1. A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, thing, or idea. A proper adjective
is formed from a proper noun. Capitalize both proper nouns and proper adjectives.
Mr. Smith
Italy
Persian Cats
African Art
You Try:
a. The hittites were the earliest known inhabitants of turkey.
b. The vedas are the ancient scriptures of the Indian religion known as hinduism.
2. Capitalize people’s names, initials, titles, and abbreviations for titles. Also capitalize Jr. and
Sr. after names and a title used without a person’s name if it refers to a head of state or to
someone in an important position.
Dr. Haplan
Cassandra Henry Jr.
Prime Minister
Queen Elizabeth
You Try:
a. Which premier of Ontario gave his name to a library?
b. Ms. martin is studying for a masters degree.
3. Capitalize titles indicating family relationships used as names or parts of names, but not
titles used as common nouns.
Uncle Jim
Grandma Dina
You Try:
a. I have five aunts, but my favourite is aunt Linda.
b. His grandfather, grandpa earl, was the best grandpa in the world.
4. Capitalize the names of races, languages, nationalities, and religions, and any adjectives
formed from these names.
Irish monks
Latin texts
You Try:
a. The koran is the sacred book of the muslims.
b. Is that the rabbi who is an expert in italo-jewish history?
Christianity
5. Capitalize all words referring to God, the Holy Family, and religious scriptures, as well as
any personal pronouns referring to God. Always capitalize the pronoun I.
Thy blessings
Mother Mary
God the Father
You Try:
a. “The lord is my shepherd” - psalm 23.
b. We read the bible to learn about the story of jesus our saviour.
6. In hyphenated compound words, capitalize the parts that are capitalized when they stand
alone.
anti-American
You Try:
a. My mother collects pre-confederation antiques.
pro-Communist