Capitalization Counts!the first word in a sentence

proper nounsproper adjectives

the pronoun I days of the week, months, and

holidaysfirst word of a quotation

first word and important words in a title

time periods

PropersWe capitalize proper nouns to show that they are

specific. Proper nouns name specific people, places, religions, time periods, organizations. For example:

• Wendi Chauvin – names a specific person• Chicago, Illinois – names a specific city & state• the Superdome – names a specific building• Catholic – names a specific religion• The Great Depression – names a specific time period• The Red Cross – names a specific organization

We capitalize proper adjectives to show where someone or something is from. Proper adjectives are used to describe. For example:

• the French restaurant• a British soldier• the Mayan community

Personal TitlesWe capitalize a person’s title when the title

comes before their name. For example:• Dr. Bartlett• Mrs. Hymel• King Henry VIII

We also capitalize names of the people in our families. For example:• Before she fussed us, Mama always took a deep

breath.

If you’re not saying their name though, you do not capitalize those familial words or their title. For example:• My uncle is the new mayor of our city!

Abbreviations & TitlesWe learned yesterday that we capitalize titles of

people. We also capitalize most abbreviations For example:

• Michigan Ave. • P.O. Box• FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigators

When capitalizing titles of written works, we capitalize the first & last words and any important words in between. ( We’ll worry about punctuating titles later). For example:

• My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother• To Kill a Mockingbird• The Cat in the Hat