Capitalization Rules
Capital letters signal the start of a sentence and mark out proper names - specific people, places, organisations and titles. Most rules are simple, but there are plenty of tricky cases: seasons, school subjects, family words, directions and titles used with or without a name.
This guide sets out each capitalization rule with a short explanation and an example sentence, grouped into what you always capitalise, names and places, titles and headings, and tricky cases. Where British and American conventions differ, we point it out.
26 entries in this category
Always Capitalise
6Every sentence begins with a capital letter.
"The bus was late again this morning."
The pronoun I is always capitalised, wherever it appears.
"Yesterday I finally finished the book."
Capitalise first names, surnames and nicknames.
"Amelia Earhart and her friend "Muriel" flew together."
Capitalise days of the week, months and festivals.
"Term starts on a Monday in September, and Diwali falls in October or November."
Write acronyms and initialisms in capitals.
"She works for NASA and banks with HSBC."
Capitalise the first word of a full quoted sentence.
"He said, "The meeting starts at ten.""
Names & Places
7Capitalise the names of places on the map.
"They flew from Paris, France, to Nairobi in Africa."
Capitalise nationalities and the languages people speak.
"My Brazilian friend speaks Portuguese and Japanese."
Capitalise the names of specific roads, buildings and monuments.
"Meet me at the Eiffel Tower, not on Baker Street."
Capitalise named regions, but not compass directions.
"She grew up in the North but now drives south to work."
Capitalise the full names of companies, charities and institutions.
"He volunteers for the Red Cross and works at Google."
Capitalise names of religions, gods and holy books.
"The Quran and the Bible are sacred texts in Islam and Christianity."
Capitalise named planets and stars; earth, sun and moon are usually lowercase unless used as names.
"Mars is smaller than Earth, the third planet from the Sun."
Titles & Headings
6Capitalise the first word and all major words (title case).
"Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird?"
Articles, short prepositions and conjunctions stay lowercase unless they come first or last.
"The Lord of the Rings; Pride and Prejudice"
Capitalise a title used before a name, but not a title used on its own.
"President Lincoln spoke; the president then left."
Capitalise Mum, Dad, Grandma when used as a name, not after "my".
"Can Mum come too? My mum is busy."
Capitalise abbreviated titles and academic degrees.
"Dr Patel has a PhD in chemistry."
Capitalise the first word of a greeting; only the first word of a closing.
"Dear Mr Lee, ... Yours sincerely, Anna"
Tricky Cases
7Seasons are lowercase unless they begin a sentence or are part of a name.
"We visit in spring for the Spring Festival."
Languages are capitalised; other subjects are lowercase unless part of a course name.
"I have English, maths and Biology 101 today."
Capitalise named events, eras and documents.
"The Renaissance came long before World War II."
Adjectives formed from proper nouns keep their capital.
"She loves Shakespearean drama and Victorian houses."
Some words from names are now everyday nouns and verbs written in lowercase.
"He ate a sandwich and joined the boycott."
British English usually uses lowercase after a colon; American style often capitalises a full sentence.
"There was one problem: nobody had the key."
Keep the brand's own styling; rephrase rather than start a sentence with a lowercase brand.
"Her new iPhone arrived on Tuesday."