Capitalization
Does life get any better?
• 1. Capitalize the first letter of the first word
in every sentence.
• Examples:
• Every weekday I go to the teen center.
• We just got back from the mall.
• 2. Capitalize the first letter of the first word
in every quote.
• Examples:
• “How will we get home?” asked
Harmony.
•
•
“She can’t wait till the party!” said
Alyssa.
Fragmented Quotes
• “Not now,” said Ms. Verge. “Maybe later.”
Quoting from a story
• The air was “deadly cold” and the…
• No need to capitalize this since it wasn’t
capitalized in the story.
• 3. Capitalize the pronoun I.
• Examples:
• When I get home, I’m going to shower.
• 4. Capitalize the interjection O.
• Examples:
•
• Protect us in battle, O great Athena.
• When I get home, I’m going to shower.
• Capitalize the interjection O.
• Examples:
•
• Protect us in battle, O great Athena.
• Oh, our Mother the Earth.
• I think you are oh so great.
• Do not capitalize oh. Just O
Page 288 exercise 1
Capitalize Proper Nouns
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Examples:
Common Nouns
athlete
river
month
Proper Nouns
SherylSwoopes
Nile
February
Capitalize the names of persons
and animals.
• Examples:
• Given names
• Surnames
Sandoz
• Animals
Alice Franklin Christy
Walker Chang-Diaz
Trigger Socks Rover
Capitalize geographical names
Towns, Cities: Jamestown
Manor, San Diego,
• Counties, States
• Cook County Bedford County Tennessee
New Hampshire
• Islands Wake Island Isle of Wight Countries
Germany New Zealand
• Bodies of Water
• Lake Erie Kentucky River Tampa Bay Indian
Ocean
• Forests, Parks
• Tahoe National Forest Chimney Rock
ParkStreets,
• Highways
• Madison Avenue West Fourth Street Route 44
Interstate 75
• Mountains: Mount Washington Big Horn
Mountains
• Continents: Australia, Asia,
• North America, Africa
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Regions
West Coast
North Balkans Midwest
Other Geo. Names
Malay Peninsula Seneca Rocks
Suez Canal
Painted Desert Bering Strait
Dismal Swamp
• The birds fly south.
• I was driving in the East.
• I live on the West Coast
• A, an, the = capitalize West, South, North,
East
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Capitalize Proper Nouns
Nile
February
Nevada
• Capitalize geographical names.
• Jamestown
• New Zealand
• Route 44
• Capitalize a person’s title when the title
comes before the person’s name.
• Does Reverend Ward work here?
• Does a reverend work here?
• Is the patient resting, Nurse?
• Capitalize a word showing a family
relationship when the word is used before or
in place of a person’s name, unless the word
follows a possessive noun or pronoun.
• I received a letter from Aunt Cathie.
• When will Mom and Dad be home?
• Angela’s mother and my aunt Daphne coach
the girls’ softball team.
• Tammy’s mom and dad never came home.