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Capital letters – how to use them

August 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Capital letters – definition

capital letters Capital letters are used to show the importance of particular words.

redbtn They are always used for proper nouns (people’s names) ; at the start of sentences ; and for places and events of a public nature.


Examples
  • He entered the room, accompanied by Christine Bowman.
  • John wrote a letter to the Bishop of Chester.
  • We will visit Sherwood Forest at Easter this year.

Use

redbtn Capital letters are always placed at the beginning of a sentence.

redbtn They are also used to indicate names and titles, as well as holidays and well-known public places.

redbtn NB! Avoid continuous capitals.

THEY LOOK VERY UNSIGHTLY AND ARE HARD TO READ

redbtn Capitals are used to denote the names of particular or special things.

days of the week Wednesday, Friday
places East Anglia
rivers the river Mersey
buildings the Tate Gallery
institutions the Catholic Church
firms British Aerospace
organisations the National Trust
months of the year April, September

redbtn However, when such terms are used as adjectives or in a general sense, no capital is required:

the King James Bible / a biblical reference

Oxford University / a university education

the present Government / governments since 1967

redbtn Capitals are used when describing intellectual movements or periods of history:

Freudian – Platonism – Cartesian – the Middle Ages
the Reformation – the Enlightenment

redbtn They are also used in the titles of books, plays, films, newspapers, magazines, songs, and works of art in general. The normal convention is to capitalise the first word and any nouns or important terms. Smaller words such as ‘and’, ‘of’, and ‘the’ are left uncapitalised:

A View from the Bridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
North by Northwest
The Marriage of Figaro

redbtn Notice the difference between the same term used in a general and a particular sense:

The children’s Uncle Fred is seventy.
Their uncle is the oldest in the family.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Capital letters in essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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1. Capital letters in essays are always placed at the beginning of a sentence, and they are used for all proper nouns:

He slowly entered the room, accompanied by his friend James Bowman.

2. They are used when a particular thing is being named. For instance

days Wednesday, Friday
places East Anglia
rivers the river Mersey
buildings the Tate Gallery
institutions the Catholic Church
firms British Aerospace
organisations the National Trust
months April, September

3. However, when such terms are used as adjectives or in a general sense, no capital is required:

the King James Bible   BUT   a biblical reference

Manchester University   BUT   a university education

4. Capitals are used when describing intellectual movements or periods of history:

Freudian      Platonism      Cartesian

The Middle Ages      the Reformation

5. They are also used in the titles of books, plays, films, newspapers, magazines, songs, and works of art in general. The normal convention is to capitalise the first word and any nouns or important terms. Smaller words such as and, of, and the are left uncapitalised:

A View from the Bridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
North by Northwest
The Marriage of Figaro

6. The convention for presenting titles in French is to capitalise only the first or the first main word of a title:

A la recherche du temps perdu
La Force des choses

7. However, there are many exceptions to this convention:

Le Rouge et le Noir
Entre la Vie et la Mort

8. In German, all nouns are given capitals:

Reallexikon zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte

9. Works written in English which have foreign titles are normally
capitalised according to the English convention:

Fors Clavigera       Religio Medici

10. Interesting exception! Capitals are not used for the seasons of the year:

autumn      winter      spring      summer

© Roy Johnson 2003

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