Principles of Well-Written Text
1. Mechanics
Rule #4: Capitalization
1. The First Letter in a Sentence
It's important to always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. This is perhaps the easiest and most
straightforward of the capitalization rules, as there are virtually no exceptions or other complications.
If it's the first word in a sentence, capitalize it.
2. The First Word in Quotations
If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence, capitalize it, but only if it's a complete sentence.
If it's merely a phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it doesn't require capitalization. Here
are some examples:
The waiter said, "My manager will be here shortly," but he never came.
Ernest Hemingway famously said, "The way to learn whether a person is trustworthy is to trust
him."
The waiter told us that his manager would "be here shortly," but he never came.
Hemingway said the way to learn if someone is "trustworthy" is "to trust him."
3. Titles of People
This one may seem obvious, but there's also a catch. Of course, you capitalize the first letter of a
person's first, middle, and last names (John Quincy Adams), but you also capitalize suffixes (like Jr., the
Great, or Princess of Power) and titles.
Titles can be as simple as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., but they also apply to situations wherein you address a person
by his or her position as though it were part of their name.
For example, when we talk about President Abraham Lincoln, we're using his role as though it were a
title, not a job description. However, we wouldn't capitalize the word president if it wasn't being used as
a title. For example: "During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States."
4. Job Titles
When capitalizing general job titles, look at the position of the job title relative to the person's name.
This will help you know if it should be capitalized or not.
As we saw above, you should capitalize the title when it comes immediately before someone's name. For
example, "While I was an intern, I got to shadow Senior Marketing Director Sam Jones for a day."
You don't capitalize the job title if it is separated from the name, such as by a comma or the word "the."
For example, "Dr. Rogers was the cardiac surgeon on call."
Capitalize people's titles if they come before the person's name or are used instead of the person's real
name. For example, the Honorable Judge Eugene Crane may be called "Judge Crane" or simply "Judge."
Always capitalize his title, "Judge." Be sure to capitalize titles if used in direct address, such as, "Will
my dog be okay, Doctor?"
5. The Pronoun "I"
It's only necessary to capitalize other pronouns when they begin a sentence. However, the pronoun "I" is
always capitalized, no matter where it falls in a line. For example:
I don't know about you, but I would wait for it to go on sale.
6. Proper Nouns
Proper nouns, by definition, need to be capitalized. It's what differentiates them from common nouns.
So, a common noun would be tower. But a proper noun would be the Eiffel Tower. Specific people, places,
or things will generally be capitalized. Here are more examples:
Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills, and volcanoes (e.g., Mt. Olympus and Mount Vesuvius)
Cities and countries (e.g., Austin and Argentina)
Names of bodies of water, including rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, streams, and creeks (e.g.,
Mississippi River and Muscogee Creek)
Names of buildings, monuments, bridges, and tunnels (e.g., the Statue of Liberty and Holland
Tunnel)
Street names (e.g., Manhattan Avenue and Oxford Street)
Days, months, and holidays (e.g., Monday, May, and Christmas)
Schools, colleges, and universities (e.g., Harvard University and Boston College)
Political divisions, including continents, regions, states, counties, and towns (e.g., North America
and the Wayne County)
Nationalities and languages (e.g., French and English)
7. Closing a Letter
When we sign off on letters, we generally close with a valediction like, "Sincerely" or "Yours truly." The
first word in these farewell words or complimentary close should be capitalized, just like the beginning
of a sentence. For example:
Wishing you all the best,
Sarah Smith
If you'd like to include your title after your name, that must be capitalized too. For example:
Yours truly,
Marie Kittelstad, Professor Emeritus
The signature is only one important component in a letter. For the full picture, here's How to Write a
Letter.
8. Book and Movie Titles
Books, movies, poems, and other creative works often require capitalization. If you have a future as a
blogger, you might choose to capitalize the headers in your articles. There are two primary ways to draft
headers in an online article.
Title Case
You can use title case, where you capitalize:
the first word
adjectives
nouns
verbs
the last word
Meanwhile, you generally don't want to capitalize:
articles
conjunctions
prepositions
The first letter of a work of art is always capitalized, even if it's an article, preposition or conjunction.
For example, consider The Glass Menagerie, A Few Good Men, and Of Mice and Men. The last word of
these titles always receives a capital too (like Fools Rush In). Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions of
four characters or more may also be capitalized (e.g., One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Spider-Man:
Far From Home).
