CAPITALIZATION

A. CAPITALIZATION
Capitalization is write a letter of the alphabet as a capital. In English there are many rules for using
capital letters. You probably know many of them already.

B. CAPITALIZATION RULES

Rules Examples
Capitalize the first word in a sentence. My name is Mickey Mouse.

Capitalize proper nouns. Billy, New York City, Miami Dolphins.

Capitalize geographic names. Indian Ocean, Hawaii, Empire State Building

Capitalize the pronoun I. He asked if I wanted to read next.

Capitalize the names of days and months. Tuesday, October.

Capitalize the names of national, religion, and local Memorial Day, Easter, Founder's Day.
holidays.
Capitalize geographic names. Indian Ocean, Hawaii, Empire State Building.

Capitalize proper adjectives. Mexican, Canadian

Capitalize words used as names. Do you need help, Mother?.

Capitalize titles used with names. General Bradshaw, Mrs. Key, Chief Dann.

Capitalize the first word in the greeting or closing of a Dear friends, Yours truly.
letter.
Capitalize the first, last, and all the main words in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, “the National
title of a book, movie, song, magazine, play, newspaper, Anthem“.
or television show.
Capitalize the names of businesses and the official McDonald's hamburgers, Colgate toothpaste
names of their products.

Capitalize historical events, documents, and periods of Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, Stone
time. Age

Capitalize initials or abbreviations that stand for names Richard T. Smith, M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), PTA
and also abbreviations of titles and organizations. (Parent-Teacher Association)

Capitalize the names of organizations, associations, or American Red Cross, Parent-Teacher Association, Miami
teams and their members. Heat

EXERCISE 1

Work by yourself or with a partner. Change the small letters to capital letters wherever necessary in
the following paragraph.

Nelson Mandela

My name is Nelson Mandela, and I have had unusual life. I have been both prisoner and a
president in my country. I was born in 1918 in the small village of Qunu in the Transkei, which is a large
territory (like a state) in South Africa. My father, Henry Mandela, was chief of our tribe, the tembus. As a
child, I took care of the family’s cattle and goats and fished in the Bashee river near our village. I
decided to become a lawyer because this seemed to be the best way to help my people. After I became
a lawyer, I became the leader of a group of Young Africans who wanted to change the system of
discrimination in our country because of my political activities, I was arrested and sent to prison. I spent
twenty seven years in prison. I spent most of those years on Roggen Island, a cold, windy island in the
Atlantic Ocean. The world didnt forget about me while I was in prison, however I received important
visitors, awards, and university degrees from all over the world. I also learned Afrikaans, which is the
language of white South Africans. Of course I also speak English and Xhosa, which is the tembu
language. At last, I was set free in 1990, and I became a president of South Africa in 1994. Now I will
try to bring peace, democracy, and prosperity to all my country’s people.
Exercise 2
Determine the words that should be capitalize!
1. My aunt is planning to visit us, but uncle clark can't come.
2. How many nations are members of the united nations?
3. He complained that the democratic party wasn't really democratic.
4. We loved to go down to the river when we were children although we didn't even know its name was the
hudson river.
5. On the day after labor day children go back to school.
6. I turned west, when I should have turned east.
7. I'm taking history 101, english 100, french 200, and psychology 309.
8. I like history and english, but I find french and psychology difficult.
9. During my high school days, I spent a lot of time on athletics and later won a letter in
baseball from xavier university.
10. I subscribe to newsweek and sports illustrated.

EXERCISE 3
Some of the following sentences contain capitalization errors. Identify and correct the errors! Note: not all
sentences contain errors.
1. I read To Kill A Mockingbird when I was in High School.
2. We went to Maui for vacation last year.
3. I don’t drink Coke, but I’d love a Diet Soda.
4. I hear you’re learning to speak french. I would love to go to France.
5. Jamie and Jonathon went to their high school dance together last May.
6. My Father-in-Law took me to a Chicago Cubs game; He doesn’t know I’m a White Sox fan.
7. Jessica’s dad, Dr. Johnson, wants her to be a Doctor as well.
8. Jeremy went to Alexander community college for two years.
9. My sister’s new boyfriend is Italian.
10. We traveled South on vacation because my dad wanted to study Civil War history.