Grammar Capitalization
Cap ital letters help read ers recognize the beginnings of com p lete sentences and d istingu ish betw een
p rop er and comm on nou ns.
PROPER VS . COMMON N OUN S
Most often, a w ord is cap italized based on w hether it is a common or proper noun. Proper nouns are the
nam es of sp ecific peop le, p laces, organizations, things, etc. They shou ld alw ays be cap italized . On the
other hand , comm on nou ns nam e general p eop le, p laces, things, id eas, etc. and are not cap italized . The
follow ing table lists p rop er nou ns and related com m on nou ns:
PROPER N OUN S
God (as a nam e)
Book of Job
Salt Lake Tribune
Renaissance
Aunt Claire
Mother
Utah Valley State College
History 1010
Central Intelligence Agency
John F. Kenned y
Microsoft Access
COMMON N OUN S
a god
a sacred book
a new spaper
the sixteenth century
m y aunt
m y m other
a college
history
a fed eral agency
a form er presid ent
a d atabase
N ote the follow ing ad d itional gu id elines for id entifying p rop er nou ns:
TITLES
Peop le’s nam es and titles are p roper nou ns and shou ld be cap italized ; how ever, w hen u sed as
com m on nou ns, titles shou ld not be capitalized .
EXAMPLES: Professor Jenny Sm ith (p rop er)
a p rofessor (com m on)
General Colin Pow ell (p rop er)
a general (comm on)
REGION AL N AMES
Most geograp hic names, includ ing those of specific r egions or sections of a cou ntry, are p rop er nou ns
and shou ld be cap italized . Card inal d irections, how ever, are com m on nou ns and are not capitalized .
EXAMPLES: I visited the Mid d le East last sp ring for vacation.
Drive sou th on Highw ay 15 for 10 m iles; then go east on University Street.
BRAN D N AMES
Because brand nam es are p rop er nou ns, they shou ld be cap italized . How ever, general p rod uct nam es
shou ld not be cap italized .
EXAMPLES: Kleenex tissues, Xerox m achine, Coke, Jeep
U N ITS OF TIME
Cap italize d ays of the week, m onths, and holid ays.
EXAMPLES: Mond ay, Janu ary, Christm as
Do not cap italize seasons, school term s, acad em ic years, or centu ries.
EXAMPLES: su m m er, fall, w inter sem ester
senior year, the tw entieth centu ry
Utah Valley University Writing Center
Revised 12/15/2008
Grammar Capitalization
COMPUTER TERMS
Electronic sou rces are consid ered p rop er nou ns. Other com p u ter term s follow general ru les of
cap italization: cap italize brand nam es bu t not general p rod uct nam es.
EXAMPLES: Internet, World Wid e Web, Microsoft Word , w ord p rocessor
A CAD EMIC S UBJECTS
Acad em ic su bjects are consid ered com m on nouns, bu t langu ages and cou rse titles are p rop er nou ns.
EXAMPLES: chem istry, p hilosop hy (com m on)
Germ an, English, Philosop hy 1010 (p roper)
O THER G UID ELIN ES
Som e situ ations requ ire cap italization even if the w ord in question is not necessarily a p rop er nou n.
A CRON YMS
Cap italize acronym s created from cap italized word s.
EXAMPLES: AID S (Acqu ired Imm une D eficiency Synd rome)
FBI (Fed eral Bu reau of Investigation)
UVSC (Utah Valley State College)
BEGIN N IN G OF A S EN TEN CE
Cap italize the first w ord of a com p lete sentence.
EXAMPLE: My d og likes to go for w alks in the p ark. He chases d u cks near the river.
LETTER CLOSIN GS
Cap italize only the first w ord in the closing of a letter.
EXAMPLE: Sincerely,
All m y best w ishes,
PERSON AL PRON OUN I
Cap italize the pronou n I, even w hen it is u sed in a contraction.
EXAMPLES: I’ll bu y p izza for d inner becau se I d o not have anything else to eat.
PROPER A D JECTIVES
Ad jectives formed from p rop er nou ns shou ld be cap italized .
EXAMPLES: Italian d ressing, Sw ed ish m eatballs, Sp rite bottle
Q UOTES
Cap italize the first w ord in a d irect qu ote that is a com plete sentence.
EXAMPLE: Jam ie said , “When I read the new sp ap er everyd ay, I learn new information .”
Do not cap italize the first w ord of a qu ote w hen it is p art of the sentence that introd u ces it.
EXAMPLE: Accord ing to m y friend Jam ie, p eople that read the new sp ap er every d ay “learn new
inform ation.”
TITLES OF WORKS
Cap italize all m ain w ord s in titles of w orks, inclu d ing books, m agazine articles, film s, and songs.
EXAMPLES: I am read ing “Lau gh of the D ay” in Reader’s Digest.
N OTE: When you are uncertain w hether a w ord should be capitalized or not, consult a d ictionary, gram m ar hand book, or other text.
Utah Valley University Writing Center
Revised 12/15/2008