How to Use Capital Letters

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How to Use Capital Letters

• By Samantha Silver
• Sept. 13, 2007

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Beginning of a SentenceComplete Sentences

• After a colon, capitalize or do not capitalize a
  sentence, as you choose But do NOT capitalize a
  phrase.
• - Todays homework seems harsh It (or it)
  consists of writing a ten page paper on
  immigration.
• - My department manager has one major concern
  overspending in my department.
• After a colon, capitalize a question.
• - Darius III came to his throne by way of a
  string of murders Did his own later murder mark
  the end of the Persian Empire?

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Continue of Complete Sentences

• In free-standing parentheses, capitalize.
• Do NOT capitalize if within a sentence.
• - Most full-time jobs offer some form of
  health insurance. (If
• insurance rates keep rising, smaller
  companies will not be
• able to offer any insurance at all.)
• - Everyone admired Chuck Yeagers feat
  (breaking the
• sound barrier).
• Between dashes within another sentence, do NOT
  capitalize
• - Cellular bonding- the process has been a
  common
• laboratory procedure for generations-is
  normally
• taught in the second semester.

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Capitalizing Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives

• Names of people, characters, and adjectives
  formed from their names
• - Charles Darwin, Darwinian Mom, Dad
  (emphasizes the named individual), Aunt Helen
• - But do NOT capitalize certain authors who do
  not capitalize their name, like e. e. cummings.
  Or my mom, my dad, your aunt (emphasizes
  relationship)
• Titles
• - Senator Rick Santorum, President Bush,
  National Security Advisor
• - But do NOT capitalize the senator, the
  president, a new national security advisor

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Proper Nouns and Adj. Continued

• Academic degrees
• - Harold K. Oates, PhD Dr. Atkins
• - Do NOT capitalize a doctor of philosophy, the
  doctor
• National, political, and ethnic groups
• - South African, Democrat, Black, White, Latina
• - Do NOT capitalize upper middle class (a
  socioeconomic group), black, white
• Black or white can be capital or lower case,
  just be consistent throughout your text.

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Proper Nouns and Adj. Continued Further

• Names for God, religious leaders, religious
  groups, and sacred books
• -God, Allah, Zeus, Baptists, Islam, Jews,
  Jewish, the Bible, the Torah
• Languages (French, Arabic)
• Organizations, companies, clubs
• - Lions Club, Fox Network, National Organization
  for Women
• Trademarked products brand names
• - Rice-a-Roni, Big Mac, Subaru Legacy

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Same Subject Continued

• Place names and geographic regions and features-
  Las Vegas, the Northeast, the Snake River
• Buildings, monuments, and bridges
• - Empire State Building, Washington Monument,
  the Golden Gate Bridge
• Academic courses
• - English 103, Introduction to Chemistry
• Acronyms and intialisms
• - (DNA, OPEC, UN, NATO)

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Same Subject Continued Further

• Specific time periods, historical events, an
  significant historical documents
• - the Renaissance, World War II, the Magna Carta
• Literary, artistic, and cultural movements
• - Formalism, the Beat Generation
• Days, months, holidays
• - Sunday, February, Hanukkah
• Scientific and technical terms
• - Mars, Jupiter, Milky way

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Capitalization in Titles

• Book
• - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Essay
• - Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter
• Movie
• - Wedding Crashers
• Painting
• - Water Lilies

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Capital Letters in Quotations

• When quoting a complete sentence
• - George told me, Dont recycle that kind of
  plastic anymore.
• When beginning your sentence with a quotation
• - Out of all the movies I have seen, I must say
  that one was the most entertaining, Erin said.
• Do NOT capitalize if the quote is not a complete
  sentence, or follows an interruption created by
  your own words
• - The best way to investigate a story is to
  follow the money.
• - When my sister eats popcorn, he exclaimed,
  she loves to watch a movie.

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Capitalizing When Quoting Poetry

• First word of line capitalized in original
• - When Donne wrote That thou mayst know me
  (42), he was admitting that full disclosure was
  critical to salvation.
• First word of line NOT capitalized in original
• - In anyone lived in a pretty how town, e. e.
  cummings writes, she laughed his joy she cried
  his grief

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Capital Letters in Lists

• Capitalization in run-in lists in which list
  items are complete sentences
• - A job candidate may be asked a number of
  painful questions in a job interview (1) What is
  your most obvious character weakness? (2) What
  would your current co-workers say they like least
  about you?...
• Capitalization in formal outlines
• - I. Communicating-to-Learn Activities
• a. Follow the principles in informal writing.
• i. Put the principles into practice daily.

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Capitalization in URLs and email addresses

• These two URLs are the same
• - http//www.POWELLS.com
• http//www.powells.com
• These two are NOT the same
• - http//www.virtualparlor.org/Rhetoric
• http//www.virtualparlor.org/rhetoric
• These two email addresses are the same
• - joe.schmoe_at_google.com Joe.Schmoe_at_google.com
• Email addresses are not case sensitive, so it
  doesnt matter whether you capitalize them or
  not

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Capital Letter Super HeroQ-BETUP!

• Q (quotations)
• B (beginning of a sentence)
• E (email addresses)
• T (titles)
• U (URLs)
• P (proper nouns and adjectives)

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Quiz Time!