Capitalization and Quotation
Marks
By: Destinie P., Greg R., and
James W.
Capitalize the first letter of
significant words (but not the whole
word) for these reasons:
• Why do we capitalize??
• We capitalize to indicate the
beginning of a new sentence.
• We also capitalize important names
and/or titles
• There are many reasons why we
capitalize, and there are many rules
to capitalizing.
Capitalizing
• Capitalize the first letter of the first
word in a sentence.
• Ex: The concert was great!
• A proper noun is a noun which
names a specific person, place, or
thing. Proper nouns are always
capitalized.
• Ex: We went to Busch Gardens last
weekend.
Capitalizing cont.
• There are two rules for capitalizing
when writing a letter.
• (Rule 1)- Capitalize the first word
and all names in the greeting.
• Ex: Dear Sir, My dearest Aunt,
Greetings!
• (Rule 2)- Capitalize the first word in
the closing.
• Ex: Sincerely, Truly yours
Capitalizing cont.
• Always capitalize the Pronoun
“I”
• Capitalize days of the week,
months, and holidays.
• Never capitalize seasons
• Ex: Thursday, October,
Christmas, winter
Capitalizing cont.
• Always capitalize the first and
last word in a title.
• Capitalize all words except “a,”
“an,” “the” and conjunctions
and prepositions of four letters
or fewer.
• Ex: Harry Potter and the Half-
Blood Prince
Capitalizing cont.
• Capitalize the first word in a
quotation if the quotation is a
complete sentence.
• Ex: Walter said “Why did Jessie
leave?’’
Quotation Marks
• Why do we use quotation
marks?
• We use quotation marks to set
off material that represents
quoted or spoken language.
Quotations cont.
• Periods and commas go inside
the “close quote” marks.
• Ex: “I don’t care,” she said,
“what do you think about it?”
Quotations cont.
• If a quoted word or phrase fits
into the flow of your sentence
without a break or pause, then a
comma may not be necessary.
Quotation cont.
• When you have a question
outside quoted material and
inside quoted material, use only
one question mark and place it
inside the quotation mark.
• Ex: Did she say, "May I go?"
Quotation cont.
• Use single quotation marks for
a quotation or title using
quotation marks inside another
quotation or title which uses
quotation marks.
• Ex: She asked, “How many of
you have read ‘The Lady of
Shalott’?”
Work Cited
• "Quotation Marks." OWL: Online Writing Lab. Purdue
University. 3 Jul 2007
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote
EX1.html>.
• "Quotation Marks." Guide to Grammar and Writing.
Capital Community Technical College Foundation. 3 Jul
2007
<http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotat
ion.htm>.
• "Single Quotation Marks." Grammar Slammer.
Emme Interactive of France. 3 Jul 2007
<http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000110.htm>.