Capitalization

Capitalization means that the first letter of a word is written in uppercase letters (capitals) and the rest of the word in lowercase letters. Capitalization is used for the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, proper adjectives, well known important objects, days of the week and months of the year, institutions, headings and publication titles, languages and nationalities, and personal titles (honorifics).

Proper nouns include:

• Personal names: Fred Flintstone, Tom, Dick and Harry.
• Objects: The Eiffel Tower, The Rosetta Stone, The Hubble Space Telescope.
• Geographical names: Africa, Angola, Amsterdam.
• Institutions: The World Health Organization, The United Nations, The European Union.

Other nouns and noun phrases not considered proper nouns but which are capitalized:

• Days of the week, months of the year and holidays: Friday, August, Independence Day
• Commercial products, organisations and brands: Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Steinway, Fender
• Titles and Headings: A Tale of Two Cities, Lucky Jim
• Titles and Honorifics: Mr., Doctor, Captain, Professor.
• Languages and nationalities: French, Arabic, Chinese.
• Scientific names ( binomial nomenclature ): Aquila chrysaetos ( Golden Eagle ), Ranunuculus acris (Meadow Buttercup)

Examples

• People from Indianapolis use English differently than people from Alaska or Georgia.
• AmericanProper adjective (nationality) English sounds and works differently than the English spoken in England Jamaica or India .
• At the end of the mission, on Friday, September 15, 2017, Cassini dived into Saturn's atmosphere.
• You Tube, Instagram and TikTok are built using the same rules, or protocols, developed by Cerf and Berners-Lee.
• During the decade, the United Nations General Assembly recognised access to water and sanitation as a human right.
• Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been retold many times.
• It was built by physics Professor John Vincent AtanasoffProper noun (personal name) and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, in 1942 at Iowa State College, now known as Iowa State Uiversity.
• There's also the Eastern honey bee ( Apis cerana) which is managed by beekeepers in rural and remote areas throughout Southeast Asia.

Notes:

You may occasionaly see a capital letter in the middle of a word but these are exceptions to the rule. There are three examples on this page: YouTube, TikTok and Berners-Lee. The first two are brand names, which often contain oddities such as odd capitalization or the inclusion of numerals or unusual typefaces, all with the object of drawing attention. "iPhone" is another example. Berners-Lee is an example of a double-barrelled surname, in this case a hyphenated compound surname.