Capitalization Rules

Some of the most common rules of capitalization in English are given below to help you improve your writing. Everyday examples of each are included to help you learn and apply capitalization rules confidently. 

 

1. The First Word of a sentence, question, and quote.

  • Sentence: He went to the park today.
  • Question: Where is she going?
  • Quote: "Why did you do all this for me?" Wilbur asked.

2. The Pronoun "I"

  • I am the only girl in the group.

3. Proper Things or Events: specific things or events

  • day: Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • month: March, June, September
  • holiday: New Year Day, Valentine Day, Halloween
  • road: Cedar Street
  • bridge: Golden Gate Bridge
  • building: Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, White House
  • museum: Smithsonian National Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • language: English, Arabic, Spanish, Farsi, Urdu, Navajo
  • race: Daytona 500, Kentucky Derby
  • sports: Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series
  • parade: Thanksgiving Day Parade

4. Proper Places: specific places, physical landmarks, and place names

  • store: Walmart
  • school: Eastern High School
  • river: Mississippi River, Missouri River
  • mountain: Rocky Mountains
  • canyon: Grand Canyon
  • ocean: Pacific Ocean
  • city: Seattle
  • state: Ohio
  • section of country: Northeast, West.  Indiana is in the Midwest.
  • country: Canada, Peru, Sudan, Nepal, Australia
  • continent: Europe, Asia, South America
  • planet: Jupiter, Mars

5. Proper People: specific names, and titles of people.

  • mother: Mom
  • aunt or uncle: Aunt Emily, Uncle Nathan
  • name: Hallie J. Wright, Timothy R. Newman
  • Titles: Mr. Davis, Mrs. Wilson, Dr. Lopez
  • principal: Principal Schultz
  • governor: Governor McDonald
  • president: President Lincoln
  • religious leader: Pope Francis
  • nationality: Japanese, Mexican, Indian

6. Titles: First Word and Important Words

  • Book: Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh
  • Poem: Now We are Six, by A. A. Milne
  • Song: The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
  • Movie: Star Wars, Home Alone

7. Historical Periods and Events

  • Periods: Renaissance, Industrial Revolution 
  • Events: Constitutional Convention, Civil War

8. Groups and Organizations

  • racial: African-Americans
  • political: Democrats, Republicans
  • national: Congress, Supreme Court
  • civic: Town Council, Chamber of Commerce
  • athletic: L.A. Lakers, New York Yankees

9. Companies

  • Apple (computers), Starbucks. Ford, Nike, Amazon

10 Acronyms

  •  USA, CIA, WW2, PBS, DMV
11. Religious deities, figures, and books
  • Jesus, Shiva, Buddha, Zeus
  • Virgin Mary, Saint Francis
  • Bible, Qur'an, Torah, Gita