Chapter 13
Hitting the Big Time: Capital Letters
IN THIS CHAPTER
Choosing capitals for job titles and names
Selecting capitals for words referring to places and time periods
Deciding which school and business terms need capitalization
Finding out when to capitalize letters in titles of works
Determining which abbreviations get capitals
Most people know the basics of capitalization: Capital letters are needed for proper names, the personal pronoun I, and the first letter of a sentence. Trouble may arrive with the finer points of capital letters — in quotations (which I cover in Chapter 10), titles (of people and of publications), abbreviations, geography and history, and school or business terms. Never fear. In this chapter you get to practice all those topics. If you want to fine-tune your capitalization skills in texts, tweets, emails, and presentation slides, turn to Chapter 14.
The major style-setters in the land of grammar (yes, grammar has style, and no, grammarians aren’t immune to trends) sometimes disagree about what should be capitalized and what shouldn’t. In this workbook I follow the most common capitalization styles. If you’re writing for a specific publication or teacher, you may want to check which 20-pound book of rules (also known as a style manual) you should follow. The most common are those manuals published by the Modern Language Association (MLA, for academic writing in the humanities), the American Psychological Association (APA, for science and social science writing), and the University of Chicago (Chicago or CMS, for general interest and academic publishing).
Paying Respect to People’s Names and Titles
Your name, and the personal pronoun I that you use to refer to yourself, are always in caps, but titles are a different story. The general rules are as follows:
- A title preceding and attached to a name is capitalized (Mr. Smith, Professor Wiley). Small, unimportant words in titles (a, the, of, and the like) are never capitalized (Head of School Barker).
- Titles written after or without a name are generally not capitalized (George Wiley, professor of psychology).
- Titles of national or international importance may be capitalized even when used alone (President, Vice President, Secretary-General). Some style manuals opt for lowercase regardless of rank.
- Family relationships are capitalized when they are used in place of a name (“That building was designed by Mom,” but “My mother is an architect”).
In the following sentences, add capital letters where needed. Cross out incorrect capitals and substitute the lowercase form. Keep your eyes open; not every sentence has an error.
Q. The reverend archie smith, Chief Executive of the local council, has invited senator Bickford to next month’s fundraiser.
A. Reverend, Archie, Smith, chief, executive, Senator. Personal names are always capitalized, so Archie Smith needs capitals. Reverend and Senator precede the names (Archie Smith and Bickford) and act as part of the person’s name, not just as a description of their jobs. Thus they should be capitalized. The title chief executive follows the name and isn’t capitalized.
1 Yesterday mayor Victoria Johnson ordered all public servants in her town to conserve sticky tape.
2 Herman harris, chief city engineer, has promised to hold the line on tape spending.
3 However, the Municipal Dogcatcher, Agnes e. Bark, insists on taping reward signs to every tree.
4 My Sister says that the signs placed by dogcatcher Bark seldom fall far from the tree.
5 Did you ask mom whether ms. Bark’s paper will freeze in December?
6 Few Dogcatchers care as much as agnes about rounding up lost dogs.
7 The recent dog-show champion, BooBoo, bit uncle Lou last week.
8 My Brother thinks that no one would have been hurt had Agnes found BooBoo first.
9 The Mayor’s Cousin, who owns a thumbtack company, has an interest in substituting tacks for tape.
10 Until the issue is resolved, Agnes, herself the chief executive of Sticking, Inc., will continue to tape.
11 Sticking, Inc. has appointed a new Vice President to oversee a merger with Thumbtack, Inc.
12 Vice president Pinkie of Thumbtack, Inc., is tired of jokes about his name.
13 When he was appointed Chief Financial Officer, George Pinkie asked grandma Pinkie for advice.
14 George’s aunt, Alicia Bucks, had little sympathy for Pinkie, who is her favorite Nephew.
15 With a name like Bucks, she explained, everyone thinks you should work as a Bank President.
16 Pinkie next asked reverend Holy how he dealt with his unusual name.
17 However, Holy, who has been a Bishop for twelve years, shrugged off the question.
18 “My Brother is The Manager of the New Jersey Devils hockey team, so he faces more jokes than i do,” Bishop Holy remarked.
19 Reginald Holy joined the Devils twenty years ago as a Player Development Director.
20 Holy hopes to be appointed President of the National Hockey League someday.
Capitalizing the Right Time and Place
Where are you going on vacation? Are you flying west or West? During the winter or Winter? Terms for time periods and places can be confusing. Follow these guidelines:
- Geographical areas (Midwest, Soho, East Asia) are capitalized, but not directions. You fly south to the South if you live in New England.
- Geographical features with names are capitalized, but not general terms referring to them. You should visit the magnificent Grand Canyon and perhaps see some smaller canyons during your vacation.
- Seasons of the year aren’t capitalized, but historical eras and events are. The Boston Tea Party, an important event in the Revolution, took place in winter.
- Days of the week and months of the year are always capitalized. Every Sunday in May, Eugene and his family have a picnic.
Ready to try your capitalization skills? Check every sentence. If you see a capitalization error, correct it.
Q. In march, Ellie drove east to the Rocky mountains and then visited several Cities.
A. March, Rocky Mountains, cities. Months of the year always begin with a capital letter. Both words, Rocky and Mountains, should be capitalized, because they form one name. Because cities is a general term, lower case is appropriate.
21 On a Westward voyage, Sindy hoped to reach Europe and visit places associated with world war II.
22 During the Summer, Sindy has about a month off and usually looks for Lakes with cabins nearby.
23 Last monday Sindy spent several hours reading history books about the War.
24 She immediately called a travel agent and tried to book an Eastbound flight to Amsterdam.
25 The fare was too high, so she chose to cross the atlantic on a ship instead.
26 “I love Oceans,” remarked Sindy as she searched the horizon, looking for islands.
27 When the ship neared Iceland, Sindy sighed. “A Volcano erupted there last year,” she remarked.
28 Sindy planned to continue her trip, moving west across the Continent until she reached the Middle East.
29 The suez canal had been at the top of her “must see” list since December, when she saw a documentary on its construction.
30 Sindy plans to spends some time in old Cairo, a neighborhood rich in history.
Working with Business and School Terms
Whether you bring home a paycheck or a report card, you should take care to capitalize properly. Surprisingly, the worlds of business and education have a lot in common:
- The place where it all happens: Capitalize the name of the company or school (Superlative Gadgets International or University of Rock and Roll). General words that may refer to a number of businesses or academic institutions (university, conglomerate, and so forth) are written in lowercase.
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Working units: Business activities (management or advertising) and general academic tasks, years, and subjects (research, sophomore, history) aren’t capitalized. The name of a specific department (Research and Development Division, Department of Cultural Anthropology) may be capitalized. Project names (the Zero Task Force) and course names (History of Belly-Button Rings) are capitalized.
Course titles and the names of businesses or institutions are capitalized according to the “headline style” rules of titles, which I describe in “Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works” later in this chapter. Briefly, capitalize the first word, all nouns and verbs, and any important words in the title. Short, relational words such as of, for, by, and from aren’t capitalized, nor are articles such as a, an, and the. - Products: General terms for items produced or sold (widgets, guarantees, consultation fee) aren’t capitalized. Neither are academic degrees or awards (master’s or fellowship). If a specific brand is named, however, roll out the big letters (Columbus Award for Round-Trip Travel or Universal Gadget Lever).
Some companies change the usual capitalization customs (eBay and iPad, for example). As a grammarian, I’m not happy, but people (and companies) have the right to ruin — sorry — select their own names.
Now that you have the basics, try these questions. If a word needs a capital letter, cross out the offending letter and insert the capital. If a word has an unnecessary capital letter, cross out the offender and insert a lowercase letter. You may also find a correct sentence. If you do, leave it alone!
Q. The eldest daughter of Matt Brady, founder of body piercing international, is a senior at the university of southeast hogwash, where she is majoring in navel repair.
A. Body Piercing International, University of Southeast Hogwash. The name of the company is capitalized, as is the name of the school. The year of study (senior) isn’t capitalized, nor is the major.
31 After extensive research, the united nose ring company has determined that freshmen prefer silver rings, except Psychology majors.
32 The spokesperson for the Company commented that “gold rocks the world” of future Psychologists.
33 “I wore a gold ring to the curriculum committee during the Spring Semester,” explained Fred Stileless, who is the student representative to that committee and to the board of trustees.
34 “My gold earring was a turn off for juniors,” explained Fred, who hasn’t had a date since he was a senior at Smith And Youngtown United high school. “I hope they like my new nose ring.”
35 The Spokesperson surveyed competing Products, including a silver-gold combination manufactured by in style or else, inc., a division of Nosy Industrials, where every worker has a College Degree.
36 Nosy’s website sells rings to Students in fifty Countries on six Continents.
37 The website manager claims that silver attracts clicks and costs less, though the department of product development can’t figure out the difference in the “attractive power” of various metals.
38 Stileless, who originally majored in chemistry, said that “introduction to fashion, a course I took in freshman year, opened my eyes to beauty and made me question my commitment to Science.”
39 Stileless expects to receive a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in body-piercing jewelry.
40 Import-export Companies plan to switch their focus from gold to silver.
Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works
If you write an ode to homework or a scientific study on the biological effects of too many final exams, how do you capitalize the title? The answer depends on the style you’re following:
- In the United States, the titles of literary, creative, and general-interest works are capitalized in “headline style.” Headline style specifies capital letters for the first and last word of the title and subtitle, in addition to all nouns, verbs, and descriptive words, and any other words that require emphasis. Articles (a, an, the) and prepositions (among, by, for, and the like) are usually in lowercase. For Dummies chapter titles employ headline style. In Britain, titles of all sorts of works often appear in sentence style, which I describe in the next bullet point.
- The titles of scientific works employ “sentence style,” which calls for capital letters only for the first word of the title and subtitle and for proper nouns. Everything else is lowercased. (The title of a scientific paper in sentence style: “Cloning fruit flies: Hazards of fly bites.”)
The following titles are written without any capital letters at all. Cross out the offending letters and insert capitals above them where needed. The style you should follow (headline or sentence) is specified in parentheses at the end of each title. By the way, titles of short works are enclosed in quotation marks. Titles of full-length works are italicized. (See Chapter 10 for more information on the punctuation of titles.)
Q. “the wonders of homework completed: an ode” (headline)
A. “The Wonders of Homework Completed: An Ode” The first word of the title and subtitle (The, An) are always capitalized. So are the nouns (Wonders, Homework) and descriptive words (Completed). The preposition (of) is left in lowercase.
41 moby duck: a tale of obsessive bird-watching (headline)
42 “an analysis of the duckensis mobyous: the consequences of habitat shrinkage on population” (sentence)
43 “call me izzy smell: my life as a duck hunter” (headline)
44 the duck and i: essays on the relationship between human beings and feathered species (sentence)
45 duck and cover: a cookbook (headline)
46 “the duck stops here: political wisdom from the environmental movement” (sentence)
47 duck up: how the duck triumphed over the hunter (headline)
48 “moby platypus doesn’t live here anymore” (headline)
49 “population estimates of the platypus: an inexact science” (sentence)
50 for the love of a duck: a sentimental memoir (headline)
Managing Capital Letters in Abbreviations
The world of abbreviations is prime real estate for turf wars. Some publications and institutions proudly announce that “we don’t capitalize a.m.” whereas others declare exactly the opposite, choosing “AM” instead. (Both are correct, but don’t mix the forms. Notice that the capitalized version doesn’t use periods.) You’re wise to ask in advance for a list of the publication’s or Authority Figure’s preferences. These are the general, one-size-fits-most guidelines for abbreviations:
- Acronyms — forms created by the first letter of each word (NATO, UNICEF, and so forth) — take capitals but not periods.
- Initials and titles are capitalized and take periods (George W. Bush and Msgr. Sullivan, for example). The three most common titles — Mr., Mrs., and Ms.— are always capitalized and usually written with periods, though trendy writers skip the period.
- Latin abbreviations such as e.g. (for example) and ibid. (in the same place) aren’t usually capitalized but do end with a period.
- State abbreviations are the two-letter, no-period, capitalized forms created by the post office (IN and AL).
- Abbreviations in texts or tweets to friends may be informal, written without capitals or periods. If you’ve gtg (got to go), you probably don’t have time for capitals. However, avoid these abbreviations when writing to someone you’re trying to impress — a boss, client, or teacher.
- When an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, the period for the abbreviation does double duty as an endmark.
Okay, try your hand at abbreviating. Check out the full word, which I place in lowercase letters, even when capital letters are called for. See whether you can insert the proper abbreviation or acronym for the following words, taking care to capitalize where necessary and filling in the blanks with your answers.
Q. figure __________________
A. fig.
51 illustration ___________
52 before common era ___________
53 mister Burns ___________
54 united states president ___________
55 national hockey league ___________
56 reverend Smith ___________
57 new york ___________
58 Adams boulevard ___________
59 irregular ___________
60 incorporated ___________
Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Capital Letters
Use the information in this chapter to help you find ten capitalization mistakes in the following figure, which is an excerpt from possibly the worst book report ever written.
Answers to Capitalization Problems
Now that you’ve burned a hole through your thinking cap while answering questions about capitalization, check out the answers to see how you did.
1 Mayor Victoria Johnson. Titles that come before a name and proper names take capitals; common nouns, such as servants and tape, don’t.
2 Harris. Names take capitals, but titles written after the name usually don’t.
3 municipal dogcatcher, E. The title in this sentence isn’t attached to the name; in fact, it’s separated from the name by a comma. It should be in lowercase. Initials take capitals and periods.
4 sister, Dogcatcher. Family relationships aren’t capitalized unless the relationship is used as a name. The title Dogcatcher is attached to the name, and thus it’s capitalized.
5 Mom, Ms. The word Mom substitutes for the name here, so it’s capitalized. The title Ms. is always capitalized, but the period is optional.
6 dogcatchers, Agnes. The common noun dogcatchers doesn’t need a capital letter, but the proper name Agnes does.
7 Uncle. The title uncle is capitalized if it precedes or substitutes for the name. Did I confuse you with BooBoo? People can spell their own names (and the names of their pets) how they want.
8 brother. Family titles aren’t capitalized unless they substitute for the name.
9 mayor’s, cousin. These titles aren’t attached to or used as names, so they take lowercase.
10 Correct. Names are in caps, but the title isn’t, except when it precedes the name.
11 vice president. A title that isn’t attached to a name shouldn’t be capitalized.
12 President. In this sentence the title precedes the name and thus should be capitalized.
13 chief financial officer, Grandma. The first title (chief financial officer) isn’t attached to a name. Go for lowercase. The second title (Grandma) is part of a name and must be capitalized.
14 nephew. Don’t capitalize relationships, like aunt, unless they precede and are part of a name.
15 bank president. This title isn’t connected to a name; therefore, it should be lowercased.
16 Reverend. The title precedes the name and becomes part of the name, in a sense. A capital letter is appropriate.
17 bishop. In this sentence bishop doesn’t precede a name; lowercase is the way to go.
18 brother, the, manager, I. Lowercase is best for brother, the, and manager because brother isn’t being used as a name, the isn’t part of the title, and in any case, the title isn’t connected to a name. The personal pronoun I is always capitalized.
19 player development director. Another title that’s all by itself. Opt for lowercase.
20 president. To be president is a big deal, but not a big letter.
21 westward, World War II. Directions aren’t capitalized. The names of historical events, such as wars, should be capitalized.
22 summer, lakes. Use lower case for seasons and general geographical terms.
23 Monday, war. Days of the week should appear in caps, but the general term war should not. Did I catch you with history? That’s a general term, so it appears in lower case.
24 eastbound. Directions aren’t capitalized. Amsterdam, the name of a city, is correctly capitalized.
25 Atlantic. The name of the ocean (or any geographical feature) should be capitalized.
26 oceans. General geographical terms, such as oceans and islands, take lower case.
27 volcano. Volcano is a general term, so write it with lower case.
28 continent. Another general term, another lowercase letter. Middle East, the name of a region, is capitalized.
29 Suez Canal. This one is a specific place, so capitals letters do the job. December, like all months, is capitalized.
30 Old. The sentence tells you that Old Cairo is a neighborhood, an area, so capital letters are needed.
31 United Nose Ring Company, psychology. Although college freshmen think they’re really important (and, of course, they are), they rate only lowercase. The name of the company is specific and should be in uppercase. Don’t capitalize subject areas.
32 company, psychologists. Common nouns such as company and psychologists aren’t capitalized. (And if you’ve read Chapter 10, you may remember that because the quotation isn’t tagged with a name, the quotation doesn’t begin with a capital letter.)
33 spring semester, Board of Trustees. The name of the committee is generic and generally would not take capitals, though you have some elbow room here for style. Seasons, both natural and academic, take lowercase letters. The name of an official body, such as the Board of Trustees, is usually capitalized.
34 and, High School. Years in school and school levels aren’t capitalized. The name of the school is (and the name includes High School), but an unimportant word such as and is written in lowercase.
35 spokesperson; products; In Style or Else, Inc.; college degree. A common noun such as spokesperson or college degree isn’t capitalized. The names of companies are capitalized according to the preference of the company itself. Most companies follow headline style, which is explained in the section “Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works” earlier in this chapter.
36 students, countries, continents. Don’t capitalize general terms.
37 task force, Department of Product Development. In this sentence, task force isn’t a name but rather a common label, which takes lowercase. The name of a department should be capitalized, but the preposition (of) is lowercased.
38 Introduction to Fashion, science. Course titles get caps, but subject names and school years don’t.
39 Correct. School degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate) are lowercased, though their abbreviations aren’t (B.A., M.S., and so on). Most school subjects aren’t capitalized, except for languages (such as Spanish). Course names, such as Economics I, are capitalized.
40 companies. This term isn’t the name of a specific company, just a common noun. Lowercase is what you want.
41 Moby Duck: A Tale of Obsessive Bird-Watching In headline style, the first word of the title (Moby) and subtitle (A) are in caps. Nouns (Duck, Tale, and Watching) and descriptive words (Obsessive, Bird) are also uppercased. The short preposition of merits only lowercase.
42 “An analysis of the Duckensis mobyous: The consequences of habitat shrinkage on population” In sentence-style capitalization, the first words of the title and subtitle are in caps, but everything else is in lowercase, with the exception of proper names. In this title, following preferred scientific style, the names of the genus (a scientific category) and species are in italics with only the genus name in caps.
43 “Call Me Izzy Smell: My Life As a Duck Hunter” Per headline style, the article (a) is in lowercase. I caught you on As, didn’t I? It’s short, but it’s not an article or a preposition, so it rates a capital letter.
44 The duck and I: Essays on the relationship between human beings and feathered species Sentence style titles take caps for the first word of the title and subtitle. The personal pronoun I is always capitalized.
45 Duck and Cover: A Cookbook Headline style calls for capitals for the first word of the title and subtitle and all other nouns. The joining word and is lowercased in headline style, unless it begins a title or subtitle.
46 “The duck stops here: Political wisdom from the environmental movement” Sentence style gives you two capitals in this title — the first word of the title and subtitle.
47 Duck Up: How the Duck Triumphed over the Hunter Because this title is in headline style, everything is in caps except articles (the) and prepositions (over).
48 “Moby Platypus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” Headline style gives capital letters for all the words here because this title contains no articles or prepositions.
49 “Population estimates of the platypus: An inexact science” Sentence style calls for capital letters at the beginning of the title and subtitle. The term platypus isn’t the name of a genus, so it’s written in lowercase.
50 For the Love of a Duck: A Sentimental Memoir Headline style mandates lowercase for articles (the, a) and prepositions (of). The first words of the title and subtitle, even if they’re articles or prepositions, merit capital letters.
51 illus.
52 BCE (The Latin expression Anno Domini — abbreviated AD — means “in the year of our Lord” and is used with dates that aren’t BC, or before Christ. To make this term more universal, historians often substitute CE or Common Era for AD and BCE or Before the Common Era for BC.)
53 Mr. Burns
54 U.S. Pres.
55 NHL (an acronym)
56 Rev. Smith
57 NY (postal abbreviation) or N.Y. (traditional form)
58 Adams Blvd.
59 irreg.
60 Inc.
Here are the answers to the “Overachievers” section:
1 In a headline-style title, prepositions aren’t capitalized.
2 An ordinary term for animals, in this case ducks, is lowercased.
3 The personal pronoun I is always capitalized.
4 The name of the teacher isn’t given, just the term teacher, which should be lowercased.
5 When a quotation is written without a speaker tag, the first word isn’t capitalized.
6 Family relationships are capitalized only when they serve as a name.
7 Most academic degrees take lowercase.
8 Most school subjects are written in lowercase. (I must point out that English is in caps because it’s so important. Okay, I’m lying. It’s in caps because it’s the name of a language.)
9 School years are in lowercase too.
10 Job titles, when they aren’t attached to the beginning of a name, are in lowercase.