Capital Letters
CAPITALIZATION
1. Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
2. Capitalize the pronoun I and the interjection O.
3. Capitalize the first word in a quotation. He asked, "Are you going too?"
4. Capitalize the first word of a direct question falling within a sentence.
This story answers the question, Where does true happiness really lie?
5. Capitalize all nouns referring to the deity and to the Bible and other sacred books and persons. Pronouns referring to the deity are capitalized by many, but not all, writers.
God
The Blessed Virgin
The Ten Commandments
the Koran
the Holy Bible
The Holy Spirit
Christ
the Incarnate Word
6. Capitalize the names of gods and goddesses of polytheistic religions. Zeus, Thor, Venus
7. Use a capital letter for President and Prime Minister when these refer to the president or prime minister of a country.
The Prime Minister will speak 9:00 P.M.
But note: The president [of a company) will address the luncheon.
8. Use a capital letter for official titles before the names of officials.
Mayor Davis, Prime Minister Trudeau, Governor Blair But note: Mr. Klein was premier of Alberta.
9. Capitalize proper nouns, and adjectives formed from proper nouns. (Consult the dictionary when in doubt.)
Michael Mardikes Germany Catholicism Fifth Avenue
London Maine Protestant Shakespearean
10. Capitalize every word except conjunctions, articles, and short prepositions in the titles of books and magazines, music and art, etc. The first word of the title is always capitalized.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The Taming of the Shrew
The Atlantic Monthly
The Magic Flute
11. Capitalize every word except conjunctions, articles, and short prepositions in the names (or derived adjectives, verbs, etc.) of organizations, institutions, businesses, agencies, movements, religions, holidays, holy days, etc. Sometimes the initial article is capitalized as part of the official name.
The World Publishing Company Corpus Christi Library of Congress
Memorial Day
Internal Revenue Service
Yom Kippur
the Boy Scouts of Canada
Buddhism
12. Capitalize the names of nationalities, languages, and the anthropological terms for major groups of mankind. Italian Mongoloid English Negroid Latin Caucasoid
But note: Do not capitalize white, black, yellow, or red when referring to groups of mankind.
13. Capitalize the names of all heavenly bodies.
Mars Virgo Sirius Big Dipper
But note: Earth, sun, and moon are not capitalized except when cited along with other heavenly bodies.
The moon shines by means of light reflected from the sun. (But: Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun.)
14. Capitalize a title, rank, etc. followed by a proper name or of an epithet used with or in place of a proper name. Lord Byron General MacArthur The Great Emancipator Catherine the Great
15. Capitalize the names of trademarks. Dacron, Vaseline
16. Capitalize compass directions and adjectives derived from them when they refer to a specific geographical area.
He lives in the East.
She lives in the Middle West.
He is a Southern congressman.
But note: Chicago is east of Kansas City.
17. Capitalize words denoting family relationships only when they precede the name of a person or when they stand unmodified as a substitute for a person's name.
I wrote to Grandfather Smith.
I wrote Mother a letter.
I wrote my mother a letter.
18. Capitalize the names of abstract or inanimate things that are personified.
It has been said that Justice is lame as well as blind.
It was the work of Fate.
And now Spring came scattering her vexatious dandelions.
19. Capitalize geographical terms when they are part of a proper name.
Long Island Sound
the Gobi Desert
the Great Lakes Mount Hood
the Dead Sea the Straits of Mackinac
But note: Do not capitalize geographical terms when they are used with two or more proper names (e.g., the Missouri River, but the Missouri and Mississippi rivers).
20. Capitalize government departments and offices.
Senate Supreme Court House of Parliament Court of Appeals