I suspect the increased use of SMS and chat shorthand is a major factor, but it seems that many people aren’t sure about when to use capital letters in their writing. So here is a quick summary of when to use a capital letter:
- for the word I – this word must always be written as a capital letter, to do otherwise looks out of place and attracts attention to the lack of attention to detail. As part of an SMS message, I might accept it, but I leave websites where they repeatedly use a lower case i
- to start a sentence – this helps make it clear it is a new sentence and this in turn makes it easier to understand the message and individual ideas
- for all proper nouns – that is, any word that is the name of something specific for example Tash, Melbourne, Australia, Australians and Word Constructions. It does not include generic names such as mothers, business owners, writers, city or students.* Note that the word I is actually a proper noun so my first point is covered here but it was worth a separate point!
- in acronyms – where just the first letter of each word is used to represent the name of something. For instance, the ATO represents the Australian Tax Office and ASAP represents as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if the full title uses capitals or not, acronyms generally use capitals (sometimes a business may choose to brand themselves with a lower case acronym)
- the start of speech, even if it is not the start of a sentence. For example, she said “We must pay attention to the use of capital letters.”
- days of the week and names of months, as well as names of specific periods of history (e.g. the Second World War, the Depression)
- titles of books, articles, movies and so on can be written in title case (e.g. Full Moon Rising) or just with a starting capital letter (e.g. Confessions of a supermom)
Capitals letters are sometimes also used within names (e.g. AvSuper, MacGregor), in scientific terminology (e.g. E. Coli, Eucalyptus, cyclone Tracy) and where two words have been abbreviated into one (e.g. eLearning.)
There are variations in some of these rules, especially if you travel to another country but using these guidelines will avoid any major errors!
* The use of a generic noun as a proper noun requires a capital letter, too. So while mothers is written in lower case, a capital letter applies in the following sentence: Mary said “Hello Mother. How are you?” Likewise, you may write about a library (generic) or the Ashburton Library (specific).
Tags: acronyms, capital, generic, letters, names, nouns, proper, scientific, sentences, start, title
[...] general rules for the use of capital letters obviously still apply, as does the annoyance of over using capitals. For the above example, I added [...]
Do you use capitals when writing the name of a subject i.e. John was a teacher of mathematics.
Yes, when mathematics is treated as the name of a subject, it becomes a proper noun. Eg: I am a Mathematics Teacher
You are incorrect stating mathematics is a PROPER noun. It is a noun. It is only when the noun is a proper noun one applies the capital letter – e.g.
University of WA.
However, if the departments are to be referred to individually – the department would take the subject noun i.e. mathematics, and when ASSOCIATED with the proper noun i.e. the name of the university, then it becomes the University of WA, Mathematics Department. Sadly, you will always be a mathematics teacher…no proper nouns there my dear any more than there are in doctor. We are just plain old whatevers as much as the recycling engineer, the gardener, the seamstress…
Sorry if I burst your bubble.
Thanks for joining in Lynette. Amy wasn’t correct when she stated mathematics is a proper noun (as I pointed out on the same day she made that comment) but I appreciate she was trying to help Kathryn. NO bubbles burst for me…
Languages always have a capital letter (English, Indonesian, French, etc) as do abbreviations (eg IT, PE) but generally other subjects will have a lower case letter.
If you are talking generally about a subject (e.g. “I like science” or “I find maths interesting”), it is a common noun with a lower case letter.
If you are talking specifically about a named subject/course (e.g. Maths 101, Science for Vets), it is a title and needs a capital letter(s).
Some examples:
My timetable includes maths, science, English, art and Local Geography. Mrs Smith is usually a maths teacher, but I have her for science next term. I have a maths test tomorrow and am doing an assignment for Applied Maths.
I hope that helps Kathryn… and thanks for reading my blog!
Sorry tashword – you blew it with local geography (I presume that is what you meant, not georgaphy).
If you need clarification on any of this I can recommend some great books which embrace the advances of English into the 21st century.
Happy to give you the titles and authors and these authors are all great literary scholars.
One ONLY uses a capital letter for a PROPER PRONOUN.
hi Lynette, I have now corrected a simple typo – thanks for pointing it out as I make errors despite my best intentions. I have many books on English use already thanks, and utilise that knowledge to help people who ask questions here (I think you are confusing some of those questions with my writing).
And I have to disagree – capital letters are used for more than proper pronouns, they are also used for proper nouns, acronyms and so forth as outlined in my original post.
Thanks for your input Amy.
Do you use a capital letter with regard to a person’s role? For example, should it be “John’s Pre-School Teacher is Miss Smith” or “John’s pre-school teacher is Miss Smith”? I think it may be the first example but am unsure.
When referring to that same person later, is the following, the correct way of writing it? “I asked the pre-school teacher to note any change.” or should it be, “I asked the Pre-School Teacher to note any change.”
There are a lot of conflicting opinions at my place of work.
Many thanks for your response.
When using a term generically, it is always lower case – “All teachers undergo training.”
If using a term as part of someone’s name (e.g. “hello Professor Taylor” or “There is Mayor Silver”) then the title takes a capital letter.
When writing about a specific person’s job title, however, using lower case letters is increasingly common. So we write “Jill Taylor, professor of history, met with Sean Silver, Mayor of Anytown, to discuss the parade.”
There are some major exceptions, mainly relating to national roles (so we write about the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer for instance,) and some comapanies will include capitals as part of their corporate style (e.g. “Our Company has a Managing Director in Melbourne.”)
With the trend towards minimal capitalisation, and the greater ease of reading from that trend, I would write ‘I asked the pre-school teacher to note any change.” However, using Teacher in this context is not technically wrong.
Note that pre-school is describing the title so it really doesn’t need a capital (compare to local teacher or young teacher) unelss it deseves a capital in its own right (such as the Australian teacher or the English teacher.)
P.S. Apologies for taking so long to reply to, Tania, and I hope this answer helps!
What about Northern, Southern etc? I saw an extract from a news article that said ‘…northern Pasadena’ – my thinking is it should be a capital ‘N’ – Northern Pasadena. Correct or doesn’t it matter?
If it is part of a place name, then Northern (or North) should have a capital letter.
If you are describing a location (e.g. “we will be travelling in southern Tasmania”) then a small letter is used.
However, if you are talking about heading a particular direction, it does’t require a capital. Abbreviations of directions are capitalised (N, S, E and W.)
So… My house is east of the park in South Melbourne.
Hello there, very nice blog you have! I’m really impressed to see someone keeping good grammar alive – thanks.
[...] A few months ago someone asked me (as a comment in a blog post) about capitalising the words in a job title. [...]
When using the generic “government”, when a government agency is writing about its objectives, should it use a capital letter, as it is the name of its employer? eg ‘ Advise government on property matters’ and ‘Manage properties of government agencies’
Think of it as any other noun – use a capital letter if it is part of a proper noun but not if using it as a generic or common noun.
So “the Victorian Government declared a public holiday” and “the students reviewed a government policy in class”. Even federal government doesn’t need a capital letter as it is descriptive rather than a title. ‘Commonwealth’ however, when referring to the Commonwealth of Australia, is always capitalised.
[...] use capital letters for things that need them – names and places need capitals but most toys [...]
Hi
When writing a report for a student should writing, math or spelling be capitalised? e.g In Writing, Sam is starting to … , he has made steady progress with his spelling, In Measurement, Sam was able …
As explained above, Candy, a subject as such doesn’t need a capital but the name of a specific course does.
John does well with spelling in his English Literature class.
[...] suit my brand, and it isn’t always easy to find a relevant picture when you write about capital letters or pairs of misused [...]
How about council versus the specific local Council and where we have a local manufacturing mill, is it mill or or the more specific Mill?
thanks Pam
Hi Pam,
again, the generic term has a lower case letter and a specific name ues a capital letter. So…
Attendances are recorded in council minutes. The school tour included a trip to a local mill. Our rubbish is collected by Somewhere Council every Monday afternoon. I work at the Perth Mill in Anytown.
Thanks tashword. Does that also apply to the council chambers in the town? it would be lower case usually, but the Anytown Council Chambers?
Yes, you use capitals if it is part of a name so Anytown Council Chambers is correct when all 3 words are used together.
So does the word “court” as in the place where criminals go, need a capital letter if it’s just written by itself. I would use a capital if I was to write “Parramatta Local Court” but does it really need a capital letter on its own? As in “I went to court”. Say you use the word 10 times in a letter, wouldn’t it look silly? It is the same as writing “bank” isn’t it? You’d use a capital for “National Australia Bank” but not just for the word “bank”. Or would you?
You are correct – going to court does not need a capital letter but the name of a specific place (e.g. Parramtta Court) would have a capital C.
ok, i have heard when you write an sms with capital letters, in other way it means you’re shouting to the person you’re sending to. does that make sense?
Hi Manu,
using unnecessary captial letters in emails, SMS and other online communications is considered to be shouting. In other words, if I am angry with you I could type in capital letters to emphasise it. This would generally be full words and possibly full sentences rather than just a first letter though; using capitals correctly (for example writing about the ATO or EPA, or using the terms RSVP or ASAP) is not considered shouting.
so if you refer to a specific court at the start of a letter, do you need to use a capital letter when referring to it later on in the letter as “the Court” or would you refer to it as “the court”?
‘court’ is always used in lower case unless it is the name of somewhere e.g. Leeds County Court.
Thanks for adding another voice of correct capital use, Boobbyleeds.
Confused, Bobbyleads is correct – and my apologies for missing your question when you first asked it.
Hi,
COnfused about the use of words such as thank-you, thanks mid sentence. For example – Received your gift with thanks. Should the thanks have a capital?
Thanks very much
Matt
Thanks for the question Matt
Unless at the start of a sentence or speech, thanks and thank-you do not have a capital letter.
I have to type medical letters and wasn’t sure when to use capitals for (?)anaesthetists or (?)surgeons, eg “As an (?)anaesthetist my use of a
(?)femoral nerve block with (?)surgeon Dr Getwell.”
Your example is correct Helen – ‘an anaesthetist’ is a common noun so has a lower case and ‘surgeon’ is used as an adjective for Dr Getwell.
Really useful post – and all the answers to these comments, too! I started following your blog about a month ago and I like your honesty. Good example to emulate.
Thanks for your kind words, and I hope you find my blog useful. I like to consider myself honest and I am flatterd you think I should be copied.
Interesting blog. I have a proposed screenshot for a application that says
…. on 1234356 (Australia) , 12344321 (New Zealand) or +612345678 (international).
It seems to me that “international” should be “International” – but I am not sure ?
Sorry to not reply sooner Nigel, but thank you for your post.
It is an interesting question and I agree that International looks better in this situation than international given the other describers start with a capital letter. There really is no need for it to be a capital, however.
I think this is one of those times when what is right and what looks right are not the same, and either would be acceptable as long as you stay consistent.
Hi,
When talking of ‘marriage’ as an institution should it written with a capital M or just the normal small case? For example, Many couples are treating marriage as an experiment today. Should it be Marriage?
Thanks.
Hi Kaveri, I would always write marriage with a lower case. It is a common noun like arrangement, contract or partnership.
Dear sir,
Could please to tell me blew the sentance where wrong?
I hope dad will not be too sad.
Hi Jonathon – I’m not a sir and using my name (Tash) is just fine
Any proper noun (which includes names like Dad) need to have a capital letter so your sentence should be ‘I hope Dad will not be too sad.’
Hi Tashword. Just love this site. I write a lot of blogs and articles and my husband is a grammar and punctuation Nazi who often pulls me up on things such as capital letters, and inverted commas usage.
The random comments you are receiving are infact spam. i.e. Jonathon, smart flying travel tips: I get them all the time on my blog. You should delete them.
Could you please help me. I am writing an article about mentoring. Should the mentoree and the mentor, be lower case or upper case? In a piece talking about a specific mentor story, should the mentor still be lower case or would it be upper? i.e. the Mentor OR The Mentor or the mentor?
Thanks so much for your feedback. Great job!
Hi Carolyn, and thank you for commenting with so many nice things
I do recognise spam – 100s get deleted form here weekly, but as Jonathon asked a relevant quetsion without addig any links I gave him the benefit of the doubt because my answer may help others anyway.
I would just use mentor and mentoree as you are writing about general terms rather than proper nouns – even if you are writing something like “John’s mentor suggested he start a blog”. Mentor usually refers to Odysseus’ friend which is where the word mentor (as we know it) originated.
[...] Style guides and related documents sometimes specify a system of capital letter use. [...]
This is very useful. Some times means while chatting with the friends we don’t taken care of the word format that means actually we have to start with capital letters this is the actual procedure.. This capital letter where to use is important..
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Arrow
Thanks for joining in Arrow. Using capitals correctly does help your message get through, and gives a good impression, too.
Amazing blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own business but don’t know where to start – do I need a website or just a blog? Do I need to know as much as you do – you give so much grammar, writing and marketing stuff in this blog is it amazing!
Thanks for those lovely words, Tracy.
To answer your questions, yes you need a website – all businesses do now days but especially a writer so you can showcase your skills and knowledge. A blog is a website really, and a website can be powered by a blog so the difference is blurry. The ideal for any business will depend on your budget, technical skills and intentions for the site. As a writer, a blog is a great way to demonstrate you can write.
If you don’t know much about writing, grammar, communications and good English, then why should anyone pay you to write for them? A professional writer must have a certain level of knowledge but whether my level is ideal I can’t say – it works for me and my clients.
AMongst my communcaitins services, I do offer advice on setting up business communications and I coach new writers/business people. So if you would like personalised answers, Tracy, please get in touch directly.
I work in retail and often email customers who require information. With regards to capital letters if i was writing “We stock Kingsmill Bread.”, is this the correct format or should bread be in lowercase?
hi Simon.
If the product name is Kingsmill Bread then both words may well be capitalised but if the brand if Kingsmill and their product is bread, you would write Kingsmill bread.
If you write similar emails to customers all the time, have you thought of making some standard emails to save yourself time?