We are able to write each letter of the English alphabet as a small letter (abc…) or as a large or capital letter (ABC…).
In English, we do not use capital letters very much. We use them in particular for the first letter of sentences, names, days, and months as well as for some abbreviations. We usually write the first person pronoun as a capital I.
It isn’t common to write down whole sentences in capitals. A sentence or paragraph written in capitals is very tough to study.
Capital letters are used with:
Capitalize the personal pronoun ‘I’:
Example:
- What can I say?
Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence
This one’s easy. Always capitalize the first word of a sentence.
Example:
- The cat is sleeping.
- My favorite author is Jane Austen.
Capitalize the names and titles of people
Example:
- Professor Jones, Dr. Smith
- the Queen of England
- Doctor Mathews
- the President of the United States
- Anthony, Ram, William Shakespeare
Capitalize the titles of works, books, etc
- Crime and Punishment
- Tristan and Isolde
- War and Peace
- The Merchant of Venice
Capitalize the days of the week, months of the year, holidays
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
- January, February, March, April¸ May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
- Christmas, New Year’s Day, Boxing Day
Capitalize the countries, languages & nationalities, religions:
- China, France, Africa, England, Asia, Europe, America
- Japanese, English, Latin, German, and French
- Christianity, Buddhism, British
Capitalize for trade-marks and names of companies and other organizations:
- Pepsi Cola, Walkman
- Microsoft Corporation, Toyota
- the United Nations, the Red Cross
Capital letter for places and monuments:
- London, Paris, the Latin Quarter
- the Eiffel Tower, St Paul’s Cathedral
- Buckingham Palace, the White House
- Oxford Street, Fifth Avenue
- Jupiter, Mars, Sirius
- Asia, the Middle East, the North Pole
Capital letter for names of vehicles like ships, trains, and spacecraft:
- the Titanic
- the Orient Express, the Flying Scotsman
- Challenger 2, the Enterprise
Capital letter for titles of books, poems, songs, plays, films, etc:
- War And Peace
- If, Futility
- Like a Virgin
- The Taming of the Shrew
- The Lion King, Gone With The Wind
Capitalize for the Seasons
- Seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Capitalize for the Names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes, etc.
- the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Dead Sea
- Lake Leman, Lake Michigan, Lake Victoria
- the Rhine, the Thames, the Nile
Capitalize for the Names of streets, buildings, parks, etc.
- Park Lane
- Sydney Opera House
- Wall Street, Hyde Park
