Capitalization
Capitalization rules are important to know. They will help you
understand when to use capital letters.
Capitalization Rules: Use capital letters
Rules
Capital letters are important
signals to what you are reading.
They indicate words that name
someone or something specific.
• to begin a sentence: The bus stopped at the bus stop.
• when using the pronoun “I”: They went home, but I stayed at the circus.
• in the names of people and places: Robert Caedens, Jeanette Geary, Toronto, Canada
• in the titles of books, movies, songs, and so on: Moonraker, Star Wars, “Jailhouse Rock”
• in titles used with names: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev., Prime Minister, Premier
• in family titles when used as names or parts of names: I called for Mom. Uncle Ed is here.
• in the names of specific places, such as planets, streets, geological formations, oceans, rivers, lakes: Mars,
Yonge Street, Mt. Everest, Atlantic Ocean, Mackenzie River, Lake Superior
• in the names of vehicles, such as cars, ships, spacecraft: Dodge, HMCS Haida, Voyager
• for languages, nationalities, religions: Cree, Canadian, Islam
• for businesses and groups: Corel Corporation, Math Club
• for historical events and documents: World War II, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• for days, months, special events, holidays: Monday, July, Tulip Festival, Christmas Day,
• for products, awards, courses of study: Macintosh computers (the noun following the product name does not
need to be capitalized), Juno Award, History
Use the capitalization rules to help you complete the following.
(a) Write the names of three rivers. _______________________________________________________________
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(b) Write the names of three lakes. _______________________________________________________________
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(c) Write the names of three streets you know. ______________________________________________________
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(d) Write the names of three countries. ____________________________________________________________
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(e) Write the names of three cereals you like. _______________________________________________________
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(f) Write the names of three TV shows you enjoy. ___________________________________________________
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Now, go to the next page for more practice using capitalization rules.
Capitalization
1.
Usage 1
Read these sentences. Check for capital letter usage. Circle any letters that should be capitalized. Rewrite the
corrected sentences.
(a) the spaceship freedom landed on one of jupiter’s moons, ganymede, last Thursday.
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(b) We quickly bought the new CD by our favourite singing group, lost flower children.
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(c) a very unhappy german shepherd dog wandered into our store on callisto street.
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(d) We went to british columbia, montana, and edmonton for our vacation this year.
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(e) dr. mesler and his assistant nurse hapon walked into the operating room at general veteran’s hospital.
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(f) Let’s buy some cornflakes for our breakfast when we camp in highlands provincial park in August.
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2.
Read this paragraph. Check for capital letter usage. Rewrite the paragraph adding capital letters where
necessary.
The prime minister called together her chief advisers. a storm had broken out in saskatchewan, causing
much damage in regina. the city was asking for relief money. the prime minister’s advisers indicated that
much of canada might be hit by similar storms, and they suggested that the united nations should get
involved. The prime minister agreed. she used her macintosh computer to send a message to the secretary
general and set up an emergency meeting.
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Read through an item, such as a song lyric, that might not use capital letters correctly. Write your opinion on whether
you think the lack of capitals was a good thing or not.
Capitalization
Usage 2
Use this page to practise your capitalization skills.
As copywriter for the What’s New? Advertising Agency, your job is to check over the copy for new products. The
following copy has been submitted. Check it over for capital letter usage. Rewrite the copy on the lines provided.
Finish the ad copy with at least two new sentences. Make sure you use capital letters correctly. Draw a picture of the
product in the space provided.
from the tasty cereal company
comes a new breakfast sensation:
wake up tasty o’s!
the moment you pour wake up tasty o’s into your bowl
you’ll see the difference!
other cereals may look great,
but wake up tasty o’s burst with
flavour and sound
when you pour on the milk!
what a taste!
from newfoundland to british columbia,
it’s the talk of canada!
why don’t you try them, just like professor mildred did
when she took her first bite and called it the cereal
of the millennium!
And don’t forget:
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Look at the copy on cereal boxes. How are capital letters used? Are they used correctly? Look at the packaging for other
products to see how capital letters are used.