1. Capitalization
Revision Review

2. Why Do I Capitalize?
Capitalization is necessary. Capitals are used to identify things that are proper as well as to start every sentence.
Capital letters are also used in titles as well as dialogue.
Read on to learn the many ways that capital letters are used.

3. Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives
Capital letters are used with proper nouns and proper adjectives.
A proper noun is a very specific noun. It names a particular person, place, or thing.
e.g. Melissa, Empire State Building, Nike, Rover
A proper adjective is derived from a proper noun. That means it comes from a proper noun but has been changed into an adjective.
e.g. England – English, France – French, Shakespeare - Shakespearean

4. First Words
The first word of every sentence must begin with a capital letter.
e.g. The book that I bought is good.
The first word of a quote or dialogue must also begin with a capital letter.
e.g. The man said, “How are you?”
Non-spoken parts that follow dialogue are not capitalized.
e.g. “How are you?” the man said.
The first word in a greeting or closing of a letter is capitalized.
e.g. Dear Elizabeth
Sincerely,

5. Certain Letters of the Alphabet
The pronoun “I” is capitalized every time that it is used. That is also true when it is used in a contraction.
e.g. She asked who I was.
e.g. I’d like to know if I’ve behaved properly or if I’m in trouble.
The interjection “O” is also capitalized. Remember, an interjection is an emotional outburst that interrupts the flow of a sentence.
e.g. She would liked to have said, “O that book was so great!”

6. Initials, Abbreviations and Personal Titles
When a person’s name is abbreviated, they write their initials. Initials must be capitalized and followed by a period.
e.g. C.A. Frow
When a proper noun is abbreviated, it retains its capitals.
e.g. U.S.A, U.S.S.R., C.I.A.
Titles of people are also capitalized.
e.g. Mrs., Dr., D.A.

7. Family Relationships and Personal Titles
Knowing when to capitalize family relationships is difficult. When do you capitalize words like mom, dad, or uncle? Generally, if there is a possessive pronoun like “my” or “his” before the word, it does not get capitalized. If no possessive is there, then it is capitalized. However, if the name follows the family title, then it does get capitalized.
e.g. Mom, my mom, Uncle Bob
When a professional title is placed before someone’s name, it also gets capitalized.
e.g. Attorney General Reiker, President Obama

8. Special Words
Many special names of things get capitalized like geographical names, planets and stars, teams, government bodies, historical events, holidays, nationalities, races, religions, sacred writings, awards, specific forms of transportation, businesses, and brands.
e.g. the Southeast, the Milky Way, the Steelers, the Senate, the Civil War, Valentine’s Day, Slovak, Caucasian, Catholic, Hanukah, the Koran, the Nobel Prize, the Titanic, Wal-Mart, American Eagle

9. School Subjects and Directions
The only school subjects that are capitalized are the ones that name languages. An exception would occur when the school subject is followed by a course number.
e.g. English, French, social studies, Algebra I
Directions are not capitalized. When a direction refers to a region of the country, then it is capitalized.
e.g. Go west on Route 70 to see the Southwest.
Seasons are not capitalized.
e.g. fall, winter

10. Titles
In a title, the first word is always capitalized. After that, all important words are capitalized. Words that are not capitalized are articles (a, an, the), prepositions (words like to, from, in), and conjunctions (and, but, or).
e.g. The Man in the Iron Mask
Elephant Run
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

11. Test Yourself
On a separate piece of paper, list all of the words that should be capitalized in each sentence.
1. among the hidden by margaret peterson haddix is a great book.
2. the girl said, “the boy that i like has a chinese background but likes to eat at olive garden.
3. i’d like to visit representative o’brien at his office in washington, dc.
4. manny has won the cy young award for his great performances in the mlb.
5. in the fall, the girl saw dr. jordan at mt. sinai hospital which is in the northeast.

12. Check Your Answers 1. Among, Hidden, Margaret, Peterson Haddix
2. The, The, I, Chinese, Olive, Garden.
3. I’d, Representative, O’Brien, Washington, D.C.
4. Manny, Cy Young Award, M.L.B.
5. In, Dr. Jordan, Mt., Sinai, Hospital, Northeast.

13. Now that you have completed this review, get a review quiz from your teacher. Take the quiz and return it to her. Then, access your essay on google docs. Look at the comments about capitalization. Make any corrections on the document. Then, get your rubric from your folder. Take the rubric and computer to your teacher to add points back to your essay score.