Capitalization in Titles
of books, essays, articles, movies, and people.
The General Rule
The major words in the titles
of books, articles, and songs
(but not short prepositions or
the articles "the," "a," or
"an," if they are not the first
word of the title(or following a
: or ;)).
Titles of Books, Essays,
Movies, Articles
The rules say to capitalize all major words (nouns,
pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs) and first word in
book titles.
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
A Far Cry from Home
“The Itch: A Discussion on Poison Ivy”
Titles of Books, Essays, etc.
• Capitalize the first and last words and all important
words in titles of books, magazines, essays, newspapers,
poems, short stories, historical documents, movies,
television programs, and works of music or art.
**The article the before a title is not capitalized unless it is
the first word of the title itself.
•
The World Almanac - - Use The World Almanac as a reference for your paper.
•
The Wizard of Oz - - The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie.
•
Chicago Sun Times - - I enjoy reading the Chicago Sun Times.
Titles of People
• Capitalize the title of a person when the title
comes before the name.
• Governor Little became a Senator Little in 1978.
• Sergeant Major Loring will deploy in December.
• Capitalize a title used alone or following a
person’s name only when you want to emphasize
the position someone holds (usually a high office).
• The Secretary of Treasury had lunch with the Secretary of State.
• Can you see me now, Doctor?
• The secretary of the student council took notes at the meeting.
Titles in Family Relationships
• Capitalize a word showing a family relationship
when the word is used before or in place of a
person’s name.
**Do not capitalize a word showing a family
relationship when a possessive comes before the
word.
• Both Aunt Emily and Mom like to make pies.
• Marc’s mother and my uncle are related.