A Capital Idea!
The Uses and Rules of Capital Letters
A Capital Idea!

Capitalize the first word of every
sentence.
 Capitalize the personal pronoun
I.
 Capitalize the names of
historical events and religions.

Many Jewish people died during
the Holocaust.
A Capital Idea!

Capitalize a word showing a
family relationship when the word
is used before or in place of a
person’s name.

We expect Uncle Fred and Aunt
Helen soon.
 Both Mom and Dad work at the
hospital.
A Capital Idea!

Do not capitalize a word showing
a family relationship when a
possessive comes before the
word.

We asked Pedro’s mother and his
aunt Celia to be chaperones.
A Capital Idea!

In titles capitalize the first, last,
and all important words.

The Declaration of Independence
 The Empire Strikes Back
Unimportant Words:
Articles (a, an, the)
Conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet)
Prepositions (by, for, on, with)
A Capital Idea!

Capitalize names of specific people,
places, and locations.

My sister Sarah, who used to live in
South America, now lives in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Don’t capitalize directions.
They moved up north, to the
eastern portion of Kentucky.
A Capital Idea!

Capitalize names of days of the
week, months, and holidays.

Thanksgiving is on the third Thursday
in November.
Don’t capitalize
the names of seasons.
This fall I will start the eighth
grade and in the spring I will graduate.
A Capital Idea!

Capitalize the names of countries,
nationalities, and languages.




Sweden……………………Swedish
England……………………English
Spain…….Spaniards ……Spanish
Capitalize the title of a person when the title
comes before a name.



President Carter
Principal Smith
Dr. Rogers
Punctuation
The apostrophe is used:
To create possessives
 To show contractions
 To create some plural forms

Apostrophe – Possessives and Plurals
Singular Nouns:
 Add an ‘ s to the end of the word
 A boy’s cap—A baby’s toy—Leon’s pencil
 If the noun ends in s you can just add the ‘
 Dr. Rogers’ cat—the Princess’ crown
 Plural Nouns:
 First pluralize the noun
 Cat – cats, brush – brushes, girl – girls
 Then add the apostrophe
 The cats’ hair was all over my new sweater.
 The girls’ dresses were all the same.
To watch out for irregular plurals like
the word children. To make this plural
possessive we must add an ‘ s.
It was the children’s favorite game.

Apostrophe - Contractions

A contraction is a shortened form of a word,
number, or word group.





I am
1999
We are
of the clock
I’m
’99
We’re
o’clock
Be sure not to confuse possessives with
contractions

Possessives
Its nest is over there.
Whose is this backpack.
Contractions
It’s Friday. {It is}
Who’s your server.
{Who is}
Colons

A colon {:} comes at a point in the sentence where the
sentence could come to a complete stop




You will need these items for your test.
(What comes next? A list of items you need)
You will need these items for your test: pencil, ruler, calculator,
and paper.
(The colon announces that a list is about to follow)
The items needed for the test are pencil, ruler, calculator, and
paper.
(There is no colon because the sentence can’t stop before the list)
Also, use a colon anytime you see the words the following
or as follows.
Semicolons

Use a semicolon {;} between two
independent ideas that are related to each
other.
 Uncle
Ray likes sweet potatoes.
 Aunt Janie prefers peas and carrots.
 Uncle Ray likes sweet potatoes; Aunt Janie
prefers peas and carrots.
Uncle Ray likes chicken; Aunt
Janie likes to rollerblade.
The English House of Commas

Use a comma {,} to separate items in a
series or group of three or more things.
 My
favorite uses of the Internet are sending
emails, surfing the Web, and using chat
rooms.

Use a comma before conjunctions (and,
but, or, nor, for, yet, and so)
 The
class was bored with the review, but
looked forward to the game at the end.
The English House of Commas

Use a comma before introductory
elements
 Yes,
you may borrow my bicycle.
 When you go to the store, could you please
buy some bananas?
 Beginning the new school year, Zelda felt
nervous.
The English House of Commas

Use a comma to separate two or more
adjectives that come before a noun.
 A white dwarf is a tiny, dense star.
If you can insert the
words but or and between the
adjectives it needs a comma.
The English House of Commas

Use a comma or commas when the interruption
or additional information in the sentence adds
more specific details, but doesn’t affect the
meaning when removed.


Tiger Woods, my hero, is the best golfer.
My sister, listening to her radio, did not hear me.
The people whistled and cheered.
(Does not provide enough meaning)
The people waiting for Michael Vick
whistled and cheered.
The English House of Commas

Use commas for the following:
 Separate
dates
 Clarify address information
 Before and after a quote
“Our wedding is on June, 23 in the college
chapel,” Maurice shouted, “in Denver,
Colorado.”
Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks {“ “} to show a person’s
exact words.


“When the bell rings,” said Mrs. Camp, “leave the
room quietly.”
Punctuating Quotation Marks:

Commas and periods should be placed inside the
closing quotation marks.
 “The Van Gogh exhibit begins over there,” said the
museum guide.
 Darnell replied, “I’m ready to see some great
works of art.”
Quotation Marks

Question marks and exclamation points should
only be placed inside the quote, when the quote
is a question or exclamation.
 “How
far have we come?” asked the exhausted
man.
{The quotation is a question}
 Who said, “Give me liberty or give me death”?
{The sentence, not the quotation, is a question}
Punctuation

Use quotation marks for the following:
 Short
Stories – “The Medicine Bag”
 Poems – “The Raven”
 Songs – “The Star-Spangled Banner”
 Chapters in books – “The Myths of Greece”
 Articles in magazines or newspapers –
“Rooting for the Braves”
Punctuation

Underline or italicize the following:
 Books
– Huckleberry Finn
 Plays – Romeo and Juliet
 Newspapers – The Atlanta Journal
Constitution
 Movies – Napoleon Dynamite
 Television Shows – The Simpsons
 Art – Mona Lisa
The Importance of Correct
Punctuation
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are
generous, kind, and thoughtful. People who are not like you
admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for
other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever
when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be
yours?
Gloria
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are
generous, kind, and thoughtful people, who are not like you.
Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me.
For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings
whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will
you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria