Capitalization and Punctuation

By Jimena Rivadeneira, MTEFL.

Sample
capitalization test
question

Diagle, B. (2011). Capitalization Rules. SlideShare. https://es.slideshare.net/brentdaigle/capitalization-rules-10052067

Why are • To let the reader know a sentence is beginning.

letters • To show important words in a title.
capitalized? • To signal proper names and official titles.
 Always use a capital letter for:
RULES EXAMPLE
People and pet’s names Jean Valdivieso, Elizabeth Moreira.
Firulais, Lazzy.

Titles before names President Jaime Roldós, Dean María Elena Romero.
Queen Elizabeth II, Her Royal Highness the Infanta Elena.
Mr. Rodriguez, Miss Rivadeneira.
Sir, Madam, Gentleman, Sire, Mistress, Dame, Lord, Lady.

Name suffixes Diana, Princess of Wales, Capt. Brian White RN (Royal Navy).
Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King, Sr.
Alexander III ; Constantine the Great
Cecila Paredes, Ph.D. - Marco Vera, M.B.A.

The pronoun I (me) I love sharing special moments. My little sister says I’m her hero.
 Always use a capital letter for:
RULES EXAMPLE
Days of the week Monday, Friday, Saturday, etc.

Months of the year January, April, December, etc.

Holidays Good Friday, Independence of Cuenca, All Souls’ Day, etc.

Trademarks and company names Samsung, Coca - Cola, Microsoft, Toyota, IBM etc.

Races Latino, Asian, Black, etc.

Languages Spanish, English, French, etc.

Nationalities Ecuadorian, Korean, German, etc.

Religions/religious terms Cristhianity, Catholicism, God, New Testament, etc.

 Always use a capital letter for:
RULES EXAMPLE
Specific course titles Algebra 2, Macroeconomics

Historical events, periods and World War II, The Battle of Pichincha, Middle Ages,
documents Constitution of Ecuador, the Magna Carta

Titles of books, movies, magazines, The Journey to the Center for the Earth
newspapers, articles, songs, plays The Lord of Rings
Vistazo
and works of art The New York Times
Almar Latour Is Named Chief Executive of Dow Jones
Note:
If articles: a, an, & the; coordinate conjunctions: for, and, November Rain
nor, but, or, yet & so; prepositions, such as at, around, by, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
after, along, for, from, of, on, to, with & without come in
the middle of the title, they are not capitalized. Mona Lisa
 Always use a capital letter for:
Rule Example
Opening of a letter Dear Mario,

Closing of a letter Sincerely, Elizabeth.

Sentences Today is/isn’t the first day of classes.

Questions Do you have the Empower B1+ Combo B book?

Exclamations You did a great job!

Imperatives Turn off your microphone.

Quotation within a larger sentence The waiter said, “My manager will be here shortly,” but
he never came.
 Always use a capital letter for:
RULES EXAMPLE
Points of the compass North, South, East, West, Southwest, the North Pole, etc.
(only when they refer to specific regions)

Political divisions Europe, South Africa, Ecuador, The Highlands, Oklahoma,

(continents, regions, countries, provinces, Guayas, Brooklyn, Cuenca, Calceta, Alluriquin.
states, counties, cities and towns)

Streets, avenues and highways Loja Street, Las Monjas Avenue, Pan-American Highway.

Schools, colleges, universities, Harvard University, American International College, Boston

clubs, and organizations International High School, Balandra Elementary School,
Reading Club, United Nations Children’s Education Fund 

Specific places Las Peñas neighborhood, Civic Square, Seminario Park, Santa
Ana Port, La Chocolatera viewpoint , Chili’s restaurant,
Sheraton Hotel, San Marino Shopping, Malecon 200, etc.
 Always use a capital letter for:
RULES
Mountains, mountain ranges,
canyons, hills, islands, caverns,
beaches, and volcanoes
Bodies of water
(falls, glaciers, oceans, seas,  rivers, lakes,
gulfs, canals, streams, tunnels and creeks)
Names of buildings, squares,
monuments, bridges, and
tunnels
EXAMPLE
Mount Everest, the Andes, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns,
Santa Ana Hill, Galapagos Islands, Atacames Beach,
Chimborazo Volcano.
Niagara Falls, Lambert Glacier, the Pacific Ocean, the Dead sea,
the Guayas River, Lake Ontario, the Gulf of Guayaquil, Panama
Canal, Tokyo Bay Aqualine Tunnel, Echo Canyon Stream, Silver
Creek.
Municipal Palace, The Eiffel Tower, Civic Square, Fountain of
Glory, Great Pyramid of Giza, Guayas and Quil Monument,
Golden Gate Bridge, San Eduardo Tunnel.

RULES
Common nouns
Words used everywhere and all the
time to name general ítems.
Names of seasons
Centuries
Titles: Do not capitalize when the Ms. Petrov, the president of the company, will
title of a person is acting as a
description following the name.
Quotations:
If it’s merely a phrase that fits
neatly into the larger sentence.
Do not
capitalize:
EXAMPLE
E.g., chair, lamp, dog, car, window, laptop, fruits,
paper, house, bottle, boy, tree, ice cream, etc.
winter, summer, autumn, spring.
eighteenth century, twentieth century.
address us at noon.
The waiter told us that his manager would “be here
shortly,” but he never came.
 • Essential in giving the intended meaning to the
Why do we need language.
punctuation marks? • Wrong punctuation can change the meaning of
a sentence completely. 
 Full stop (UK)/ Period
RULES
(US) EXAMPLES
At the end of a declarative sentence We feed this cat every evening.
Love makes the world go round.

To follow titles in American English Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Sr., Jr., St., etc.
Note: In British English, periods are omitted.

Following an abbreviation. approx.: Approximately Wed.: Wednesday

i.e.: In other words a.m.: Ante meridiem

A full stop used in a number is also Retail sales fell by 1.3% in January.

called a decimal point The average price of goods rose by just 2.2%.

In email and Web addresses, periods http://www.espol.edu.ec/

are pronounced "dot" www“dot”espol“dot”edu“dot”com
 Full stop (UK)/ Period
RULES
(US) EXAMPLES
If a sentence ends with a question I've never seen Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
mark, exclamation point or He used to work at Yahoo!
abbreviation, the period is omitted. He is a vice president at Apple Inc.

Indirect questions end with a Direct question: What is she doing tonight?
period, not a question mark. Indirect question:      I wonder what she’s doing tonight. 
Direct question: The question is, Does anyone like sushi?
Indirect question       The question was whether anyone liked sushi.

If a parenthetical is part of a larger Toy shops are likely to be in short supply throughout December
sentence, the period goes outside. (the Christmas period).

If the parenthetical is an entire Example Their house was the largest one on the block. (It also
sentence, the period goes inside. happened to be the ugliest.)

RULES
To omit an unnecessary
word, phrase, line,
paragraph, or more from a
quoted passage.
To show a pause in a
thought or to create  She opened the door . . . and saw . . . a cake!
suspense.
To show a break or trailing
off of a thought.
Ellipsis
EXAMPLES
Full quotation: 
"Today, after hours of careful thought, we vetoed the bill."
With ellipsis: "Today . . . we vetoed the bill.“
Full quotation: "After school I went to her house, which was a few blocks
away, and then came home.“
With ellipsis: "After school I went to her house . . . and then came home."
I was thinking . . . maybe we should call home.
I know I saw my keys somewhere . . .
"I'm not sure what to do . . .," he said.
I never thought . . .
 Comma
RULES EXAMPLES
Between three or more words or I own books, dictionaries, pens, and paper.
items in a series I like reading, taking naps, and visiting my friends.

Geographic references The company is headquartered in Sydney, New South

Wales, Australia.

To set off addresses Her address is 113 Moon Street, Concord, California.
To set off dates Classes scheduled for May 18th, 2020, were canceled.
Note: No comma is used with only month and year. He arrives in Tuesday, June 2nd , 2020.

The greeting and closing of a letter Dear María, Sincerely,

To separate two adjectives when the ESPOL is a dynamic, learner-centered institution.
word and can be inserted in between A fragrant, captivating bouquet was given to mom.
 Comma
RULES
Adjective or adverb repeated for
emphasis
After the first digit of a four-digit number
Note: Except years, page numbers, and street addresses.
Degree or certification after a
person’s name
When directly addressing someone
After an introductory word or phrase
To set off phrases to express contrast
EXAMPLES
Today is a hot, hot day in Guayaquil.
It was really hard, hard to let her go.
ESPOL had 12,199 students last year.
The iPhone 6 Pink Diamond was sold for $48,500,000
The slides were prepared by Jimena Rivadeneira, MTEFL.
Juan Castro, PhD., has joined the board of directors.
We could not have done it without you, Lisa.
Thank you, Lord, for your blessings on me.
Hey, don’t tell me what to do
After fixing internet outages, I finally joined the class.
Money is a good servant, but a bad master.
Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.

RULES
To introduce a quotation
When a quotation is interrupted by
a phrase like “he said”.
Interrupting elements in the middle
of a sentence
To set off nonessential Information.
To avoid confusion
Afterthoughts
Comma
EXAMPLES
John said, “I really hate when it’s hot outside.”
"I'm going now," he said, "and don't expect me back."
“Dad,” Jeniffer said, “I’m sorry I didn’t come before.”
Your work has been, frankly, awful.
The hotel, once we finally found it, was very nice.
Alan, who hates onion, won't eat pizza.
Sarah, the cleverest pupil in the class, was late for school.
For most, projects are an amazing way to work.
Let’s eat, grandma!
We don’t need to go to ESPOL campus, do we?
I found the painting rather dull, to be honest.
Leave some food for me, please.
 Colon
RULES EXAMPLES
To introduce a list Now, we need the next: camera, speaker, and earphones.
To separate two independent clauses I have very little time to learn the language: my new job
when the second explains the first. starts in five weeks.
To emphasize a phrase or single word at After three weeks of deliberation, the jury finally reached
the end of a sentence. a verdict: guilty.
To separate hours from minutes Class starts at 14:00.
To express a ratio of two numbers 1:3
Biblical references Psalms 23:1
To separate the volume from page Punctuation Quarterly 4:86–89
numbers of a cited work
Business and personal correspondence Dear Ms. Smith: cc: Tom Smith
 Semicolon
RULES EXAMPLES
In lists with internal commas The new store will have groceries on the lower level; luggage,
housewares, and electronics on the ground floor; men’s and women’s
clothing on the second floor; and books, music, and stationery on the
third floor
Between independent The virtual classes are offered until October; the on-campus classes will
clauses when a coordinating be available by September.
conjunction is omitted Conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

To introduce a new complete Jeremy has never been a problematic child; however, his mother kept
sentence with words such as acting surprised when he behaved well.
however, nevertheless, therefore,
for example, etc.
 Quotation marks
RULE EXAMPLES
To set off a direct quotation “What is your favorite color?” she asked.
Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. Laura said, “We will continue tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.”
“I don’t want to have a quiz today,” Alan said.

Double quotes (“) for initial quotations, “Economic systems, ” according to Professor Mora,
single quotes (‘) for quotations within “are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as
the initial quotation. John Doe said, ‘with us whether we want them or not.’
”

If quoting a complete sentence, you should The exact phrase she used was “There is no way we will
start the quote with a capital letter. get there in time. ”
If quoting a phrase or a part of a sentence, He called them “loud, smelly, and utterly annoying, ”
don’t start the quote with a capital letter. and he closed the door.
 QUESTION
RULE MARK
EXAMPLE
At the end When is she coming?
if a direct The key question, Can the two sides reach a compromise? was not answered.
I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Philip Dick novel that inspired the
question movie Blade Runner.

EXCLAMATION POINT
RULE EXAMPLE
After exclamations, That ride was fantastic!
commands, interjections, to “Get out!” Marcus yelled.
Her first novel, Excite!, was a critical hit.
give emphasis.
 PARENTHESIS
RULE EXAMPLE
To provide additional information The president (and his assistant) traveled by private jet.
To clarify numbers He received nineteen points (19) on his math project.
Abbreviations and acronyms Luis Ruiz has been appointed CKO (chief knowledge officer).
Call me at (04) 3769-646
Area codes

APOSTROPHE
RULE EXAMPLE
When combining two words to She’s (she is) only allowed candy on Friday.
make a contraction Others: let’s, don’t, couldn’t, it’s, she’s, I’d.
To show possession They found Ms. Connor’s gloves.
The cat’s dish is empty. All of the cats’ dishes were empty.