1. Capitalization
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2. 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.
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3. 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
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4. 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 my favorite class
Commercial products:
Diet Coke a diet soda
Hershey Bar a chocolate bar
Examples of Specific Versus Not Specific (continued)
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5. Example - 1 Mr. Gorsky lived on Elm Street for fifty years.
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6. My mother’s favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities.
Example - 2
My mother’s favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities.
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7. The winters are cold here, especially in January.
Example - 3
The winters are cold here, especially in January.
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8. Fix the following sentence by adding capital letters where needed:
my aunt belongs to the american civil liberties union.
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9. Answer: My aunt belongs to the American Civil Liberties Union.
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10. 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.
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11. Answer: (continued 1)
In Professor Anderson’s class, Religion 105, we studied Islam, Judaism, and other religions.
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12. 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!”
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13. Answer: (continued 2)
He ran out the back door and yelled, “There’s a subway stop in Chinatown!”
© 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s