Capitalization © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

What is capitalization? Capitalization is the use of uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc). Use capital letters: to start every new sentence for the names of specific people, places, dates, and things (President Jones, Paris, Tuesday, etc.) for important words in titles (No Country for Old Men, Deal or No Deal). Minor words (like for and or) don’t need to be capitalized unless they are the first or last word in a title. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Examples of Specific Versus Not Specific People: Dr. McKenzie the doctor Janet Bolton your landlord Aunt Kathy my aunt Places: Dartmouth Street my street Chicago his hometown California this state Dates: Monday today December 5th winter Christmas your friend’s birthday © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Examples of Specific Versus Not Specific (continued) Organizations, companies, and groups: Oakland Community College my college Samsung the smartphone company Habitat for Humanity the nonprofit organization Languages, nationalities, and religions: French my first language Buddhism your religion Courses: Introduction to Biology my biology course History 205 my favorite class Commercial products: Diet Coke a diet soda Hershey Bar a chocolate bar Examples of Specific Versus Not Specific (continued) © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Example - 1 Mr. Gorsky lived on Elm Street for fifty years. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

My mother’s favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities. Example - 2 My mother’s favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

The winters are cold here, especially in January. Example - 3 The winters are cold here, especially in January. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Fix the following sentence by adding capital letters where needed: my aunt belongs to the american civil liberties union. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Answer: My aunt belongs to the American Civil Liberties Union. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Fix the following sentence by adding capital letters where needed: (continued 1) in professor anderson’s class, religion 105, we studied islam, judaism, and other religions. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Answer: (continued 1) In Professor Anderson’s class, Religion 105, we studied Islam, Judaism, and other religions. © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Fix the following sentence by adding capital letters where needed: (continued 2) he ran out the back door and yelled, “there’s a subway stop in chinatown!” © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Answer: (continued 2) He ran out the back door and yelled, “There’s a subway stop in Chinatown!” © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s