C apitalization in the apital C The Capitol Building

Writers need to know when to capitalize.

Rule #1 A lways capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence.

Rule #2 Capitalize Proper Nouns People Places Things Including product names

Name Examples: John Quincy Adams Dwight D. Eisenhower Capitalize the full name including first, middle and last names. John Quincy Adams Dwight D. Eisenhower Ronald Wilson Reagan

Don’t forget… Amelia Mary Earhart Capitalize first, middle and last name too! your Hello My name is: Hello Amelia Mary Earhart

Place Examples: National Mall White House

Constitution of the United States Thing Examples: Potomac River Vietnam Veterans Memorial Constitution of the United States

Event Examples: The Civil War March on Washington Burning of Washington

Capitalize Initials Too! Washington D.C. General Robert E. Lee

Honestly, I always capitalize “I” in a sentence. Rule #3 Always capitalize the pronoun “I” Honestly, I always capitalize “I” in a sentence.

“I” Examples: Also capitalize contractions with “I” I’m I’d I’ll I’ve

Rule #4 Always capitalize dates. July 4

Date Examples: Wednesday Monday Tuesday December October November Days of the week Months of the year Holidays Wednesday Monday Tuesday December October November Independence Day Thanksgiving

Capitalize Abbreviations Too! Days of the week Months of the year Weds. Mon. Tues. Dec. Oct. Nov.

President of the United States of America Rule #5 Capitalize important words in a title President of the United States of America

Title Examples: Book Titles Movie Titles Song Article Titles Titles U.S. History Song Titles Article Titles

he ournal of ajor eorge ashington Don’t forget… Always capitalize the first and last words of a title. w W r. mith oes to ashington g s m M A a merica the eautiful B b he ournal of ajor eorge ashington T t m g j W w

Capitalize all of the words except: Articles: a an the Conjuctions: and but or so nor Prepostitions: at by for in of on to up

he ournal ajor eorge ashington Don’t forget… Capitalize everything else except for articles, conjunctions and prepositions. to to W r. mith oes ashington G g s S M A merica eautiful the the B he ournal ajor eorge ashington T J of of m M G g j W

Capitalization in the Capital - Rules #1 Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence. #2 Capitalize the first letter of proper nouns. Capitalize the first letter of first, middle and last names of people. Also capitalize initials. Capitalize places, events and things using rule #5 for titles. #3 Capitalize the pronoun “I”. Also capitalize the “I” in I’d, I’ve, I’m or I’ll. #4 Capitalize months, days of the week and holidays. #5 Capitalize important words in titles. Always capitalize the first letter of the first and last words in a title. Then capitalize all of the words except for the following: Articles: a an the Conjuctions: and but or so nor Prepostitions: at by for in of on to up