Capitalization, Apostrophes, and Basic Commas

Capitalization Rules for Everyday Writing

Capitalization signals boundaries and highlights specific names. The most fundamental rule in English writing is that the first word of a complete sentence must always be capitalized. Beyond sentence beginnings, proper nouns require capitalization because they name specific people, places, or things. In contrast, common nouns are generally written in lowercase unless they begin a sentence or form part of an official proper name.

Geographic locations follow distinct conventions based on specificity. Specific geographic names, including countries, cities, bodies of water, and mountains, are capitalized. Compass directions like north, south, east, and west are lowercase when indicating general direction, such as driving north on a highway. However, compass directions are capitalized when they designate a specific, recognized geographic region.

Calendar designations and family terms also have precise rules. Days of the week, months of the year, and holidays must be capitalized. Meanwhile, names of seasons, such as spring, summer, fall, and winter, are generally lowercase unless they are part of a proper name or title. Family relationship terms like Mom or Uncle are capitalized when used as proper names or in direct address, but they are not capitalized when preceded by a possessive pronoun such as my, your, or his. In addition, nationalities, languages, and ethnic groups are proper words and must always be capitalized.

Professional titles and academic courses depend heavily on context. Official titles preceding a person's name are capitalized, such as Mayor Adams or Doctor Smith, but professional titles following a person's name or used in a general sense without a name are written in lowercase. Capitalize official course titles, whether or not they contain numbers or proper nouns; lowercase general subject names except those that are proper nouns, such as English and Spanish. For titles of books, articles, and movies, the first and last words are always capitalized, alongside major words including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Short prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, and articles remain lowercase in titles unless they appear as the first or last word.