Capitalization rules

Test your knowledge

Capital letters are used with particular types of nouns, in certain positions in sentences, and with some adjectives. You must always use capital letters for:

The beginning of a sentence

Examples
  • Dogs are noisy.
  • Children are noisy too.

The first person personal pronoun, I

Examples
  • Yesterday, I went to the park.
  • He isn't like I am.

Names and titles of people

Examples
  • Winston Churchill
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • the Queen of England
  • the President of the United States
  • the Headmaster of Eton
  • Doctor Mathews
  • Professor Samuels

Titles of works, books, movies

Examples
  • War and Peace
  • The Merchant of Venice
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Spider Man II

Months of the year

Examples
  • January
  • July
  • February
  • August

Days of the week

Examples
  • Monday
  • Friday
  • Tuesday
  • Saturday

Holidays

Examples
  • Christmas
  • Easter
  • New Year's Day
  • Thanksgiving Day

Names of countries and continents

Examples
  • America
  • England
  • Scotland
  • China

Names of regions, states, districts

Examples
  • Sussex
  • California
  • Provence
  • Tuscany

Names of cities, towns, villages

Examples
  • London
  • Cape Town
  • Florence
  • Vancouver

Names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes

Examples
  • the Atlantic
  • the Pacific
  • Lake Victoria
  • the Rhine
  • the Thames

Names of geographical formations

Examples
  • the Himalayas
  • the Alps
  • the Sahara

Adjectives relating to nationality

Examples
  • French music
  • Australian animals
  • German literature
  • Arabic writing

Collective nouns for nationalities

Examples
  • the French
  • the Germans
  • the Americans
  • the Chinese

Language names

Examples
  • I speak Chinese.
  • He understands English.

Names of streets, buildings, parks

Examples
  • Park Lane
  • Sydney Opera House
  • Central Park
  • the Empire State Building
  • Wall Street
Test your knowledge