WRITNG LESSON: Capitalization Rules

The rules of capitalization are quite extensive and depend somewhat on the context in which the words are used.
However, here are the basic rules:

You should always capitalize….
• The first word of a sentence
• Names of the days of the week, months of the year (but not seasons)
• The pronoun I
• Names, including initials, of individuals
• Titles which precede names (but not titles without names)
• All names of holidays (excluding any prepositions)
• The first word and all nouns in a salutation ("Dear Mr. Geise")
• The first word in the complimentary closing of a letter ("Sincerely yours")
• Family relationship names when they precede a name or are used in place of person's name, especially in direct address ("Uncle John", but not in “my uncle came home”)
• All words in the names of specific organizations and agencies excluding prepositions, conjunctions, and articles ("the Pine Point Dance Ensemble")
• Names of languages
• Names of definite sections of a country or the world, but not names of directions ("I live in the Southwest, near Santa Fe"", but "We drove southwest from Providence.")
• Names of nationalities (French, Spanish, etc.)
• Names of religions and deities (Allah, Islam, God, etc.)
• Adjectives formed from names of geographical locations, languages, races, nationalities, and religions (a Catholic bookstore, Asian people, etc.)
• The first word and all the words in titles of books, articles, works of art, etc. excluding short prepositions, conjunctions, and articles