proper noun. Another exception is when the colon is followed by words which make one or more complete statements.
For example: I like to only watch: car racing
I wish that I could visit: Paris
I want to learn to write in a proper manner because of two reasons:
Iwant to become a writer and win an award in literature.
First word of a Quote: Always capitalize the first word of a quote. However, when the quote is used only partially, do not capitalize the first word of the quote.
For example: Shikha asked,” Where is everybody?
Vandana said that she was “running late” for her class.
Days, Months, and Holidays: The names of Days, Months and Holidays are proper nouns. So, we need to capitalize them. However, since the names of the seasons are not proper nouns, they can be avoided.
For example: I hate Mondays!
Thank God, it’s Friday.
I don’t like the summer reason as much as the rainy season.
Titles: Capitalize most words in the titles of books, movies, plays etc. However, you can avoid capitalizing articles, conjunctions and prepositions.
For example:The first book of the series is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
My favorite book is Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Time Periods and Events: Always capitalize the specific eras and historical events which are proper nouns.
For example: My grandfather fought in World War I.
I wish I was born during the Shakespearean Era.
The knowledge of such rules will help us not make common capitalization mistakes such as:
The error of capitalizing articles, conjunctions and prepositions in titles, email subject lines, headlines, blog post or any other writing in general.
For example: The King Of England. Here, the capitalization of the letter ‘O’ in the word ‘of’ is an error of capitalization.
The error of capitalizing common nouns which is a generic name for a person, place or thing.
For example: The Workers are on a break. Here, the capitalization of the letter ‘W’ in the word ‘workers’ is an error of capitalization.
The error of capitalizing the names of seasons or directions.
For example: The Spring season is here. Here, the capitalization of the letter ‘S’ in the word ‘spring’ is an error of capitalization.
The error of capitalizing the name of a relationship unless it forms a part of the name or the substitute thereof.
For example: My mother is sleeping. Here, the capitalization of the letter ‘M’ in the word ‘mother’ is an error of capitalization.
However, ‘My Uncle John is studying abroad’, is correct since the word ‘Uncle’ has now become a part of the name.
The error of capitalizing the names of disease and other medical terms unless a proper noun is the part of the name or unless it’s an acronym.
For example: Correct usage in a sentence (unless starting the sentence) will be polio.
However, with coronavirus, when we use its acronym, Covid-19, it’s right to capitalize the letter ‘C’.
The right of use of capitalization can help you enrich your written text but at the same time improper use of the same and make your text ineffective. Therefore, keep in mind the capitalization rules and avoid making the above stated errors to write sentences which are error free.
