Grammar – Capitalization Rules

Rule # 1

 Capitalize words such as Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis
when they are used in place of the person's name. Do not capitalize them when they follow
possessive pronouns such as my, your, his, her, our, or your.

Examples: I will ask Father. I will ask my father.

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. my father will return next week. (My)

2. Oh, mom, you don't understand me. (Mom)

3. Tomorrow grandmother leaves for Florida. (Grandmother)

4. Did sis want to go with us? (Sis)

5. Today mother and i will finish the painting. (Mother/I)

Rule # 2

 Capitalize proper nouns. A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing.

Examples: girl - Rebecca, city - Orem, newspaper - Deseret News

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. Should you and i go with sam? (I/Sam)

2. The magna carta is an important document. (Magna Carta)

3. the first war in my lifetime was world war II. (The/Word War II)

4. I live in lindon, utah. (Lindon/Utah)

5. Have you and john visited england? (John/England)

Rule # 3
 Capitalize a common noun when it is part of a proper noun.

Examples: river - Jordan River, uncle - Uncle Al, street - Main Street

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. i have crossed the missouri river. (I/Missouri River)

2. Did you attend mountain view high school?( Mountain View High School)

3. the three boys joined the boy scouts.( The (at beginning of sentence)/Boy Scouts)

4. aunt alice will be coming from africa.( Aunt Alice/Africa)

5. The magazine people is read by many people.( People (the first one) )

Rule # 4

 Capitalize the days of the week, the months of the year, but do not capitalize the seasons.

Example: Monday, March, summer

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. monday, may 1st was an important day. (Monday/May)

2. we need more rain in the spring of the year.( We)

3. I like december and the summer best. (December)

4. The class will be thursday, friday, and saturday. (Thursday/Friday/Saturday)

5. Will you come next tuesday and tell us about preparations for winter? (Tuesday)
Rule # 5

 Capitalize North, South, East, West, and words such as Northwest when they indicate a
section of the world or country. Do not capitalize them when they indicate a direction.

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. I used to live in the northwest. (Northwest)

2. go north a mile and then turn east for two miles. (Go)

3. The west is burning up this year. (West)

4. The Navahos of the southwest make beautiful blankets. (Southwest)

5. The north is cold, but if you travel south, the weather becomes warmer. (North)

Rule # 6

 Capitalize names of countries, nationalities, races, languages, and adjectives derived from
them.

Examples: Germany, Swedes, Indians, French, English countryside

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. The germans destroyed some of the english landscape during the war.
(Germans/English)

2. The french wines are famous in the united states and mexico. (French/United States/
Mexico)

3. Most blacks in the United States prefer the term african-american, and many orientals
prefer to be called asian. (Blacks/African-Americans/Orientals/Asian)

4. many japanese customs are strange to us. (Many/Japanese)

5. The finns and the russians live across the sea from each other. (Finns/Russians)

Rule # 7
 Capitalize geographic names and places. Examples: Mount Rushmore, Hudson Bay,
Michigan Avenue, Washington D.C.

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. We visited the black hills and the badlands this summer. (Black Hills/Badlands)

2. Is broadway in the bronx? (Broadway/Bronx)

3. Many new jersey cities have interesting names such as whippany. (New
Jersey/Whippany)

4. The ozarks have many interesting stories about them. (Ozarks)

5. france and england have fought a lot throughout history(France/England )

Rule # 8

 Do not capitalize prepositions, conjunctions or the articles (a, an, the) that come within a
proper noun.

Example: University of Utah, Smith and Sons

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. The university of california is found in many different cities in california.( University

of California/California)

2. The battle of the bulge was an important battle. (Battle of the Bulge)

3. The gulf of mexico is found south of texas. (Gulf of Mexico/Texas)

4. One period of history is called the dark ages. (Dark Ages)

5. The cape of good hope is near africa. (Cape of Good Hope/Africa )

Rule # 9

 Capitalize the specific name of buildings and other man-made structures, ships, trains, and
planes.

Examples: the White House, Mayflower, Amtrak, Concorde

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. One famous airplane is the spirit of st. louis. (Spirit of St. Louis)

2. The reading railroad and the shortline were trains found in atlantic city. (Reading
Railroad/Shortline/Atlantic City)

3. The empire state building used to be the tallest building in the united states. (Empire
State Building/United States)

4. The washington monument and the lincoln memorial are being renovated.
(Washington Monument/Lincoln Memorial)

5. The nina, pinta, and the santa maria are ships known to all americans.
(Nina/Pinta/Santa Maria/Americans )

Rule # 10

 Capitalize the names of organizations (business, school, professional, social).

Examples: Audubon Society, Orem High School, Better Business Bureau, Lion's Club

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. I like to attend the metropolitan opera. (Metropolitan Opera)

2. salt lake city is known for its ballet west. (Salt Lake City/Ballet West)

3. i have never been to lone peak high school. (I/Lone Peak High School)

4. You should be a member of the national honor society. (National Honor Society)

5. Did he work for the ophir coal company? (Ophir Coal Company )
Rule # 11

 Capitalize a brand name but not the product.

Example: Firestone tires, Bestyet hams, Arrow shirts

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. We buy chicken of the sea tuna. (Chicken of the Sea tuna)

2. Have you tried amway soap? (Amway soap)

3. They no longer make plymouth vans. (Plymouth vans)

4. I like all maxwell chocolates and candies. (Maxwell chocolates)

5. There are many kinds of campbell soups. (Campbell soups )

Rule # 12

 Capitalize holidays, special or famous events, historical periods or eras and famous
documents.

Examples: Labor Day, Junior Prom, Stone Age, Magna Carta

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. Everyone should study the bill of rights. (Bill of Rights)

2. Two christian holidays are easter and christmas. (Christian/Easter/Christmas)

3. Have you studied the middle ages yet? (Middle Ages)

4. the junior prom is always two months after homecoming. (The/Junior

Prom/Homecoming)

5. Our constitution is used as a model by other countries. (Constitution )

Rule # 13

 Capitalize titles preceding personal names, abbreviations of those titles used with proper
names, initials, or titles when used alone in place of the name or person.

Examples: Mr., Miss, Rev., Dr., W. C. Johanson, Captain

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. Have you met the rev. mr. ryan, mrs. hubbard, and dr. peterson?( Rev. Mr. Ryan, Mrs.
Hubbard, Dr. Peterson)

2. This is supt. e. r. wing who was a captain during combat. (Supt. E. R. Wing)

3. mr. and mrs. jones with miss smith will accompany you tomorrow. (Mr. and Mrs.
Jones/Miss Smith)

4. Did you serve, colonel, in india? (Colonel/India)

5. I am to dine with cardinal corolucci tonight. (Cardinal Corolucci)

Rule # 14

 Capitalize the abbreviations Jr., Sr., and Esq. following names; the abbreviations A.M., P.M.,
B.C., and A.D.; and abbreviations of academic degrees.

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. What happened in a.d. 1492? (A.D.)

2. Be here promptly at 9:45 a.m. (A.M.)

3. This is Kraig Jenson, m.d., my doctor. (M.D.)

4. John Jones, jr. is my neighbor. (Jr.)

5. At 2:00 p.m. richard wiget, sr. and c. elliott, esq. will be with us. (P.M./Richard Wiget,
Sr./C. Elliott, Esq.)
Rule # 15

 Capitalize only school subjects that (a) come from the name of a country or a language, and
(b) are actual titles of the course.

Examples: French, English literature, typing, Typing II, history

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. I used to teach latin, history, and english. (Latin/English)

2. In college I took algebra i and american history. (Algebra I/American history)

3. Mary loved her time in journalism and russian. (Russian)

4. The hardest classes were geometry ii, psychology, and greek. (Geometry II/Greek)

5. I didn't like chinese history or economics. (Chinese history)

Rule # 16

 Capitalize the titles of books, newspapers, magazines, and all other kinds of literary works.
Capitalize works of art, motion pictures, and musical compositions. Do not capitalize the
articles (a,an,the), prepositions, or conjunctions unless they come first or last in these titles.

Example: Death of a Salesman, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. My favorite book is a tale of two cities.( A Tale of Two Cities)

2. Have you ever heard the song "earth angel"?("Earth Angel")

3. Jeff's theme was entitled "among the stars." ("Among the Stars")

4. We take two newspapers new utah and the deseret news. (New Utah/Deseret News)

5. national geographic and reader's digest are both interesting magazines. (National
Geographic/Reader's Digest)
Rule # 17

 Capitalize the first word of every direct quotation.

Example: He asked, "Can this wait until tomorrow?"

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. "meet me at the station in the morning," Alice said. (Meet)

2. "yes," said Rob, "it was charles dickens who wrote david copperfield." (Yes/Charles
Dickens/David Copperfield)

3. She said that she would help with the party if asked. ((no capitals because it is an
indirect quotation))

4. The clerk said, "you cannot use a personal check for the ride." (You)

5. "i used to live here in 1960," said the man. "it has changed a lot since that time." (I/It)

Rule # 18

 Capitalize the first word in every complete line of poetry.

Activity

Capitalize each word that needs a capital letter.

1. "loveliest of trees, the cherry now

is hung with bloom along the bough," (Loveliest/Is)

2. "roses are red.

violets are blue." (Roses/Violets)

3. "under a spreading chestnut tree

the village smithy stands." (Under/The)

4. "once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--"( Once/Over)

5. "jack and jill

went up the hill,
to fetch a pail of water;
jack fell down,
and broke his crown,
and jill came tumbling after. (Jack/Jill/Went/To/Jack/And/And/Jill)