Grammar Capitalization part 1

People and Cultures People’s names and titles, the names of the languages they speak, and the religions they practice are all proper nouns and should be capitalized.

Names and Initials Sandra Cisneros Franklin D. Roosevelt

Personal Titles and Abbreviations Capitalize titles and abbreviations of titles that are used before names or indirect address. Professor Stevens Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Capitalize titles of royalty or nobility only when it precedes a person’s name. Queen Elizabeth I Sir Winston Churchill Important: The poetry reading was attended by Sir Robert. The audience included the prince and the princess.

Family Relationships Capitalize words indicating family relationships only when they are used as part of the name or in direct address. Aunt Ruth Uncle Ed Grandma Johnson When my mother and Aunt Betty were children, did you read poetry to them, Grandfather?

The pronoun I My friends and I had never been to a poetry slam before,

Ethnic Groups, Languages and Nationalities Capitalize the names of Ethnic groups, races, languages, and nationalities, along with adjectives formed from these names. English Chinese Cherokee Spanish Swahili German

Religious Terms Capitalize the names of religions, religious denominations, sacred days, sacred writings, and deities. Do not capitalize god or goddess when they refer to gods of ancient mythology. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom. ReligionsChristianity, Islam, Judaism Denominations and sectsSunni, Baptist, Methodist Sacred daysRamadan, Easter Sacred writingKoran, Bible, Torah DeitiesAllah, God

First Words and Titles First words in sentences, most lines of poetry, quotations, and outline entries are capitalized. Greetings and closings in letters and important words in titles are capitalized.

Sentences and Poetry Capitalize the first word of every sentence. Capitalize the first word in every line of traditional poetry. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth

Quotations Capitalize the first word in a direct quotation if it is a complete sentence. (do not capitalize a direct quotation if it is a fragment. The said, “Is anyone interested in reenacting a battle?” One player said reenactments are “the closest we can get to time travel.”

In a divided quotation, do not capitalize the first word of the second part unless it starts a new sentence. “ We have the costumes,” the continued, “but we need history experts.” “Join our group,” the writer said. “You’ll have fun.”

Parts of a letter In a letter, capitalize the first word of the greeting, words such as Sir or Madam, and the first word of the closing. May 20,2015 Civil War Reenactors 1800 W. Wheeling St. Boston, MA Dear Sir: I would be very interested in joining your group. I’ve read a lot about American history, and I’ve always wanted to take part in a reenactments. Please send me more information. Yours truly, Ellen Hobson

Outlines Capitalize the first word of each entry in an outline, as well as the letters that introduce major subsections. 1- Historical reenactments A. Reenactments of events in American History 1- F amous battles 2- N onmilitary events

Titles Capitalize the first, the last word, and all other important words in a title. Do not capitalize conjunctions, articles, or prepositions of fewer than five letters. BooksThe Old Man and the Sea Plays and musicalsThe Devil and the Daniel Webster Short storiesThe Most Dangerous Game Magazines and newspapersNew York Times MoviesGone With the Wind Television showsThe Simpsons Works of artThe Thinker, Ophelia PoemsThe Road Not Taken