Proper capitalization is a simple, but important part of making your writing look professional and well-crafted. Here are the places where capital letters are required in English.
To begin sentences.
- You have to make sure your writing is free of errors.
For the pronoun, I.
- Graham and I play tennis every weekend.
Proper nouns
Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, organizations, and products.
- Did you visit the Golden Gate Bridge when you were in San Francisco?
- The Supreme Court ruled that the Canadian company had violated Starbucks’ copyright.
Family relationships
These are capitalized only when they are used as proper names.
- I sent a thank you note to Aunt Abigail, but not to my other aunts.
- Here is a present I bought for Dad.
The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books.
- The holy book of Islam is called The Qu'ran.
- Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God.
- Zeus, Hera, and Apollo were all Greek gods.
Titles preceding names
Capitals are unnecessary when the title is not attached to a name.
- Doctor Abrams entered the room.
- It takes many years of schooling to become a doctor.
Directions that are names
North, South, East, and West are also capitalized when used as sections of a country, but not when used as compass directions.
- That family has moved to the Southwest.
- We are going two kilometres north of the city.
Days of the week, months, holidays, but not seasons.
- Christmas falls on a Monday this year.
- January is the middle of winter in Canada, but in Brazil, it’s the middle of summer.
Countries, nationalities, and languages
- Many people in Wales can speak both Welsh and English.
- Do you have any books about Japanese culture?
The major words in titles
We do not capitalize the short prepositions or the articles, "a", "an", or "the" in a title unless they are the first word of the title.
- One of his favourite books is The Catcher in the Rye.
School Subjects
We capitalize the names of specific school subjects, but not general academic subjects, unless they are also languages.
- I decided to take Psychology 222 even though I didn't much enjoy psychology when I was in high school.
- More young people are taking Chinese classes than ever before.