AP Style Rules at a Glance
CAPITALIZATION
In general: Capitalize proper nouns – the name of a specific person, place or thing. Lowercase
common nouns. Capitalize the first word of a sentence. (That’s true if the sentence is in a quote
or follows a colon: You still must capitalize the first word.)
Directions: Capitalize specific regions: The Northeast is experiencing bad storms. Lowercase
compass directions: The storm moved west through the state.
Popular names: Capitalize popular names that are equivalent to proper names: the West End …
Don’t capitalize ‘of’: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Society of Professional Journalists …
Trademarks: Coca-Cola, Realtor, Kleenex … Avoid them by using generic words.
Derivatives: Capitalize words that are derived from a proper noun and still depend on it for their
meaning: American, Shakespearean … Lowercase derivatives that no longer depend on the root
word for their meaning: french fries, herculean, pasteurize …
Politics: Capitalize political organizations (the Republican Party, the Green Party of Virginia)
and affiliations (Libertarian, Democrat). Lowercase ideologies and forms of government:
democracy, fascist, communism, socialist ...
Governmental bodies: Capitalize references to specific bodies, even without the locality or state
name: the Virginia General Assembly, the General Assembly … Lowercase short forms and
generic references: Republicans control the assembly. The council voted to raise parking fines.
No legislature has approved same-sex marriage.
Government buildings: Capitalize Capitol and City Hall when referring to a specific building:
the U.S. Capitol, the Capitol, the Virginia Capitol, the state Capitol, Richmond City Hall, City
Hall … Lowercase general references: You can’t fight city hall.
When pluralizing: Lowercase the pluralized word: The Republican and Democratic parties
agreed to hold presidential debates. The James and York rivers flow into the Chesapeake.
Composition titles: Capitalize (and put quotes around) the titles of books, movies, plays, poems,
operas, songs, TV shows, works of art, computer games: “The Road Not Taken” – “The
Sopranos” – “Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows” – Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” …
Capitalize a, an, the only if it is the first or last word of the title. Capitalize prepositions and
conjunctions of four or more letters. Put titles in quotes (except for the Bible and reference
books, such as dictionaries).
Titles (for people): Capitalize formal titles when used before a proper name: CSX Chairman
Michael Ward, Director Judy Turk … Some titles are abbreviated: Rep. Rick Boucher, Sen. John
Warner … A formal title denotes authority, professional activity or academic accomplishment.
It’s sometimes a judgment call. Check the AP Stylebook. Lowercase any title that’s separated
from the person’s name or is standing alone: When Bush was president … The pope traveled to
Haiti … As a U.S. senator, Obama voted against …
Capitalize nationalities and races: Asian-Americans, African-American, Hispanic, Latino,
Italian-Americans, Mexican-American … Hyphenate all except Latin American and Native
American.
Capitalize awards and decorations: the Medal of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the Pulitzer Prize … an Academy Award, an Oscar, the Heisman Trophy … a Nobel Prize …
Religion: Capitalize the proper names of monotheistic deities: God, Allah, the Father, the Son,
Jesus Christ … Lowercase pronouns referring to the deity: he, him, his, thee, thou, who, whose,
thy …Capitalize the names of religions: Christian, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism …
Capitalize the names of sacred texts: the Bible, the Quran, the Talmud – except in generic uses:
The study guide was his bible. Capitalize holidays and holy days; key events and principles
concerning Jesus Christ (Last Supper, the Resurrection, the Crucifixion); references to specific
Christian rites (Benediction, Mass, Holy Communion – but: a high Mass, a low Mass, a requiem
Mass). Lowercase the word “gods” in referring to polytheistic religions. Capitalize the proper
names of pagan and mythological gods and goddesses: Neptune, Thor, Venus … Lowercase
heaven, hell, devil, angel, cherub, an apostle, a priest. Capitalize Hades and Satan. Lowercase
such words as godawful, goddamn, godlike, godliness, godsend.
Capitalize abbreviations (AARP, FBI, VCU) … days of the week and months …
Capitalize family words when they’re a substitute for a person’s name: I wrote Mother a letter.
I wrote my mother a letter. I wrote to Grandfather Smith.
Capitalize historical ages, periods or events (the Bronze Age, World War II) … monuments
(Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty) … the names of planets, stars, constellations (The comet
passed Mars and headed toward Earth. … But lowercase sun, moon. Also, lowercase earth in:
down to earth, salt of the earth).
Capitalize Police Department if that is the agency’s formal name: the Richmond Police
Department, the Police Department. Lowercase: the police, the department.
Animals: Capitalize names of specific animals: The dog’s name is Rover. The veterinarian could
not save Snowflake. For breeds, follow Webster’s. Capitalize words derived from proper nouns:
Boston terrier, German shepherd.
Lowercase seasons (winter, spring, fall, etc.) – unless part of a formal name: Summer Olympics;
the VCU Winter Carnival.
Lowercase plants – unless the name includes a proper noun (tree, fir, white fir, Douglas fir;
Scotch pine; clover, white clover, white Dutch clover).
Internet terms: Capitalize Internet (the Net is acceptable in later references), World Wide Web,
Web. But lowercase website (and make it one word; this is a change that AP announced in
2010). In 2011, AP removed the hyphen from email … but continue to hyphenate e-book,
e-commerce, e-business, etc.