Capitalization

Lesson 6 Capitalization

   Essential Question

How do we draw attention to specific people, places, or things?

 Grammar in the World

As you know, some words, like your name, are always capitalized, but some can be capitalized in one situation, but not another.

Look at each of the words and see if you can come up with a sentences for both the capitalized and uncapitalized versions of each word. If you click on each word, you will see an example of it used correctly.

Sometimes, the same word can be both capitalized and uncapitalized in the same sentence! 

His mom was in the living room when he called out, “Hey, Mom! I need to borrow $20!”

 What Do I Know?

Use the interactive exercise below to find out how much you already know about capitalization:

image courtesy of Canva 

 Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

• Parts of Speech
• Nouns
• Sentence Types and End Punctuation
• Formatting Titles

 Learn About Capitalization

In this lesson, we’ll take a look at some common rules about capitalization that will help guide you in writing sentences that refer to specific people, places, or things. When in doubt, there’s nothing wrong with doing an internet search or asking someone for more information about how to capitalize!

1. Capitalize the first word of a sentence. 

• • • Wow! That movie was amazing. Do you think they’ll come out with a sequel? I hope so!

2. Capitalize the personal pronoun, I.

• • • I hope to travel to the mountains this winter.
    • When I get to the mountains, I would like to learn to ski with you.
    • Although I am often clumsy, I think skiing would be fun for us.
      

3. Capitalize the names and nicknames of specific people and places.

• • • My brother Ben loves to ride roller coasters.
    • All of Ben’s friends call him Speedy because he likes to ride anything that goes super fast. 
    • Ben’s favorite roller coaster is Mako, named after one of the fastest sharks.
    • Mako is located at SeaWorld, in Orlando, Florida.

4. Capitalize words like Aunt, Mother/Mom, Grandfather/Grandpa when used in place of a name.

• • • You make the best cupcakes, Mom. OR: My mom makes the best cupcakes. 
    • No one pulls pranks quite like Uncle Jim! OR: His uncle is a prankster. 
    • I love to listen to Grandma’s funny stories! OR: Our grandmother tells entertaining stories.
      
      Tip: Often, a possessive pronoun like my, our, or his lets us know NOT to capitalize one of these words. You can say, “My aunt is creative” or “I love how creative Aunt Susie is.”

5. Capitalize the days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.

• • • On the last Thursday of November, we will celebrate Thanksgiving at Grandpa’s house.
    • Next Saturday, let’s go to the art show downtown.
    • I learned to parasail last June.
    • Which holiday would you like to learn more about—Yom Kippur, Al-Hijra, or Easter?

Tip: The names of seasons are not proper nouns, so you don’t capitalize spring, summer, fall/autumn, or winter. 

• • • • It gets way too cold and icy in Missouri in the winter!
      • Next summer, I’m going to visit the beach.

6. Capitalize the names of cities, states, countries, continents, nationalities, land and water bodies, and languages. 

• • • Truman Tiger lives in Columbia, Missouri.
    • Columbia is a medium-sized city in the center of the United States.
    • Students from the United States, Brazil, Vietnam, India, China, and many other countries go to the university in Columbia, Missouri.

7. Capitalize the first word in the title of a book, play, song, poem, etc. Capitalize most words in a title except for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

• • • One of my favorite songs is “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles.
    • Last week, I saw the movie Guardians of the Galaxy.
    • In the 4th grade, I memorized Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”
    • My little sister asks us to read, “I Love You to the Moon and Back” every night at bedtime. 

Tip: Experts disagree on whether or not capitalize the word “to” in titles. Title
generators like capitalizemytitle.com can help you see rules for each style of
writing. 

• Capitalize a complete quote but not a partial quote:
• Romeo said, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
• When Romeo felt “sweet sorrow” at leaving Juliet, he had only known her for a few hours.
• Capitalize the name of a specific course but not general subjects.
• I have Algebra II at 10 a.m. and then a social studies class in the afternoon.
• Capitalize specific geographic regions but not cardinal directions.
• Travel east for about five miles until you reach East New Haven Road.
• I left Columbia this morning and traveled south to South Carolina.
• Capitalize brand names but not general products.
• What kind of soda do you have? I’d love a Coke!
• Her aunt’s favorite car is her blue, convertible Volkswagen Beetle. 
• She searched her whole house for her Nike Air Force 1s but could not find her shoes anywhere.
• Capitalize the names of the planets. Only capitalize the words "Sun" and "Moon" when referring to them in an astronomical context. 
• There are at least eight planets in our solar system, including Mercury and Neptune.
• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.

• animals (unless they are a specific breed): tiger/Bengal tiger; dog/Boxer
• foods (unless it has a proper noun or adjective as a name): hot sauce/Sriracha sauce; spaghetti/Gino’s Famous Noodles
• minerals and elements: calcium, sodium, helium, potassium, gold
• general medical conditions: acne, influenza, diabetes, allergies

 Do I Get It?

What have you learned about capitalization? Use this interactive to find out.

Each of the following sentences has one additional word that should be capitalized. When you see it, click on it.

image source Links to an external site.