This article is about capitalization in written language. For another meaning, see market capitalization.

For any word written in a language with two cases, such as those using the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, or Armenian alphabet, capitalization is the writing of that word with its first letter in majuscules (uppercase) and the remaining letters in minuscules (lowercase).

Capitalization custom varies with language.

• Nouns:
  • In nearly all European languages, single-word proper nouns (including personal names) are capitalized. Multiple-word proper nouns usually follow rules like those for English titles (see below).
    • France
    • Robert the Bruce
    • Moses

     

  • In German, and also various other languages, all nouns are capitalized.

• Pronouns:
  • In the English language the nominative form of the singular first-person pronoun, I, is capitalized, along with all its contractions (I'll, I'm, etc.)
  • In German the formal second-person plural, Sie is capitalized along with all its declensions (Ihre, Ihres, etc.), as is the case with the formal second person in Italian, Lei and Loro, and their cases.

• Adjectives:
  • In English, adjectives derived from proper nouns retain their capitalization
    • a Christian church

     

  • Where the original capital is no longer at the beginning of the word, usage varies.
    • anti-Christian, Presocratic or Pre-Socratic or presocratic (not preSocratic)

     

  • In German and French such adjectives do not receive capitals.
    • antichristlich, presocratique.
    • Adjectives referring to nationality or ethnicity are not capitalized, but nouns are: un homme canadien, a Canadian man; un Canadien, a Canadian.

• Sentences: In most modern languages , the first word in a sentence is capitalized, as is the first word in any quoted sentence. In Latin and Ancient Greek they are not.

• Titles of publications
  • Different conventions are widely used for capitalization in U.S. English (see below for details).
  • In British English, German, French, and most other languages, only the first word in a title is capitalized, and any that would be capitalized in a normal sentence.

• Titles of persons

Some other miscellaneous rules:

1. In English, in addition to proper nouns, proper adjectives (those derived from a name, such as Canadian, Shakespearian) are written with initial majuscules, as are the names of days of the week, months, languages, and the pronoun I. Some authors, though few if any grammar books, also treat the names of individual species of living things (animals, plants, etc) as proper nouns, and use initial majuscules for them, as in e.g. Peregrine Falcon while asserting that others, e.g. horse or person are not common names of species and should not be capitalized.
2. In Dutch, if a proper noun starts with the diphthong ij both i and j are capitalized. Examples: IJmuiden and IJssel. This because ij is not really two letters, but is actually a ligature ij/IJ.
3. Also in Dutch, 't, d', or 's in names or sayings are never capitalized, as they are short for the articles het and de (or the old possessive form des). Examples: 's Gravenhage (from des Graven Hage), d'Eendracht (from de Eendracht), 't Theehuis (from het Theehuis).
4. In the Danish or Norwegian language, Æ/æ is a single letter, and both 'a' and 'e' must be capitalized.
5. In Romance languages, days of the week, months, and adjectives are not written with initial majuscules.
6. In Spanish, the abbreviation of the pronoun usted, Ud. or Vd., is usually written with a capital. The same goes for the Italian pronoun Lei and the German Sie when these are used as a respectful second-person pronoun (see T-V distinction).
7. Some Romance languages capitalize specific nouns; for example, French often capitalizes such nouns as l'État (the state) and l'Église (the church) when not referring to specific ones.
8. In French, accents are sometimes dropped from the uppercase letter of a capitalized word: l'Etat. This usage is deprecated when not required by technical limitations.
9. Many European languages capitalize pronouns used to refer to God.
10. Practice varies when the name starts with a particle with a meaning such as "from" or "the" or "son of". Some of these particles (Mac, Mc, M', O') are always capitalized; others (L', Van) are usually capitalized; still others often are not (d', de, di, von). If the particle is written as two or more words, the same capitalization applies to both (De La or de la).
11. The remaining part of such a name, following the particle, is always capitalized if it is set off with a space as a separate word, and is always capitalized if the particle was not. A capital is also always used after Mc, and usually after Mac. or if the particle was Mc. Otherwise it may or may not be capitalized; there is no set rule.

The full rules of capitalization for English are complicated and have changed over time, generally to capitalize fewer terms; to the modern reader, an 18th century document seems to use initial capitals excessively. It is an important function of English style guides to describe the complete current rules.

For some terms a capital as first letter is avoided by avoiding their use at the beginning of a sentence, or by writing it in lowercase even at the beginning of a sentence. E.g., pH looks unfamiliar written "PH", and m and M may even have a different meaning, milli and mega. Brands are sometimes chosen to start with a lowercase letter, to be special, e.g. easyJet. A related oddity is including a punctuation mark in a brand name, e.g. "Yahoo!".

Some individuals choose not to use capitals with their names, such as k.d. lang or bell hooks. E. E. Cummings, whose name is often spelt without capitals, did not spell his name so; the usage derives from the typography used on the cover of one of his books.

Titles and headlines

In English-language publications, different conventions are widely used for capitalizing words in publication titles and headlines, including chapter and section headings. The main examples are:

THE VITAMINS IN MY FRESH BRUSSELS SPROUTS 

all-uppercase letters

The Vitamins In My Fresh Brussels Sprouts 

capitalization of all words, regardless of the part of speech

The Vitamins in My Fresh Brussels Sprouts 

capitalization of all words, except for internal articles, prepositions and conjunctions

The Vitamins in my Fresh Brussels Sprouts 

capitalization of all words, except for internal closed-class words

The Vitamins in my fresh Brussels Sprouts 

capitalization of all nouns

The vitamins in my fresh Brussels sprouts 

sentence-style capitalization (sentence case), only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized

the vitamins in my fresh brussels sprouts 

all-lowercase letters

British publishers normally use sentence-style capitalization in titles and headlines, where capitalization follows the same rules that apply for sentences. This is the only style that preserves the distinction of proper nouns in titles. It is less ambiguous, which is of particular advantage in scientific literature and reference works. It avoids the complications that arise when different capitalization styles are used in titles and bibliographic references, which can be difficult to handle accurately in computer-generated bibliographies. This convention is also used in the International Organization for Standardization and Wikipedia house styles.

Among U.S. publishers, it is still a common typographic practice to capitalize additional words in titles. This is an old form of emphasis, similar to the more modern practice of using a larger or boldface font for titles. The exact rules differ between individual house styles. Most capitalize all words except for internal closed-class words, or internal articles, prepositions and conjunctions. Some capitalize even only nouns, others capitalize all words.

The sentence-style capitalization of publication titles is also widely used in the U.S., especially in bibliographic references and library catalogues.

Book titles are often emphasized on cover and title pages through the use of all-uppercase letters. Both British and U.S. publishers use this convention.

In creative typography, for example music record covers and other artistic material, all styles are commonly encountered, including all-lowercase letters.

See also

• Letter case
• Sentence case
• Bicapitalization (CamelCase)

External links

• Dictionary.com - capitalization rules
• University of South Carolina - capitalization guide
• University of Minnesota Style Manual - Scientific Terminology
• Rules for Capitalization