1.3 Capitalization
Text messages, casual e-mails, and instant messages often ignore the rules of capitalization. In fact, it can seem unnecessary to capitalize in these contexts. In other, more formal forms of communication, however, knowing the basic rules of capitalization and using capitalization correctly gives the reader the impression that you choose your words carefully and care about the ideas you are conveying.
Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence
Incorrect: the museum has a new butterfly exhibit.
Correct: The museum has a new butterfly exhibit.
Incorrect: cooking can be therapeutic.
Correct: Cooking can be therapeutic.
Capitalize Proper Nouns
Proper nouns—the names of specific people, places, objects, streets, buildings, events, or titles of individuals—are always capitalized. When an acronym is a proper noun, each letter of the acronym is capitalized.
Incorrect: He grew up in london, ontario.
Correct: He grew up in London, Ontario.
Incorrect: The bmo field will be renamed to the toronto stadium for the 2026 fifa world cup.
Correct: The BMO Field will be renamed to the Toronto Stadium for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Always capitalize nationalities, races, languages, and religions. For example, Canadian, African American, Hispanic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and so on.
Do not capitalize nouns for people, places, things, streets, buildings, events, and titles when the noun is used in general or common way. See the following chart for the difference between proper nouns and common nouns.
| Common Noun | Proper Noun |
|---|---|
| museum | The Royal Ontario Museum |
| theater | Royal Alexandria Theater |
| country | Malaysia |
| uncle | Uncle Javier |
| doctor | Dr. Jackson |
| book | Pride and Prejudice |
| college | Smith College |
| war | the Spanish-American War |
| historical event | The Renaissance |
Capitalize Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and Holidays
Incorrect: On wednesday, I will be traveling to Ottawa for a music festival.
Correct: On Wednesday, I will be traveling to Ottawa for a music festival.
Incorrect: The twenty-fourth of may is my favorite holiday.
Correct: The Twenty-fourth of May is my favorite holiday.
Capitalize Titles
Incorrect: The play, fences, by August Wilson is one of my favorites.
Correct: The play, Fences, by August Wilson is one of my favorites.
Incorrect: The prime minister of canada will be speaking at my university.
Correct: The Prime Minister of Canada will be speaking at my university.
Computer-related words such as “Internet” and “World Wide Web” are usually capitalized; however, “e-mail” and “online” are never capitalized.
Key Takeaways
- Learning and applying the basic rules of capitalization is a fundamental aspect of good writing.
- Identifying and correcting errors in capitalization is an important writing skill.
“7.4 Capitalization” from Putting the Pieces Together by Andrew M. Stracuzzi and André Cormier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Removed Learning Objectives, Exercises, Connecting the Pieces, and Writing Application.
