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Simmons.
Capitalization
Do I need a
capital
letter?
Or should that
letter remain
lower case?
This presentation
covers capitalizing
the first letter of
the first word of a
sentence, the
pronoun I , and
proper nouns.
A capitalization item on
an objective test might
look like this ...
Sample Item
Wanda wouldn’t offer her little brother
brotheraa
A
Christmas cookie
cookiebecause
becausehe
heate
ateall
allof
ofher
her
B
Halloween candy last October.
october.
october.
C
October
A.
B.
C.
D.
Is brother,
needs a capital
cookie, or
letter, which
october a
option C
problem?
provides.
Brother
Cookie
October
October
No change is necessary.
Ca pitalize the fir st letter
of the fir st wor d of a
sentence .
The
rottenpear
pearsat
satininaapuddle
puddleofofgoo
goo
the rotten
on the kitchen counter.
Dude, formal
writing is not the
same as texting
your friend!
Ca pitalize the pr onoun
I.
If that liar Darlene claims that she spent
the night studying, Ii will
will say
say that
that iIsaw
sawher
her
kissing Thomas at the movies.
Don’t be lazy!
Capitalize those I ’s.
You deserve a
capital letter!
Ca pitalize pr oper nouns .
On Tuesday,
September18,
18,elizabeth
Elizabeth
tuesday, september
cooked her first pot of squid eyeball stew.
Proper nouns include
the days of the week,
the months of the
year, and names.
Other Proper Nouns
 Titles before
Names
 Specific
Places
 Organizations
 Companies
 Product
Names
 Religions
 Languages




Nationalities
Holidays
Departments
Historical
Eras
 Regions of the
Country
 Course
Names
 Titles of Works
Titles Before Names
 Professor
Stone
 Uncle Jerry
 President
Obama
Capitalize
these!
 the nursing
professor
 my uncle
 the president of
our stamp
collecting club
But use lower
case for these!
Specific Places
 Tito’s Taco
Palace
 New York City
 Gatorland
Capitalize
these!
 the taco stand
outside
 a city
 a theme park
But use lower
case for these!
Organizations
 World Wildlife
Fund
 American Red
Cross
 Doctors
Without
Borders
Capitalize
these!
 an environmental
group
 an emergency
response agency
 a medical
humanitarian
organization
But use lower
case for these!
Companies
 Starbucks
Corporation
 The CocaCola Company
 Apple Inc.
Capitalize
these!
 a coffee house
 a soda supplier
 a computer
manufacturer
But use lower
case for these!
Product Names
 Frappuccino
 Oreo
 Power Mac
Capitalize
these!
 a frozen coffee
 a cookie
 a computer
But use lower
case for these!
Religions
 Buddhism
 Seventh Day
Adventists
 Druids
Capitalize
these!
 meditation
practice
 vegetarians
 nature
worshippers
But use lower
case for these!
Languages
 French fries
 Russian boar
 Spanish moss
Capitalize
these!
 fried potatoes
 wild pigs
 air plants
But use lower
case for these!
Nationalities
 Brazilians
 the French
 ancient
Egyptians
Capitalize
these!
 summer tourists
 wine
connoisseurs
 pyramid builders
But use lower
case for these!
Holidays
 Thanksgiving
 Halloween
 Fourth of July
Capitalize
these!
 family dinner
 costume party
 fireworks show
But use lower
case for these!
Depar tments
 Division of Motor
Vehicles
 Orlando Fire
Department
 Internal Revenue
Service
Capitalize
these!
 driver’s license
 firefighters
 tax collectors
But use lower
case for these!
Historical Eras
 Late
Cretaceous
 Old Kingdom
 the Great
Depression
Capitalize
these!
 when dinosaurs
lived
 proliferation of
pyramids
 poor economic
times
But use lower
case for these!
Regions of the Countr y
 the South
 the Northeast
 the West
Capitalize
these!
 the south exit
 blowing from the
northeast
 west of the mall
But use lower
case for these!
Course Names
 Fundamentals
of Biology
 Intermediate
Algebra
 Contemporary
Literature
Capitalize
these!
 biology
 algebra
 literature
But use lower
case for these!
Titles of Wor ks
 Moby-Dick
 Aliens
 Thriller
Capitalize
these!
 a thick novel
 the best movie
ever made
 a dance album
But use lower
case for these!
Quick Test
Directions: In the items that follow, choose
the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”
Show me
what you
know.
Item 1
Byron likes spicy foods, so he chose the Asian
Asian
A
chicken wrap. Martha prefers bland dishes and
ordered a large
large basket
basket of
of french
frenchfries.
French
fries.
fries.
B
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
asian
Large
French
French
No change is necessary.
Item 2
Janelle will take Fundamentals
FundamentalsofofBiology
Biology
next
next
A
semester; she hates Science
Science classes
science
classes
classes but
but
but needs
needs
needs the
the
the
B
credits to transfer to a university.
university.
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
fundamentals of biology
science
science
University
No change is necessary.
Item 3
My family prefers to cook a ham on holidays,
holidays,but
but
A
uncle Bart
uncle
Uncle
Bart
Bartisis
isaaavegetarian,
vegetarian,
vegetarian,soso
somy
my
mymother
mother
motherprepares
prepares
prepares
B
C
“tofurkey” for him.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Holidays
Uncle
Uncle
Vegetarian
No change is necessary.
Item 4
Dai is Vietnamese,
vietnamese, but
vietnamese,
butshe
shegrew
grewup
upininPuerto
Puerto
A
Rico, where she attended cooking
cookingschool;
school;now
now
B
she is the head chef at the Cuban
Cuban restaurant
restaurant on
on
C
Orange Avenue.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Vietnamese
Vietnamese
Cooking School
cuban
No change is necessary.
Item 5
Turn left! We need to go west
west on
on Highway
Highway50;
50;
A
B
otherwise, we will be heading toward
Daytona beach.
Daytona
beach.
Beach.
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
West
highway 50
Daytona Beach
Daytona
Beach
No change is necessary.
Item 6
Katelyn used her last dollar to buy M&M
m&m candies;
m&m
candies;
A
she would have enjoyed a Pepsi
Pepsi to
to wash
wash them
them
B
down but the cafeteria
cafeteriaprices
priceswere
weretoo
tooexpensive.
expensive.
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
M&M
pepsi
Cafeteria
No change is necessary.
Item 7
Juan is taking a religion
religionclass
classthis
thissemester;
semester;he
he
A
likes the professor
professorand
andthe
thereadings,
readings,but
buthe
hemost
most
B
enjoys the intoxicating perfume
perfumethat
thatIsabella,
Isabella,his
his
C
tablemate, wears.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Religion
Professor
Perfume
No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
Item 8
Patrick visited the police
policestation
stationtotosee
seeif ifsomeone
someone
A
had found Squeeze, his 9-foot albino python,
python,but
but
B
officer Rodriguez
officer
Officer
Rodriguez
Rodriguezsaid
said
saidthat
that
thatno
no
noreptiles
reptiles
reptileshad
had
hadbeen
been
been
C
recently caught.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Police Station
Python
Officer
Officer
No change is necessary.
Item 9
Jeffrey thought he would hate humanities,
humanities,but
but
A
once Professor
ProfessorKimble
Kimblereached
reachedthe
theItalian
Italian
B
renaissance, the
renaissance,
Renaissance,
the
thebeautiful
beautiful
beautifulmarble
marble
marblenudes
nudes
nudesgot
got
got
C
Jeffrey’s attention.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Humanities
professor
Renaissance
Renaissance
No change is necessary.
Item 10
Niki is a practicing Hindu,
hindu, so
hindu,
so
soshe
she
shewas
was
wasoffended
offended
offended
A
when Sean pulled into a McDonald’s
McDonald’sdrive-thru
drive-thru
B
to order a Big
Big Mac.
Mac.
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
Hindu
Hindu
mcdonald’s
big mac
No change is necessary.
the
T
he end.
E
end.
nd.
Better.