1. Rule #1: Proper noun and adjective A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea. A proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper noun.

2. Rule #2: Names of People Capitalize the names of people and also the initials or abbreviations that stand for names.

3. Rule #3: Titles Used with Names Capitalize titles used with names and the abbreviations standing for those names.

4. Rule #4: Words Used as Names Capitalize words such as mother, father, aunt, and uncle when they are used AS NAMES. ***Words such as aunt, uncle, mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa are usually NOT capitalized if they come after a possessive pronoun (my, his, her, our)

5. Rule #5: School Subjects Capitalize the name of a SPECIFIC educational course, but not the name of a general subject. EXCEPTION  the names of all languages are proper nouns and are always capitalized. (Spanish, French, German, etc.)

6. Rule #6: Official Names Capitalize the names of businesses and the official names of their products. (These are called trade names). However… DO NOT capitalize the general word following a trade name.

7. Rule #7: Races, Languages, Nationalities, Religions Capitalize the names of languages, races, nationalities, and religions as well as proper nouns formed from them.

8. Rule #8: Days, Months, and Holidays Capitalize the names of days of the week, months of the year, and special holidays. DO NOT capitalize the names of seasons.

9. Rule #9: Historical Events Capitalize the names of historical events, documents, and periods of time.

10. Rule #10: Geographic Names Capitalize the following geographic names: ◦planets and heavenly bodies ◦Continents ◦Countries ◦States ◦Provinces ◦Counties ◦Cities ◦Bodies of water ◦Landforms ◦Public areas ◦Roads and highways ◦Buildings ◦monuments ***Lowercase “earth” except when used as the proper name of our planet.

11. Rule #11: Particular Sections of the Country Capitalize words that indicate particular sections of the country. Also capitalize proper adjectives that are formed from names of specific sections of a country. Words that simply indicate a direction are not capitalized.

12. Rule #12: First Words Capitalize the first word of every sentence and the first word of a direct quotation.

13. Rule #13: Titles Capitalize the first word of a title, the last word, and every word in between except articles (a, an, and the), short prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS).

14. Rule #14: Abbreviations Capitalize abbreviations of titles and organizations

15. Rule#15: Organizations Capitalize the names of an organization, an association, or a team.

16. Rule #16: Letters Capitalize the letters used to indicate form or shape. EX: