Capitalization Rules

1. Capitalize the first letter of

the first word in a sentence.
 We walked along the path to the lake.
 Did you bring the camera?
 Tie the boat to the dock.
 The water is freezing!
Rule #1
 bill left on the afternoon bus.
 do you recognize that girl?
 please go away.
 stop!
2. Capitalize the pronoun I.
 Should I call you later?
 I think I’ll call at six o’clock.
 Louis and I shall both call you.
 Oops, I just remembered…I’m
grounded from the phone.
Rule #2
 i don’t understand this assignment.
 May Susan and i work together?
 Mrs. Jones said, “i don’t think that’s a
good idea.”
 But i’ll make sure we are quiet.
3. Capitalize the first letter of the
first word in most lines of poetry.
 Roses are red,
 Violets are blue,
 Sugar is sweet,
 And I am too!
#3
 there was a young lady named Rose
 who had a large wart on her nose.
 when she had it removed
 her appearance improved,
 but her glasses slipped down to her
toes.
4. Capitalize the first word, the
last word, and all important
words in any title. Do not
capitalize a, an, the, and, but, or,
nor, or prepositons of four of
fewer letters unless they are the
first or last word of a title.
 The Little Prince
 Gone with the Wind
 “Happy Birthday”
 “Ghost of the Lagoon”
#4
 lord of the rings
 “summer of fire”
 of mice and men
 a roman villa
5. Capitalize people’s names
and their initial(s).
 George W. Bush
 Cathy Melissa Thurmond
 Dr. Richard Smith
 T. J. Duckett
#5
 chris tovani
 red riding hood
 john paul jones
 richard m. nixon
6. Capitalize days, months,
holidays, and special days.
 Tuesday
 July
 Arbor Day
 Christmas Eve
#6
 sunday
 january
 veterans day
 hanukkah
7. Capitalize Mother, Dad, and
other titles if you can insert the
person’s name
 Has Dad gone to the store?
 We all know that Uncle Duane tells

crazy stories.
But don’t capitalize when names or titles
are used like:
My dad has gone to the store.
Our uncle tells crazy stories.
#7
 aunt susan
 my grandma
 cousin fred
 your father
8. Capitalize names of
organizations.
 Boy Scouts of America
 American Red Cross
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization
 National Organization for Women
#8
 kiwanis club
 national honor society
 organization of states
 welcome wagon club
9. Capitalize the names of
institutions.
 Boston College
 Berkmar High School
 Grady Hospital
 Fulton County Jail
#9
university of georgia
gwinnett medical center
berkmar middle school
smithson school of design
10. Capitalize business names.
 Delta Airlines
 Posada Restaurant
 Holiday Inn
 Kroger
#10
 foot locker
 pizza hut
 jen’s hallmark shop
 barnes and noble
11. Capitalize the names of
structures.
 Washington Tunnel
 London Bridge
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
 Cumberland Expressway
#11
 statue of liberty
 white house
 lincoln memorial
 eiffel tower
12. Capitalize the names of
specific geographic places
 Indian Ocean
 Pocono Mountains
 Fulton County
 Midwest
#12
 cape cod
 gulf of mexico
 germany
 great salt lake
13. Capitalize the names of
historical events and historical
documents.
 American Revolution
 Battle of Shiloh
 Declaration of Independence
 U. S. Constitution
#13
 war between the states
 gettysburg address
 treaty of paris
 battle of the buldge
14. Capitalize the names of
languages.
 French
 Spanish
 Russian
 English
#14
 italian
 mandarin chinese
 german
 arabic
15. Capitalize the Roman
numerals and the letters of the
first major topics in an outline.
Capitalize only the first word in
an outline unless the words are a
proper noun.
#15.

I. Oceans and seas

A. Major oceans
B. Major seas
II. Land forms
A. Western hemisphere continents
1. North America
2. South America
B. Eastern hemisphere continents
 16. Capitalize the first word of a
direct quotation. Do not capitalize
the word following the quotation
unless it is a proper noun.
 Harvey asked, “How old are you?”
 “I am ten,” sad Jodi.
 You look older,” Harvey said.
 Jodi replied, “Everyone says that.”
#16
 mrs. logan said, “here is your test.”
 “how did I make a 56?” asked terry.
 “you missed a lot of question,” mrs.
logan replied.
 my dad is going to ground me for the
rest of my life,” cried terry.
17. Capitalize brand names
but not the products.
 Ford van
 Mayfield ice cream
 Sony computer disc
 Bar S hot dogs
#17
 lay’s potato chips
 nike tennis shoes
 liz claiborne dress
 harley davidson motorcycle
18. Capitalize religions, religious
documents, names of churches,
and names for a supreme being.
 Christian (religion)
 Heavenly Father (reference to God)
 Talmud (writings of Jewish religion)
 Palmcroft Baptist Church
19. Capitalize a proper adjective
but not the noun it modifies.
 A California beach
 A Payson music festival
 A Memorial Day parade
 An African nation
#19
 greek god
 english muffin
 christmas vacation
 shakespearian theater
20. Capitalize the first world of a
greeting and closing of a letter.
My dearest friend
Sincerely yours
Capitalize directions when they
refer to a region of a country or
the world
 Georgia is in the South.
 He lives in China which is also called the
East.
 BUT……
 Georgia is south of Tennessee.