Capitalization in English

Most of the words we capitalize in English are what we call proper nouns. They're the names of
specific, unique things like Mount Uhud, Jeddah, or your friend Ahmed.

However, when you're talking about a common thing (of which there are many) then you don’t
need a capital. For example:
 I went swimming in the ocean (no capital)
 I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean (capitals on the name – proper noun)

Of course, most grammar rules are not this simple. So, let's review some of the most important
rules of capitalization. You should always capitalize the following.

1. The First Letter in a Sentence

It's important to always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. This is perhaps the easiest and
most straightforward of the capitalization rules, as there are virtually no exceptions or other
complications. If it's the first word in a sentence, capitalize it. For example:

We always start the beginning of any academic essay with an indent. You can do this by
pressing the ‘tab’ button on the left of the keyboard. It leaves a 0.5 inch space. Also, you can
see that I am capitalizing the first letter after every full stop.

2. The First Word in Quotations

If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence, capitalize it, but only if it's a complete
sentence. If it's merely a phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it doesn't require
capitalization. Here are some examples:

 Capitalized: The waiter said, "My manager will be here shortly," but he never came.
 Not capitalized: The waiter told us that his manager would "be here shortly," but he
never came.
 Capitalized: Ernest Hemingway famously said, "The way to learn whether a person is
trustworthy is to trust him."
 Not capitalized: Hemingway said the way to learn if someone is "trustworthy" is "to
trust him."

But Not After Colons and Semicolons

Unlike words after quotation marks, words after a colon don't need to be capitalized. Colons
are often used before the introduction of a list. In this case, they're usually not introducing a
complete sentence and, as such, shouldn't be capitalized. For example:

 Here's her favorite reading material: books, magazines, and travel guides.

Similarly, you generally don't capitalize after a semicolon. Even though a semicolon can be used
to separate two independent clauses, they're considered a part of the same sentence. For
example:

 Dad has always been a strict disciplinarian; however, he made an exception this time.

3. Titles of People

This one may seem obvious, but it's not as easy as it looks. Of course, you capitalize the first
letter of a person's first, middle, and last names (John Quincy Adams), but you also capitalize
suffixes (like Jr., the Great, or Princess of Power) and titles.

Titles can be as simple as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., but they also apply to situations in which you
address a person by his or her position as though it were part of their name. For example:

 Capitalized: I'm writing my report on President Abraham Lincoln.

 Not capitalized: During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United
States.
 Capitalize people's titles if they come before the person's name or are used instead of the
person's real name. For example, the Honorable Judge Eugene Crane may be called "Judge
Crane" or simply "Judge." Always capitalize his title, "Judge." Be sure to capitalize titles if used
in direct address too, such as, "Will my dog be okay, Doctor?"

4. Days, Months, and Holidays

When you look at a calendar, almost every word is capitalized. That's because you should
always capitalize days of the week and months of the year (even when they're abbreviated).
Additionally, holidays are also capitalized whenever you write them. Some examples include:

 Monday
 Saturday
 January
 December
 Ramadan
 Eid
 Fourth of July
 Saudi National Day
 American Independence Day

But Not Seasons or direction

Even though we capitalize days, months, and holidays, not every word falls in this. We don't
need to capitalize "winter," "spring," "summer," or "fall" (or "autumn") unless it's part of a title
or proper noun.

Also, no need to capitalize the direction. For example:

I live in the south of England. He speaks with a northern accent.

 5. The Pronoun "I"

It's only necessary to capitalize other pronouns when they begin a sentence. However, the
pronoun "I" is always capitalized, no matter where it falls in a line. For example:
 I don't know about you, but I would wait for it to go on sale.
 He said that we can go home, but I'd wait to hear from the manager.
 Sandra and I are going to the movies later tonight.

6. Proper Nouns

Specific people, places, or things will generally be capitalized. It's what differentiates proper
nouns from common nouns. For example, a common noun would be tower, while a proper
noun would be the Eiffel Tower. Categories of proper nouns include:

 Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills, and volcanoes (e.g., Mt. Olympus and Altay
Mountains)
 Cities and countries (e.g., Egypt and Britain)
 Names of bodies of water, including rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, streams, and creeks (e.g.,
Mississippi River and Indian Ocean)
 Names of buildings, monuments, bridges, and tunnels (e.g., the Statue of Liberty,
Kingdom Tower and Kind Fahad Fountain)
 Street names (e.g., Old Makkah Road and Oxford Street)
 Schools, colleges, and universities (e.g., Harvard University and Jeddah College)
 Continents, regions, states, counties, and towns (e.g., North America, Middle East,
Makkah Province, Leicestershire, Yanbu)
 Nationalities and languages (e.g., Arabic, English, Muslim, British, Hispanic)

7. Closing a Letter

When we sign off on letters, we generally close with a valediction like "Sincerely" or "Yours
truly." The first word in these farewell words or complimentary closes should be capitalized,
just like the beginning of a sentence. For example:
 Wishing you all the best,
Ahmed

If you'd like to include your title after your name, that must be capitalized too. For example:

Yours truly,
Mr. Adam Ayub, English Lecturer

Yours Sincerely,

Mohammed

Best Regards,

Ahmed

8. Book and Movie Titles

Books, movies, poems, and other creative works often require capitalization. If you have a
future as a blogger, you might choose to capitalize headers in your articles. There are two
primary ways to draft headers in an online article.

Title Case

You can use title case, where you capitalize:

 the first word

 adjectives
 nouns
 verbs
 the last word

Meanwhile, you generally don't want to capitalize:

 articles (a, an, the)

 conjunctions (for, and, but, so)
 prepositions with three or fewer words (in, on, at)

Remember we discussed not to capitalize small words. For example:

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The first letter of a work of art is always capitalized, even if it's an article, preposition or
conjunction. The last word of these titles always receives a capital too. For example:
 A Few Good Men
 Of Mice and Men