When do I capitalize TITLES for people’s names? Cap. titles and abbreviations for titles that appear before and after people’s names: Mrs. Barnhart Dr. McKenna Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When do I capitalize words such as MOTHER, FATHER, AUNT, UNCLE, etc.? Cap. words such as mother, father, aunt, uncle, etc. when these words are used as names or when they come just before a name: Aunt Anna Uncle Steve “I’m coming, Mom.” “Dad, will you help me?”

When shouldn’t I capitalize words such as MOTHER, FATHER, AUNT, UNCLE, etc.? DO NOT capitalize words that name family members if these words are preceded by a possessive, such as your or my, or by an article such as a or the. My aunt loves to ski. I love my mother. The father ran after his son.

Rules for RELIGIOUS WORDS Cap. Words that name religions, sacred beings, or religious scriptures. Also, cap. Adjectives formed from those names: Allah Jehovah the Torah Islam Christian Buddhism

Rules for RACES/ ETHNIC GROUPS Cap. The names of races, ethnic groups, languages, and nationalities. Also cap. Adjectives formed from such names: Hispanic Colombian coffee African American French food

Rules for ORGANIZATIONS, BUILDINGS, and STRUCTURES Cap. all important words in the names of organizations, institutions, buildings, and structures: the Republican Party the American Red Cross Grand Central Station the Taj Mahal the Eiffel Tower the Great Wall of China

Rules for HISTORICAL EVENTS, DOCUMENTS, and PERIODS OF TIME Cap. all important words in the names of historical events, documents, and periods of time: the Civil War the 1996 Summer Olympics the Declaration of Independence Gettysburg Address the Magna Carta the Renaissance the Ice Age

Rules for MONTHS, DAYS, HOLIDAYS, and SEASONS Cap. the names of months, days, and holidays, but not the names of seasons: October Thursday Yom Kippur Labor Day winter

Rules for POETRY Cap. the first word of each line of poetry: Roses are red, Violets are blue…

Rules for DIRECT QUOTATIONS Cap. the first word of a direct quotation: Mr. Burns yelled, “Homer, you’re fired!”

Rule for INTERRUPTED QUOTATIONS Cap. interrupted quotations only when the second part begins a new sentence: “Close your books,” said Mrs. Barnhart, “and go to lunch.” “Remind me tomorrow,” said Sarah. “We have to leave now.”

The 10 Rules for GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 1. Cap. the names of cities and towns: Philadelphia Buckingham Doylestown 2. Cap. the names of counties and townships: Bucks County Montgomery Township

The 10 Rules for GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 3. Cap. the names of states: Pennsylvania Texas Maryland 4. Cap. the names of continents: Asia North America 5. Cap. the names of islands: Philippine Islands Staten Island

The 10 Rules for GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 6. Cap. the names of bodies of water: Lake Erie Delaware River Gulf of Mexico 7. Cap. the names of sections of the country: the East Coast the Southwest *NOTE: DO NOT cap. north, south, east, and west when merely indicating direction: traveling east the north shore

The 10 Rules for GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 8. Cap. the names of mountains: Black Hills Appalachian Mountains the Rockies  9. Cap. the names of streets: Elm Street Roosevelt Boulevard \West Third Street

The 10 Rules for GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 10. Cap. the names of parks: Yellowstone National Park Pennypack Park Central Park   *NOTE: The COMPLETE NAME is capitalized. Words like Street, Mountain, and River are cap. because they are part of the proper name. If these words are NOT part of a proper name, they are not capitalized! Compare: attending high school vs CB East High School in the street vs. Main Street

Rules for SCHOOL SUBJECTS DO NOT cap. the names of school subjects, except course names followed by a number: Algebra I World Cultures II social studies math *NOTE: Remember that the names of languages are always capitalized: English Spanish Hebrew

Rules for PARTS OF A LETTER Cap. all important/proper words in the GREETING: Dear Dr. Jones Dear Sir or Madam In the CLOSING, cap. only the first word: Yours truly Sincerely yours

ABBREVIATIONS Cap. the abbreviations B.C., A.D., A.M., and P.M. Homeroom begins at 7:30 A.M. Pompeii was buried by lava in A.D. 79.

Rules for TITLES Cap. the first word and all important words in titles of: Books—The Cay Newspapers—The Philadelphia Inquirer Plays—The Importance of Being Earnest T.V. Shows—The Brady Bunch Magazines—Vanity Fair Short Stories—“Seventh Grade” Songs—“With Arms Wide Open” Poems—“Pied Beauty”

Rules for TITLES *NOTE: In the title, DO NOT capitalize articles such as a, an, the; conjunctions such as and, or, but, for; or prepositions such as on, about, near, in, to, under, etc.   DO cap. articles, conjunctions, and prepositions when they come at the beginning of the title: “And Justice for All” “Under the Bridge” The Tin Man