FAQs
What to capitalize in a title
- Always capitalize the first word as well as all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. ...
- Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should not be capitalized. ...
- Capitalize the first element in a hyphenated compound. ...
- Capitalize both elements of spelled-out numbers or simple fractions.
What words do you not capitalize in an essay title? ›
If all else fails and you don't have a reference guide to help, a good rule to follow is to capitalize all words in a title. Exceptions include the following: a, an, and, as, at, but, by, for, in, nor, of, on, or, the, and up. Again, this trick holds true unless they're the beginning or ending words in the title.
What title is capitalized correctly? ›
According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. You'd also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are.
Do I capitalize my job title in a sentence? ›
That's your quick and dirty tip: capitalize job titles when they come before a name and are an official title, and lowercase job titles when they come after a name or are merely descriptive.
What is an example of a title case? ›
In title case, the first letter of each word in the title should be capitalized except for certain small words like “a,” “the,” and “of.” Example: Title case I read The Catcher in the Rye yesterday.
Which words are not always capitalized? ›
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs all need to be capitalized in titles as well. Small words like articles and prepositions are generally lowercased, unless they're the first word in a title.
Can you capitalize not in a title? ›
Do you capitalize the word not in a title? As an adverb, the word not is capitalized across all style guides.
Which of the following words should be capitalized? ›
Proper nouns should always be capitalized.
- Names of people. ...
- Names of places. ...
- Names of companies and trademarks. ...
- Capitalize honorary and professional titles. ...
- Capitalize familial relationships. ...
- Capitalize major words in a title. ...
- Capitalize days, months, and (sometimes) seasons. ...
- Capitalize holidays.
What do you capitalize in headline style? ›
Under AP Style: Capitalize only the first word of your headline and all proper nouns or abbreviations; all other words should be lowercase (e.g. “The people making North Dakota's future bright”). Use numerals for all numbers (e.g. “3 ways to write headlines” as opposed to “Three ways to write headlines”).
What does it mean to capitalise a word? ›
Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term also may refer to the choice of the casing applied to text.
Capitalize a person's title when it precedes the name. Do not capitalize when the title is acting as a description following the name.
What noun must always be capitalized? ›
Proper nouns are always capitalized in English, no matter where they fall in a sentence. Because they endow nouns with a specific name, they are also sometimes called proper names.
When to capitalize principal? ›
Keep in mind that principal should only be capitalized if it's part of someone's title (or if it's at the beginning of a sentence). “Principal” can refer to someone who runs a school. Principal can also refer to anyone who is in a leading position. Gilbert is the director and principal of the consulting agency.
What words are not capitalized in a title in MLA? ›
Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), or the words to and as unless such a word is the first or last word in the title or subtitle.
Do you capitalize after a hyphen in a title? ›
If you are using title case, the word immediately preceding the hyphen should be capitalized. The word following the hyphen is capitalized, unless it is an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction.
What to capitalize in a title APA? ›
Capitalize only the first word of a book or article title. Capitalize proper nouns, initials, and acronyms in a title. Separate a subtitle with a colon and a space. Capitalize the first letter of the subtitle.