the lazy queen

in a faraway land, there lived a very lazy queen

named suzie. she loved to drink pepsi, eat lays
potato chips and twinkies, and watch the movie
toy story. she never exercised and soon got too
big to walk into her favorite place, wandas
wonderful world of wonder. on tuesday, queen
suzie wanted to attend the celebration of her
countrys victory over veggieland, called spoiling
day. she called to bob and juan and said, i order
you to bring a scooter for me. they got the

CAPITALIZATION

CAPITALIZATION
Capital letters work as a visual clue to the
reader by making certain words stand out
more prominently on a printed page.

Rules for Capitalization

1. In Sentences
Capitalize the first word in declarative, interrogative,
imperative and exclamatory sentences.
.Declarative: Raoul sent the letter yesterday.
.Interrogative: Did you mail the monthly bills?
.Imperative: Get a stamp out of the drawer.
.Exclamatory: This letter says Ive won the contest!

Rules for Capitalization

2. In Interjections and Incomplete Questions
Exclamatory interjections:
Fantastic!

Ouch!

Hey!

Incomplete questions:
When?

What for?

How much?

Rules for Capitalization

3. In Quotations
Capitalize the first word in a quotation if the quotation
is a complete sentence.
.Man is not made for defeat. Ernest
Hemingway
.Maya answered, We brought some cake
from the store.

If a he said/she said expression comes in

between the middle of quoted material that is
one continuous sentence, only the first word
of the quotation gets a capital letter.
If you go out, Liz said, please drop by the
grocery store.

Rules for Capitalization

4. After a Colon
Capitalize the first word after a colon if the word begins a
complete sentence.
.Sentence following a colon:

We saw what was in the package: It was a lost wallet.

List following a colon:

The mail carrier delivered our mail: two letters, a
package and a card.

Rules for Capitalization

5. In Poetry
Capitalize the first word in each line of most poetry.
.Where it not better to forget
.Than to remember and regret?
- Letitia E. Landon

Rules for Capitalization

6. For I and O

Capitalize I and O throughout the sentence.

.I have painted my life things happening in my
life without knowing. Georgia OKeeffe
.Your dreams, O years, how they penetrate
through me! - Walt Whitman
.Note: Do not confuse O with oh. Oh only receive a capital when
it serves as a first word in a sentence.

Rules for Capitalization

7. For Proper Nouns
A. Names
a) Capitalize each part of a persons
full name.
)Chester Worth
)Maria L. Santos
)S. D. Smiths

A. Names of Persons
In some cases, surnames may consist
several parts.
If a surname begins with a Mc, or O, or
St., the letter immediately following
it also gets capitalized.
Examples:

McGregor, OCallahan, St. John

A. Names of Persons

Surnames beginning with de, D, la, le,

Mac, van or von are not consistent. The
capitalization of these surnames will vary.
Examples: De Mello

or de Mello

La Coe or Lacoe
von Hofenor Von Hofen
In these cases, ask for a spelling of the name to
insure accuracy.

A. Names of Animals
b) Capitalize the proper names of
animals.
)Silver, the horse
)Miss Piggy, the pig

B. Geographical and Place Names

Streets: Acacia St., Mayon St., Madrigal Ave.
Cities:
Nations:

Manila, Cebu, Daly, Miami

Philippines, China, Canada

Islands: Marinduque, Palawan

Bays and rivers: Laguna de Bay, Manila Bay
Oceans and seas: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean
Celestial Bodies: Pluto, the Milky Way

B. Geographical and Place Names

Note: Two celestial bodies that are not
capitalized are the moon and the sun. When
you use earth as one of the planets, you
should capitalize it. However, when the word
earth is preceded by the article the, do not
capitalize it.
Examples: The astronauts left Earth and landed on the
moon.
The astronauts left the earth far behind.

B. Geographical and Place Names

Capitalize the names of monuments,
buildings and meeting rooms.
Monuments and memorials:
the Rizal Monument, the Lincoln Memorial
Buildings:
St. Mutien Marie Building, the Cultural Center of the
Philippines
Meeting rooms:
Room 20B,Chemistry Laboratory, the Oval Office

B. Geographical and Place Names

Note: Do not capitalize the words theater,
hotel and university unless they are part
of a proper name.
Examples:
The theater is one of the oldest buildings in town.
The Metropolitan Theater is one of the old
buildings in Manila.

B. Geographical and Place Names

Note: The word room is capitalized
only if it refers to a specific room and
is combined with a name, letter or
number.
Examples:
The exam will be given in Room 45.

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize the names of specific
events and periods of time.
Historical Periods:

the Stone Age

Historical Events: World War II

Days and months: Monday, August
Holidays and Religious Days: Labor Day, Good
Friday

C. Other Proper Nouns

Do not capitalize the seasons.
Example: We felt a winter chill in the air.

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize the names of various
organizations, government bodies,
political parties, races, nationalities and
languages.
Examples: Rotary Club, Speech Club
University of the Philippines
Ford Motor Company
Caucasian, American, French, Russian
English, Italian, Spanish, Cantonese

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize references to religions, deities and
religious scriptures.
Christianity:
God, the Lord, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the
books of the Bible (Genesis, Matthew, Mark)
Judaism:
God, the Lord, the Prophets (Moses, Abraham), the Tora, the Talmud
Eastern Religions:
Buddhism (Buddha, the Tripitaka); Islam (Allah, the Koran); Hinduism
(Brahma, the Vedas)

C. Other Proper Nouns

Note:
The only time that religious references
are not capitalized occurs when writing
about mythological gods and
goddesses. Although the proper names
of gods and goddesses are capitalizes,
the words god and goddess are not.

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize the names of awards.
Examples:
Ramon Magsaysay Award
the Nobel Peace Prize
the Oscar

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize the names of specific types
of air, sea, space and land craft.
Air: Boeing 747
Sea: Lusitania
Space: Sputnik I
Land:

the Model T

C. Other Proper Nouns

Capitalize the names of brands.
Examples: a Honda import

the Honda Accord

8. For Proper Adjectives

.Capitalize most proper adjectives.
. Examples:

Swiss government, American people,

Gothic art

Proper Adjectives
Capitalize brand names used as
adjectives.
Examples:

Timex watches, Samsonite luggage

Proper Adjectives
Note: Sometimes prefixes precede
proper adjectives. Do not capitalize
the prefixed attached to proper
adjectives unless the prefix refers to
a nationality.
Examples:

pre-Mayan architecture, pro-Filipino

sentiment
Indo-European, Afro-American

Proper Adjectives
Note: In a hyphenated adjective,
capitalize only the proper
adjective.
Example:

Spanish-speaking Americans

8. For Titles
A. Capitalize titles of people and
titles of work.
. Capitalize a persons title when it is used
with the persons name or when it is
used in direct address.

Titles of People
Capitalize titles of government officials
when they are followed by a proper name
or when in direct address.
Preceding a proper name: Mayor Fresnedi will speak.
In direct address: Will you speak tonight, Mayor?
In a general statement: The mayor works on the
project.

Titles of People
Capitalize titles of certain high
government officials even when the titles
are not followed by a proper name or
used in direct address.
Examples: The Queen will visit Australia next month.
The President cut short his speech during the SONA.

Titles of People
Capitalize all important words in
compound titles, but do not capitalize
prefixes and suffixes added to titles.
Examples:
Lieutenant Governor, Assistant Secretary of the
Interior, Commander in Chief, Governor-elect

Titles of People
Capitalize titles showing family relationships
when they refer to a specific person, unless they
are preceded by a possessive noun or pronoun.
Examples:
Did Uncle return the car already?
This package is for Grandpa.
My grandmother is seventy years old.
I wonder if my dad saw the package arrive.

Titles of People
Capitalize abbreviations of titles
before and after names.
Examples:
Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Ann Sylvia Santos

B.Capitalize titles of things.

. Capitalize the first word and all
other key words in the titles of
books, periodicals, poems, stories,
plays, paintings and other works of
art.

Titles of Things
Note:
1. The words a, an and the are only capitalized when
they are the first word of the title.
2. Conjunctions and prepositions shorter than five (5)
letters are capitalized only when they are the first
word in the title.
3. Adjectives, nouns, pronouns, verbs and adverbs are
all considered key words and are always capitalized.

Titles of Things
Capitalize titles of courses when the
courses are language courses or when
the courses are followed by a number.
With capitals:
History 1A

Latin II, English, Philippine

Without capitals: mathematics, history, science

9. In Letters
Capitalize the first word and all nouns in
letter salutations and the first words in letter
closings.
Salutations: Dear Brian,
My dear friend,

Closings: Sincerely yours,

With regards,