A Capital Idea!

The Uses and Rules of CAPITALIZATION

It may seem simple, but…• Almost everyone can tell you one

rule about capitalization….but it’s not as simple as it seems…

• Can you name one capitalization rule?

• Now try to guess how many errors there are in these examples…

1. Dr. Goldberger traveled through the Southern part of pennsylvania to get to the conference on victorian poetry.

2. "Wait," He said, "Until the Huskies have won a few games."

How did you do?

1. Dr. Goldberger traveled through the southern part of Pennsylvania to get to the conference on Victorian poetry.

2. "Wait," he said, "until the Huskies have won a few games."

Like everything in grammar, there are rules for where to place capitals.

• Capitalize the first word of every sentence -- unless that sentence is in parentheses incorporated within another sentence.

Ex: He crept into the room (without making any noise) and crawled into bed.

• AlwaysAlways capitalize the personal pronoun I

Ex: “I thought I saw a puddy-tat,” said Tweety, “I did I did saw a puddy-tat”

• Capitalize the names of familyrelations when they are used assubstitutes for names:

Ex: I went to visit Uncle Ted and Aunt Margaret. Grandma and Grandpa live with Dad and Mom now.

My mom and dad went shopping with my aunt and uncle.

• In titles, capitalize the first, last, and all important words.

Ex: The Haunting of Hawthorne

The Giver

Gone with the Wind

• Usually, we don’t capitalize articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions.

and a if

the on

Proper Nouns•Capitalize names of specific persons, places, geographical locations as well as time periods.

Ex: My brother Francesco, who used to live in Montreal, Quebec and write books about Ancient Egypt, now lives in South Africa.

•But don’t capitalize directions:

Ex: I went up north, for the weekend. He lives south of Papineau Street.

• Capitalize names of days of the week, months, and holidays.

Ex: Valentines Day, which is always on February 14, fell on Monday this year.

• But not the season:

Ex: Easter is a holiday in spring and Christmas is a holiday in winter.

• Capitalize the names of historical events.

Ex: World War I and World War II took place in the twentieth century.

• Capitalize the names of religions and religious terms.

Ex: Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe in one God.

Egyptians believe in many gods. The god of water in Ancient Greek mythology is called Poseidon.

.

•Capitalize the names of nations, nationalities, languages, and words based on such words.

Ex: Africa, Swedish, English muffin, Irish stew, Japanese, Italian leather, French horn

•We usually don’t capitalize “white” or “black” - There are very few blacks and whites in this predominantly Asian community.

•Capitalize the names of academic courses (subjects in school) when they’re used as specific courses, usually they are followed by a number.

Ex: David took Physics 101, but he did much better in his economics and English literature courses. He enjoys his math, music, biology and Spanish classes too.

•Capitalize brand names…

Ex: Advil, Puma, Nike, Tide, BMW, etc.

•Capitalize titles when they come before names, but not usually after a name.

Ex: Principal LaCroce and Vice-principal Shetler were liked by the students.

The dean of mathematics, Mr. Smart, was responsible for all the math tests given to the students.

Other CAPITALIZATION resources :Lessons:1. Guide to Grammar:

http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm

2. Sentence sense: http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/six/caps_capital.html

3. Grammar Book: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp

Quizzes:1. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/cgi-shl/

par_numberless_quiz.pl/caps_quiz.htm2. http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/

exercises/capital1.asp3. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/

six/caps_app1.html