CAPITALIZATION RULES

1. Capitalize the first word of a sentence.

Example :
1. Start a sentence with a capital letter.

2. Capitalize proper nouns

Example (names of relative when used as proper name):
1. She spoke to Mother about the bill, but not to her father.

Example (titles preceding a name):

1. Over 2,000 people attended the rally for Governor Brown.

Exception (Do not capitalize titles that follow names):

1. Over 2,000 people attended the rally for Harold Brown, governor of Texas.

do not capitalize
Example (titles used in direct address):
1. Wepreciate your hard work, Governor.

3. Capitalize major words in titles of books, articles, and songs

Example :
1. Have you read Melville’s great novel, Moby Dick?

4. Capitalize name of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books.
Example :
1. gods : Buddha, Zeus, God the Father, Allah
2. religious figures : Moses, Mohammed, the Virgin Mary
3. holy books : the Bible, the Koran, the Bagavad Ghita

5. Capitalize directions that are names, such as North, South, East, and West when used as sections
of the country.
Example:
1. The Patels have moved to the Southwest.

6. Capitalize days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.

Example :
1. Friday
2. October
3. Halloween

7. Capitalize seasons, when used in a title.

 Example :
1. Jones took a course in checmistry during Spring 2015 semester.

8. Capitalize countries, nationalities, and specific languages.

Example :
1. Peru
2. Chinese
3. Filipino

9. Capitalize periods and events.

Example :
1. Victorian Era
2. Renaissance
3. Constitutional Convention

10. Capitalize names of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups.
Example :
1. Baltimore Orioles
2. Kiwanis Club
3. House of Representative

11. Capitalize trademarks.

Example :
1. Pepsi
2. Apple
3. Sony
4. Toyota

12. Capitalize the first word in a sentence that is a direct quote, even if the direct quote comes in
the middle of a sentence.
Example :
1. Timidly, the student asked, “May we turn in our papers late?”

13. Capitalize the first word of a sentence following a colon.

Example :
1. Joe’s late arrival at the meeting really made no difference : He had nothing important to add.
14. Capitalize the first word in each line of most poetry.
Example :
1. Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
(from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost)

15. Capitalize the single-letter word, first person pronoun I.

Exam. ple :
1. Everyone is aware of the problems I encountered on the trip.

16. Capitalize salutations and closing in letters – first word only unless proper name is used.
Example :
1. Salutations : Dear student, My dear friend
2. Closings : Yours truly, Love, With much love

17. Capitalize initials, initialisms, and acronyms.

Example :
1. initials : J. W Randolph, Clarence Jerome S. Delos Santos,
2. initialisms : FBI, DVD, ABS-CBN, DENR

18. Capitalize name of the planets.

Example :
1. Mars
2. Earth
3. Jupiter