Capitalization, a fundamental language rule, plays a pivotal role in presenting written content with clarity and correctness. Just as punctuation and grammar give structure and meaning to our sentences, adhering to capitalization rules ensures that our writing is both coherent and standardized. This article focuses on easy ways to memorize English capitalization rules.
Capitalization rules in a nutshell
Capitalization rules are rules that tell you where to use capital letters in writing.
Definition: Capitalization rules
Capitalization rules refer to a set of guidelines that determine when to capitalize letters in a text. You capitalize a word by writing its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase. These capitalization rules make sure that writers maintain clarity, consistency, and proper grammar in the English language.
Mnemonic
One way to memorize capitalization rules, is using the acronym MINT. It stands for:
- Months, days, and holidays
- “I,” the pronoun
- Names of people, places, and specific things
- Titles and headings of books, movies, etc.
- Start of a sentence
In the section below, we’ll get into each rule and show helpful examples.
Rules
The capitalization rules are as follows:
Months, days, and holidays
Months, days, and holidays are considered proper nouns, which refer to specific times or event. Unlike seasons, they’re always capitalized to show that they are unique and not just general references of time.
Examples
✅My birthday is in March.
✅We’re meeting on Monday.
✅Christmas is my favorite holiday.
Examples
❌I can’t wait for Spring to come.
❌We’ll be celebrating new year’s eve together.
❌I’ll call you next friday.
The pronoun “I”
The pronoun “I” is the only pronoun in the English language that is always capitalized, no matter where it appears in a sentence.
Examples
✅I love reading crime novels.
✅My friend and I are going to the concert.
✅She said that I should call you.
Examples
❌My friend and i are coming over later.
❌i wouldn’t miss it for the world.
❌i still need to finish my essay.
Names of people, places, and specific things
Proper nouns are nouns that are always capitalized. Proper nouns include:
- People’s names
- Job titles, positions, and honorifics
- Geographic locations
- Nationalities, languages, and ethnic groups
- Companies and brands
- Government and institutions
- Historical events, documents, and eras
- Religions, deities, and religious texts
Note: You don’t need to capitalize family titles (Mom, Dad, Grandma, etc.) when they’re used with a possessive adjective or an article, e.g., “my mom,” “a grandma.”
Examples
✅Have you met Manon yet, Mom?
✅We traveled to Italy last summer and saw Dr. Umar.
✅They visited the Statue of Liberty.
Examples
❌We visited paris last summer.
❌Albert einstein was a brilliant scientist.
❌They live in New york city.
Titles of creative works
According to capitalization rules, titles of creative works should capitalize important words. That means short prepositions and conjunctions should be lowercase unless they come at the beginning or end of a title.
Examples
✅I just finished reading The Hunger Games.
✅We watched Back to the Future last night.
✅I loved reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Examples
❌She is studying pride and prejudice for her English class.
❌We watched the dark knight yesterday.
❌I enjoyed the maze runner series.
Start of a sentence
The first word of a sentence is always capitalized to indicate the beginning of a new thought.
Examples
✅They opened the window to let in some air.
✅Today is going to be a great day!
✅He enjoys playing volleyball.
Examples
❌the dog ran across the yard.
❌he always plays table tennis.
❌she couldn’t believe it.
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Example
Below, you can find an example text in lowercase. The text in the second tab, however, follows capitalization rules. Can you get everything right?
last week, mom and i went to new york city to see a broadway show. on the way, we stopped by central park and had lunch at a small café. after the show, we walked down fifth avenue and did some shopping. it was a memorable trip, and we can’t wait to visit nyc again.
Last week, Mom and I went to New York City to see a Broadway show. On the way, we stopped by Central Park and had lunch at a small café. After the show, we walked down Fifth Avenue and did some shopping. It was a memorable trip, and we can’t wait to visit NYC again.
Note: NYC is capitalized as well since it’s an acronym for “New York City.”
FAQs
Capitalization rules include:
- Always capitalize the first word of a sentence
- Capitalize proper nouns like names, titles, places, and organizations
- Capitalize days, months, and holidays
- Always capitalize the pronoun “I”
- Capitalize titles of works → the first or last words and principal words
- Capitalize acronym and initials
You should avoid capitalizing:
- Common nouns (dog, book, city)
- Articles, conjunctions & short prepositions (unless first or last in a title)
- Seasons (fall, spring, summer)
- Titles used generally (the manager, a grandma, a professor)
- Directions (if not part of a place name) → “Drive north for ten miles.”
The mnemonic for capitalization rules is “MINTS.” It stands for:
- Months, days, and holidays
- “I,” the pronoun
- Names of people, places, and specific things
- Titles of books, movies, etc.
- Start of a sentence
