Punctuation
When speaking, we can pause or change the tone
of our voices to indicate emphasis. When writing, we must use punctuation to
indicate these places of emphasis.
Capitalization
The first word of every sentence
Green apples are my favourite
kind of apple.
A
proper noun applies to the name of a specific person, place or thing.
Countries, nationalities, and languages are always capitalized as they are
proper nouns. Proper nouns are always capitalized, no matter where they are in
the sentence.
Matthew is going to Toronto
to study at York University.
The Mona Lisa is at the
Louvre in Paris, France.
My mother is British, and my
father is Dutch.
Derivatives
of proper nouns (adjectives, verbs, etc.) are also capitalized.
For
instance, Germany is a proper noun (it’s the name of a specific country) and is
therefore capitalized; derivatives such as German and Germanic are also
capitalized.
People in Paris speak
Parisian French; people from other parts of France speak slightly different
forms of French.
Days,
months, and holidays are always capitalized as these are proper nouns.
My doctor’s appointment is on
Monday afternoon.
Your birthday is in March,
right?
Thanksgiving in November,
Christmas in December, and New Years in January: North America has a lot of
winter holidays.
The
seasons aren’t capitalized unless they’re in a title or being used as a proper
noun (such as when personified in creative writing).
My favorite season is autumn.
Many animals hibernate in the
winter.
Shall we go see that new
play, autumn?
As with
any other noun, a season should be capitalized when used in a title, even if it’s
being used in a general sense.
My favorite movement in
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is spring.
It’s that time of year again,
when winter blankets all creatures with somniferous snow and whispers to them, “Rest,
children, rest.”
Have you read “The Winter of
our Discontent”?
However, centuries – and the numbers before them – are not capitalized.
In the fifteen and sixteenth
centuries, England blossomed into an empire.
The eighteen hundreds were a
time of great technological advancement all over the globe.
When terms
denoting family relationships are used as proper nouns (as names), they are
capitalized.
Mom, Dad wants to know when
dinner will be ready.
Please give this book to
Uncle Mark.
Auntie Joan is my favourite
aunt.
When
the terms are used as common nouns (not as a name), they’re not capitalized.
Generally, there will be a possessive pronoun (my, her, his, our) or an article
(the, a, an) in front of the common noun.
My mom and dad want me to be
home by 10:00 at night.
Next week, I’m going to the
museum with my uncle, Mark.
The two sisters went shopping
together.
Titles
– whether they be of books, songs, TV show, whatever – often present a problem
with capitalization. In informal writing, one can merely capitalize the first
letter of every word in the title. If a title is being used as part of a name,
it should be capitalized. If the title is being used as a common noun, there’s
no need to capitalize.
The father’s name is Robert
Smith Senior, and the son’s name is Robert Smith Junior.
When Angela was caught
smoking in the bathroom at school, both Father Michael and Mother Superior came
down on her like a ton of bricks.
My favorite professor is
Professor McKendrick.
Ensure
that the title is capitalized but the job or position is not. (Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II is the queen of England.) The title Queen is capitalized,
but the position queen is left in the lower case.
Sir Lancelot was a knight in
King Arthur’s court.
When
quoting, the first word of a complete sentence should be capitalized,
regardless of its placement within the main sentence. If only part of a quote
is used, retain the original capitals. If you use the first part of the
sentence, it will begin with a capital; if the quote begins part-way through
the sentence, don’t use a capital.
Matthew said, “I’m going out
for a walk!”
William Butler Yeats said, “Education
is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.”
William Butler Yeats said that education should
not be passive and dull, but it should be seen as “… lighting a fire.”
The
capitals from the original quote are maintained in both sentences.
“I am not a crook!” claimed
Richard Nixon.
When accused, Richard Nixon
maintained that he was “not a crook.”
When giving directions (north, south, east, west, left, right), we don’t
use capital letters.
Go south on the highway, and
then take the third exit.
Turn right, then left, then right
again.
When he graduates, he has
plans to move somewhere east because he prefers the weather in that area.
The clouds are moving
westward.
Sometimes
the directions can be used as a proper noun, so they require a capital at the
beginning. For instance, “the East” generally refers to the Oriental countries
such as China and Japan. “Eastern Europe” differentiates countries like the
Ukraine and Russia from “Western Europe” which refers to Germany, France, etc. “The
Left” and “the Right” can refer to political views.
During the Civil War, the
North battled with the South.
Politically, Andrew has
always leaned fairly far to the Left.
The Far East has always held
some mystical appeal to those who have never been there.
Trademarks
and brand names should always be capitalized. (They’re proper nouns.)
Do you prefer Burger King or
McDonald’s burgers?
Baby Gap is a popular store
for new parents.
When Henry Ford began making
cars on an assembly line, he named the brand after himself: Ford.
Some brand
names have become so common that they’re used as common nouns. Be sure to
capitalize them appropriately. Formal writing will require capitals for all
brand names.
If you’re looking for a good
brand of tissues, Kleenex may be what you want.
Sometimes
we have abbreviations or short forms of a brand name; these should also be
capitalized.
A common soft drink is
Coca-Cola.
Most people believe BMW is a
good make of car.
The call
letters for radio and television stations or channels are always written in
capitals.
We often watch the CBC news
and follow it with the BBC news.
FOX TV is an American
television station.
Government
agencies are probably the most frequently abbreviated. Remember to capitalize
each letter.
The CIA makes me feel very secure.
Can you find the Indian Ocean on this map?
In which year did World War II end?
The Industrial Revolution began in Europe.
Names of
specific groups should be capitalized, as they’re proper nouns. The groups can
be political, athletic, social, religious, etc.
The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist.
Doctors Without Borders is a
medical organization that provides health care in places where it’s desperately
needed.
As these
are not English words, it’s appropriate to retain the capitalization rules of
the original language.
Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent
van Gogh are two famous painters.
In
formal writing, nouns, verb, adjectives and adverbs are the only words
capitalized. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions aren’t capitalized
(unless they’re the first letter of the first word).
Children like to listen to
Puff the Magic Dragon.
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and
Juliet.
East of Eden was a popular
book by John Steinbeck.
Two and a Half Men explore
the lives of two brothers.
Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando:
A Biography
The Assassin’s Cloak: An
Anthology of the World’s Greatest Diarists.
Sometimes
the font use on the cover of a book will be all in capitals; you should never
write a title in all capitals unless the font you are using has no lower case
letters.
Proper nouns
which refer to gods, the titles of religious figures, or holy books should
always be capitalized.
Allah, God and Yahweh are
different names for the same god.
Father Michael, Father Andrew
needs to see you in his office.
The pope always gives the sermon
on Easter Sunday. (As a title, “pope” is capitalized; when “pope” denotes a job position, it doesn’t
require a capital. Formal titles which precede or follow names are capitalized.
These titles can refer to a job, a position in society, etc.)
When using
a proper noun to make a new word – frequently an adjective – remembers to
retain the original capital of the proper noun.
Psychologists must study both
Freudian and Jungian philosophies.
Mary’s new car looks kind of
VW-ish, even though it’s a British car.
Do you know how to write a
Sapphic verse?
Sometimes
new word gets used so much it becomes a common noun and the capital is no
longer required.
People are beginning to think
that pasteurized milk isn’t as healthy as it sounds.( The word pasteurized comes from the last name of
Louis Pasteur, the inventor of the process.)
It’s annoying when people
deliberately Anglicize foreign words. (Anglicize is still
capitalized in some places; be sure
to follow local conventions.)
Specific
periods, eras, historical events, etc.: these should all be capitalized as
proper nouns. As there are many periods, eras, wars, etc. the capital will
differentiate the specific from the common.
The McCarthy Era inspired
Arthur Miller to write The Crucible.
Roman Britain is the setting
for the Minimums comic books.
Middle school students often
enjoy studying the social changes which took place in the Roaring Twenties.
In
British English, the first letter after the colon is only capitalized if it’s a
proper noun or an acronym; in American English, the convention depends on the
format but it’s frequently capitalized. If your writing must follow a specific
format, check the rules for that format before capitalizing (if in doubt, it
might be safer to use the lower case). This rule applies only if the clause
following the colon is independent (a complete sentence). If the colon is used
for a list, don’t capitalize the words following it.
It’s been snowing for three
days straight: The roads around here aren’t very safe for driving.
Maggie wears a brimmed cap at
all times: Strong light often gives her a headache.
I’m looking for a copy of
Wind in the Willows: One of my students wants to read it.
The library is very quiet
tonight: I’ll get a lot of work done.
My niece is the star of the
show this evening: She’s the one in the pink tutu.
