Capitalization, although not an actual punctuation mark, is
a key feature in writing. It has two main jobs:
·
to emphasize the importance of words
·
to signal the beginning of a new sentence.
There are many cases in which you need to capitalize
letters. Capitalize:
1. The
first word of every sentence.
2. The
letter "I" used as a singular, first-person, subjective personal
pronoun.
3. All
proper nouns (specific people, places, etc.)
4. Words
in titles-- the first word and major words are capitalized, but shorter,
unimportant words, such as articles or prepositions, are not capitalized.
For example, in the title “The
Book of Everything”, the first word is capitalized, although it is only an
article. The major words, “Book” and “Everything” are also capitalized; but the
unimportant preposition “of” is not capitalized.
5. Titles
given to people (Dr., Mr., Mrs., etc.)
6. Words
that are usually common nouns but are being used as proper nouns in names--such
as aunt, uncle, sister (usually family or relatives of the subject).
For example, consider the
following sentence: "We are going to Ohio over Spring break to visit
Grandpa." Here, “Grandpa” is being used as a specific name, which is a
proper noun. Therefore, it is capitalized.
7.
Acronyms (a group of letters that usually stands for a name of a company
or organization). For example, NASA, FBI, and CIA are all acronyms for
organizations, so they are capitalized.