When to Use Capital Letters - The Rules
This post provides some guidelines for using capital letters. 'Letter case' is the distinction between letters that are in larger 'upper case' (also called capital letters, capitals or caps) and smaller 'lower case' in written English. Basically, English letters have two parallel sets with each letter in one set having an equivalent in the other set. The two case variants are alternative representations of the same letter: a/A, b/B, c/C etc.
The alphabet in lower case and upper case.
There are many rules to be aware of when using capital letters. Use them in the following situations:
The first words of a sentence.
E.g. It was his birthday. He always went on his birthday.
The pronoun "I".
E.g. That was the last time I saw her.
Proper nouns (the names of specific people, places, organizations, and sometimes things).
E.g. I saw Jane in Topshop in London on Thursday.
The names of countries, nationalities, languages, cities and places.
E.g. The Spanish guy was from Granada, Spain. He spoke Spanish, English and German. He had travelled through Asia and Australia.
The first letter of words in titles of books, articles, headings etc. but not the articles and prepositions.
E.g. My favourite book is The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.
The days of the week, months and holidays but not seasons.
E.g. I will see you on the last Monday of March. It will be spring then. It will almost be Easter. My favourite month is December because of Christmas, however, I don't like winter.
The names of gods, religious figures and religious festivals.
E.g. I believe in God. I read the Bible daily.
Family relationships (only when used as names).
E.g. I asked Mum what she was doing. She is not my mum. I will call Aunt Helen.
Members of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups.
E.g. The Democrats, Kurdish people, the Suffragettes etc.
Directions (only when used as names).
E.g. She lives in Northern Wales. He lives in South London. Turn north at the end of the road.
Periods in time and events (but not century numbers).
E.g. The Cold War, The Victorian Era, The Great Depression, the sixteenth century.
Brand names.
Easyjet, Hilton, American Airlines etc.
Abbreviations (shortened words).
E.g. ASAP, RSVP, PS etc.
I hope this blog post was useful. If you think your friends would like it, please send it to them or share it on Facebook. Thank you.
Make sure you follow me on Instagram where I post daily videos.
I also provide Zoom classes for children and adults. Email me for more information.
If you have any questions at all, contact me at info@teatime-english.com
Good luck with your English!
