Capitalization in Spanish

The rules of capitalization, or el uso de mayúsculas , in Spanish are a bit different from
English.

Capitalization
mayúscula = uppercase

minúscula = lowercase

In Spanish, the first letter of every sentence is capitalized, as is the first letter of all
proper nouns (names of people, cities, countries, places, etc.).

Me gusta el desierto de Atacama.

I like the Atacama desert.

Carlos es de Puebla, México.

Carlos is from Puebla, Mexico.

Personal Titles
Titles like señor (sir or Mr.), señora (ma'am or Mrs.) and doctor (doctor) are not
capitalized, except when used as abbreviations.

El señor Rodríguez canta muy bien.

Mr. Rodríguez sings very well.
La Sra. Mendoza tiene muchos amigos.
Mrs. Mendoza has many friends.
 When a full title is used (señor), it is written with a lowercase letter.
 When an abbreviated title is used (Sr.), it is written with an uppercase letter and a
period at the end.

Book Titles

The first letter of the first word in titles of books, films, and works of art is generally
capitalized.

Los miserables Cien años de soledad

Les Misérables One Hundred Years of Solitude
Newspapers and magazines
In Spanish, you do capitalize each word in newspaper and magazine titles.

Revista Semana El País

(Colombian Magazine) (Spanish Newspaper)

Time Words and Adjectives

Unlike English, Spanish does not capitalize:

 days of the week

 months
 languages
 nationalities
 religions
 the first word in geographical names

Take a look:

Hoy es viernes.
Today is Friday.

Nací en agosto.
I was born in August.

Hablo español.
I speak Spanish.

Mauricio es mexicano.
Mauricio is Mexican.

Roberto es católico.
Robert is Catholic

Vivo cerca del río Grande.

I live near the Rio Grande.
Holidays
Religious festivals and national holidays are capitalized in Spanish.

For example:

Hoy celebramos el Día de los Muertos.

Today we celebrate the Day of the Dead.

En Nochebuena, mi familia come lechón y arroz con gandules.

On Christmas Eve, my family eats suckling pig with rice and pigeon peas.