1. What is a Noun? & When to Capitalize Nouns

2. What is a noun? Person girl, teacher, Kelly, matador Place Mountain City, country, forest Thing house, tree, cake, soda pop Idea democracy, truth, fantasy Quality boredom, beauty, hatred

3. When to Capitalize Nouns

4. Names of specific people Capitalize Lacey, Tasha, Matthew, the Willams family, the Hunters No Capitalization family, boy, cousin, sister

5. Ranks and Titles (when used with a particular person’s name) Capitalize This is Aunt Jane, this is Doctor Jones, and this is Professor Smith. No Capitalization That lady is my aunt, that man is a doctor, and that man is a professor.

6. Titles of Movies, Books, Chapters, and Articles Rule: Capitalize the first word, last word, and all important words in the middle of a title. Capitalize Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone No Capitalization I read a good book last night.

7. Family Members If you can substitute a name in the sentence for mom, dad, aunt, grandmom, etc. & it still makes sense, capitalize it. Capitalize Mom and I went to the movies with Dad. Mary and I went to the movies with Jim. No Capitalization My grandfather went fishing with my sister. You would not say…. My Jim went fishing with my Sally.

8. Names of Specific Schools, Businesses, Buildings, Organizations, etc. Capitalize Apple Computer, Johnson County Middle School, Appalachian State University, Ford Motor Company No Capitalization I want a new computer. I am going to a middle school, and plan to go to a university after I attend high school.

9. Special Groups including Clubs, Religions, Nationalities, Races of People, Languages, Countries Capitalize Johnson County Longhorns, Republican Party, Boys Scouts of America, Christians, Hebrews, Africans, Mexicans, Spanish, England, French cuisine, Italian pastry No Capitalization I wanted our team to win. Many club members attended the game.

10. Days of the Week, Months, and Holidays but not Seasons Capitalize Monday, January, Halloween, Christmas No Capitalization summer, fall, spring, winter, autumn

11. Geographic Areas Capitalize Tennessee, Mississippi River, Atlantic Ocean, Franklin Street, Ralph Stout Park No Capitalization The river is deep. The mountains are tall. I live down the street.

12. Regions of the United States (Not Directions) Capitalize We live in Northeast Tennessee, but Mrs. Miller was born in the South. No Capitalization Jacob lives on the north side of town.

13. Names for God and Sacred Books Capitalize God, Jehovah, Allah, the Bible, the Koran No Capitalization Ancient myths have stories about many gods and goddesses.

14. Specific School Courses Capitalize I’m taking Algebra 101 and United States History. No Capitalization I’m taking algebra and history.

15. Names of Planets (not sun and moon) Capitalize Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune No Capitalization The moon is bright tonight.

16. Letters that Stand Alone Capitalize U-turn, X-ray, A+