2. Capitalization
The world we live in is full of chances to write
informally.
This means we get a lot of practice writing in
ways that may not include proper grammar
and punctuation.
Capitalization is often the first thing to get
ignored in informal writing.
3. When to Capitalize
The following situations require capital letters:
1. The beginning of a sentence is always capitalized.
The dog ran down the street.
2. Proper nouns (like people’s names, place names, and names of
specific products) are always capitalized.
The new student’s name is George.
He moved here from Reno, Nevada.
He drives a Chevrolet.
His favorite soda is Pepsi.
3. The pronoun I is always capitalized.
I am a teacher.
If you ask me what I think, I’ll usually tell you.
Are there other situations? Yes. However, these are the most
common, and the ones you need to master first.
4. Tricky Situations
Sometimes you’ll encounter tricky situations, but you can figure them out if you think
them through.
For example:
This is my mom.
Hey, Mom, can you bring me a soda?
Why is the word mom capitalized in one sentence and not the other?
Hint: If in the second sentence the speaker called his mother by her name instead of
by the word mom would it be capitalized or not?
Here’s another example:
Please pass me a cotton swab.
Please pass me a Q-tip.
A cotton swab and a Q-tip are the same thing. Why is Q-tip capitalized but cotton swab
isn’t?
Hint: Go back to the rule about proper nouns.
5. How to Answer These Questions
Correctly
1. Learn the rules: First word of a sentence,
proper nouns, the pronoun I…always
capitalized.
2. If you see a period, question mark, or
exclamation point, it means a new sentence
is about to start…look for a capital letter.
3. Ask yourself, is this referring to a thing in
general or in particular to figure out if
something is a proper noun. (the mall vs.
South Square Mall)
