They do not cover every instance where a capital letter should be used, but they do cover most. Capitalization is used less than lowercase letters, making the capitalized words stand out more. Between them, we will find the ordinal or intercardinal directions, such as southwest, westnorthwest, and an infinite number of other descriptors. Important rules of capitalization 10 basic rules of. A good rule of thumb is that words are capitalized if they are unique persons, places, or things, or if, in a title, they are important. Capitalizing directions directions are especially tricky because sometimes they need to be capitalized, and sometimes they dont. The first, last, and important words in titles of literary works.
One of her cardinal rules was, never betray a friend. See more ideas about writing lessons, teaching language arts, classroom writing. The four primary points on a compasseast, north, south, and westare known as the cardinal directions. Whenever you begin a sentence, the first word needs to be capitalized, as i have done in this sentence. Capitalization packet when to use a capital letter no. Colon capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. Should the cardinal directions be capitalized when used as an adjective. The farlex grammar book english spelling and pronunciation spelling conventions rules for capitalization rules for capitalization when do you capitalize a word. When a first letter of a word is capitalized, it appears more important than it really is. Rules for capitalization vary by country, language and word usage.
Mla and apa style guidelines say yes, whereas the chicago manual of. But it has proper rules when to capitalize the first letter of a word. When these are official locations labeled on maps, they are. The general rule to follow is to use lowercase when referring to compass directions and to capitalize when referring to specific regions. Capitalization punctuation rules blue book of grammar. Following these rules will help you understand more. In addition, these materials include a study plan, four practice quizzes, an answer key, and an indepth explanation for each answer. There are many rules when it comes to capitalization. Do not use a capital letter unless it is absolutely required. In writing these chapters, i came to a realization that has slowly been dawning on me during my 15 years as a technical editor. Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lower case. Once you understand these rules, try a capitalization rules quiz to test yourself.
The first word of each line of a poem is also typically capitalized, even if the poems lines are not complete sentences. As you are well aware, your job is cut out for you. The names of companies are proper nouns so the capitalization rule for proper nouns applies here. Of course, all sentences begin with a capital letter, as well. Jul 18, 2008 i am worried that i made a grammatical error. Secondly, you can tell your students that it depends on the companysome companies choose to use a noun form thats acting as an adjective. Capitalize cardinal directions when they are used to refer to specific. The capitalization rules for titles of books, movies, and other works vary a little between style guides. President of the united states, chief justice of the united states, mayor. This post outlines the recommendations for when to use uppercase letters for words referring to cardinal directions, and when to employ lowercase letters.
Note that american english has different rules about the use of quotation marks. Associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Do capitalize cardinal directions do not spell out numbers do avoid abbreviations do not drop leading zeros do spell out measurement abbreviations description dos and do nots. Capitalization packetdo your students need practice with capital letters capitalization. Should the cardinal directions be capitalized when used as. Example exception do not capitalize directions when used as compass directions. For example, the chicago manual of style wants southerner to be lowercase, and the. Powered by create your own unique website with customizable templates. The watershed science bulletin the bulletin uses the chicago manual of style 15th edition.
It contains clear explanations for each rule with simple examples of correct sentences. Teach capitalization rules with this simple activity for kids in first, second, and third grade. Part of the problem is there are times you do and times you dont, and sometimes the difference between the two isnt readily apparent. It is impossible to give rules that will cover every conceivable prob lem in capitalization, but, by considering the purpose to be served and the underlying. The directions capitalize north, south, east, and west when contained in the name of a place state, country, etc. Compass directions compass directions and the terms that are derived from them south, southern are lowercased when they are referring to direction or location. Capitalize a title used alone or following a persons name if it refers to a high official or someone you wish to show respect.
A descriptive term used to denote mere direction or position is not a proper name. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides. Pointers for writing about compass directions law firm web. When youre naming a region, directions are capitalized. Jul 10, 2019 this guide to capitalization rules is especially for esl students. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. This packet will help your students to learn and remember all of the times that they sh. So, in this post, well introduce the basic rule and go though a number of different examples of putting it to use. Kwl chart journey of the compass rose town map worksheet cardinal directions state directions. Rules for capitalization here are the main ideas to remember about capitalization. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item.
If you want a pure capitalization list for the children to copy, they can learn to capitalize and spell the names of common companies by going to our check writing page to see how to write the names we would put in checks. Capitalization draws the readers attention to names, titles, and more. Capitalization day 12 cardinal directions esl worksheet. Nov 21, 2011 there are many rules when it comes to capitalization.
One hint, although its not 100% definitive, is that if you can put the word the in front of the name, its often capitalized. In general, capitalize nouns and adjectives that refer to a special, oneofakind person, place, or thing and words that begin sentences, quotations, or titles. The first letter of the first word in a new sentence. Jun, 2016 when it comes to the question of directions, theres often quite a bit of confusion as to whether or not you should capitalize the directions north, south, east and west. On a side note, the directions in the title of this article are capitalized due to headline capitalization rules even though they merely indicate direction. The first word in the greeting and closing of letters. Use initial caps when using the directions to designate a geographic area but not when referring to the cardinal directions. Grammar, punctuation, and capitalization idconline. Simple rules for capitalizing proper nouns and writing the pronoun i in capital letters are helpful, but they dont provide clear answers for every situation. Guidelines for capitalization in general, capitalize nouns and adjectives that refer to a special, oneofakind person, place, or thing and words that begin sentences, quotations, or titles.
When to capitalize words for points of the compass by mark nichol. Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase. In general, when a direction is a description, its lowercase, and when its the name of something, its capitalizedbut there. According to state and national standards, by the time students enter the second grade, they are expected to know and understand the basic rules of english grammar, and to. Some of them you use so often that you never even question them, like capitalizing your name. Examples we have had three relatives visit from the south. Here is a detailed guide to capitalization rules especially created for esl students. Whether you capitalize directions like south and southwest depends on the context. This handout is designed to help with the rules of capitalization. The rules governing the capitalization of letters in written english are as follows.
Rule 7 capitalize points of the compass only when they refer to specific regions. Capitalization and punctuation rules mesa, arizona. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs even short ones, like is, all adjectives, and all proper nouns. Some rules are so troublesome to remember that not only do english language learners frequently mix them up, native speakers do too. Do not capitalize general references to places river, park, city, college, hotel the following stars and planets.
Capitalize the first word of every sentence see emboldened letter of first word of this sentence, and every new line. Clicking on any of the following links will give you access to printable worksheets. The style guide is intended to be read as an interactive pdf, where it can. There is a general rule on when to capitalize directions and regions, but it can get a little confusing when you actually put it into practice. I am designing save the date cards for my wedding and i would like to let guests know the approximate location of the wedding so plans can be made of outofstate guests, if necessary. For example, atlanta, new orleans, and nashville are all in the south, not the south. Northeast, west, midwest, southwest, north pole, north island words that indicate directions do not begin with a capital letter. Below are six important rules for using capitalization in your writing. When to capitalize directional words esl library blog. Most students understand that they should begin a sentence with a capital letter. However, the most common mistakes occur with national adjectives and the names of languages.
We all know that capitalization rules, but sometimes our kids always seem to forget where and when to use a capital letter. Grammar and mechanics guidelines for capitalization. Hundred years of solitude one hundred years capitalization rules cardinal directions getting up early english study in writing trust me betrayal. English and the names of all other languages like french, german. Like all punctuation, capitalization is a key element to proper writing but it best when not overused. Many geographical designations include north, south, east, or west, or combined forms such as northwest, as part of their names. Capitalization capitalization of words can often be tricky and confusing. The capitalization of a word meaning its first letter is in the upper case often depends upon its context and placement within a sentence. When these are official locations labeled on maps, they are always styled with initial capitalization unless. Capitalize the points of a compass only when they refer to specific regions. Capitalize proper nounsand adjectives derived from proper nouns. Proper nouns and proper adjectives are always capitalized.
In this lesson, you will learn rules for capitalization of letters in written english. In compass points unless used geographically rather than as directions. Appendix a provides guidelines for various languages, and instructions for types of words titles. Others may say that there are only three rules, and they are also correct. Browse other questions tagged adjectives capitalization propernouns or. For example, they sailed throughout the eastern baltic. The rules of capitalization in english can be quite confusing. According to state and national standards, by the time students enter the second grade, they are.
Capitalize points of the compass only when they refer to specific regions. In general, when a direction is a description, its lowercase, and when its the name of something, its capitalizedbut there are exceptions. Capitalize peoples names and nicknames ted johnson, bubba, dad. Capitalization is one of the most basic and important elements of writing. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location. Generally, proper nouns refer to specific people, places, things, pets, organizations, etc. The directions on the cards ask the students to write only the words to be capitalized. This document highlights the major instructions and policy statements. Mar 12, 2012 rules for capitalization vary by country, language and word usage. Capitalization also marks the start of new sentences and. First of all, youre correct that most companies would capitalize the directional word in a job title. Always capitalize the letter i when it is used to refer to yourself. Always capitalize names of religions and religious groups, god and other deities, names of religious books, first, last, and important words of book, movie, and magazine titles, names of companies, titles of specific people, names of cities and states, continents, names of.
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