Capitalization

When to Use Capital Letters

Capital letters signal the beginning of a sentence or identify something specific and important.

Always Capitalise

The first word of a sentence: The sun rose slowly.

Proper nouns — specific names of people, places, and things:

• People: Shakespeare, Marie Curie, Barack Obama
• Places: London, the Amazon River, Mount Everest
• Days and months: Monday, January (but not seasons: spring, autumn)
• Languages and nationalities: English, French, Nigerian
• Specific organisations: the United Nations, Oxford University

Titles

Capitalise the first and last words of a title, plus all major words. Do not capitalise short prepositions (of, in, on), articles (a, an, the), or coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or) unless they're the first or last word.

✅ To Kill a Mockingbird ✅ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Common Mistakes

❌ She studied english and science. → ✅ She studied English and science. ❌ We met the president. → ✅ We met President Obama. (when used as a title before a name)