Capitalization Name

Date

• Geographical Uses
Do capitalize: Countries, States, Cities, Streets, Parks, etc.
Examples: Brazil (country), New Jersey (state), Boston (city), Yosemite National Park (park)

Do capitalize: North, South, East, and West only when they name section of the country.
Examples: He spends his winters in the South.
*NOTE: Whenever north, south, east, or west are preceded by “the,” they are capitalized.

Don’t capitalize: north, south, east, and wes

west when they indicate directions.
Example:: Drive west for six blocks.

• Nationalities, Languages, Races, and Religions

Do capitalize: all nouns and adjectives that apply to the above categories.
Examples: My father speaks Italian fluently.
He iss of Native American descent.
Her family is comprised of austere Catholics.

Practice Exercise
Directions: Rewrite each sentence supply
upplying the necessary capitals using what you’ve just learned.

Example: We have a cottage on moon lake in franklin county.

We have a cottage on Moon
oon Lake in Franklin County.

1. The finest farmland in north Dakota is in the red river valley.

2. Either this street or magnolia boulevard will take you right to the lake.

3. Several inviting
ting lakes and parks are within easy reach of our city.

4. A number of chinese christians worship in a methodist church.

5. The librarian gave me a list of books by asian authors.

6. Great numbers of Swedes and Norwegian

Norwegians pioneered the northwest.
7. The restaurant on quincy street specializes in italian foods.

8. The ohio river is one of many rivers that flow into the mississippi.

9. The panama canal, which connect the atlantic with the pacific ocean, was started by the french, but
completed by the americans.

10. The people of puerto rico are american citizens.

• Organizations and Institutions

Do capitalize: names of organizations, companies, buildings, and institutions such as schools, places
of worship, and hospitals.
Examples: East Longmeadow High School
Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Empire State Building
American Machine Company

Don’t capitalize: words like high school, church, hospital, or company unless they are part of a
proper name.
Example: Our high school is one of the best in the country, but it still doesn’t top Jonathan Dayton
High School.

• Brand Names
Do capitalize: the brand names of particular products.
Examples: Dove soap
Firestone tires
Hess gasoline
Hood ice cream

Don’t capitalize: the products the brand name identifies

Examples: Tropicana orange juice
Pollyo string cheese
DuPont paint

• Days, Months, Holidays, and Seasons

Do capitalize: the names of the days of the week, months, and holidays.
Examples: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
January, February, March, etc.
Fourth of July
 Don’t capitalize: the names of the seasons
Example: My favorite season in autumn.

• Historic Events
Do capitalize: the names of historical events, periods, and documents.
Examples: My grandfather fought in World War II.
In history class, Suzy’s favorite topic is the Middle Ages.
John Hancock was one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Practice Exercise
Directions: Rewrite each sentence supplying the necessary capitals using what you’ve just learned.

Example: The better business bureau is in the nash building on third street.
The Better Business Bureau is in the Nash Building on Third Street.

1. The Ward memorial church is the only lutheran church on Pierson boulevard.

2. The Hillside hospital has a chapel equipped for catholic, protestant, and jewish religious services.

3. After easter, the Rufferts plan to tour the south on their new honda motorcycles.

4. The Ferndale choral society will sing a group of christmas songs at our first winter meeting next
wednesday night.

5. The purpose of the expedition by Lewis and Clark was to explore the northern part of the Louisiana
purchase.

6. Soldiers of both the north and the south are buried in Arlington national cemetery.

7. The Superior appliance company is offering a year’s supply of zest soap.

8. The Kansas historical society will show a film on the great european cathedrals built during the
middle ages.

9. The Missouri pacific railroad provides daily service from St. Louis to Mexico city.

10. Our high school opens in august, right before labor day.
• Titles of People
Do capitalize: titles which show a person’s profession, rank, office, or family relationship when they
are used with personal names.
Examples: Doctor Glenda Reed is our family’s primary care physician.
Major Seth Lewis served his country proudly.
Grandma Barnes is a docile old lady.

Don’t capitalize: words like aunt or grandmother when they are not used with personal names.
Examples: My aunt always loved to watch the game on Sundays.
My mother loves all kinds of animals.
*EXCEPTION: When words like mother or father are used in place of names, you should capitalize
them.
Example: Did you phone Mother today?

• Titles of Books, Stories, Articles, Poems, etc.

Do capitalize: the first word and all other words of a title except articles (a, an, the, of, etc.)
Examples: The Old Man and the Sea
The Miracle Worker

• Religious Words
Do capitalize: all words that refer to God.
Examples: All Christians believe in the Lord Almighty.

Don’t capitalize: the word god when it refers to the gods of ancient mythology.
Example: The Roman god of war was Mars.
*NOTE: You must still capitalize the type of god and their names. Notice that even though “god”
isn’t capitalized in the above example, “Roman” and “Mars” are because “Roman” refers to
the type of god, and “Mars” is the god’s name.

Practice Exercise
Directions: Rewrite each sentence supplying the necessary capitals using what you’ve just learned.

1. Our principal invited professor Evelyn Shaw of Ohio state university to speak about preparation for
college.

2. Carson McCullers’ the member of the wedding tells the story of a young girl’s loneliness.

3. Farther from shore than any other american lighthouse, Stannard rock is thirty miles off the shore.

4. Our library has a letter from the white house written by Eleanor Roosevelt during world war II.
Capitalization Review Exercise
Directions: Correct the twenty-five capitalization errors in the letter below. Some capitals need to be changed to
lowercase letters, while other lowercase letters need to be changed to capitals.

1 Dear Edwin,
2 You will laugh when I tell you that when we returned from the Royal theater on monday
3 night, we found “Aunt” Ada Carey on our front porch, her feet on her suitcase, which had
4 stickers from Yellowstone Park, the Smoky mountains, Mammoth Cave, and Mexico city.
5 She has a lot to tell about New Orleans, where she spent two weeks last fall. She enjoyed
6 the festivities of All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on November 1, the day after Halloween.
7 When I asked her why she didn’t prefer to visit the city during the Mardi Gras, she said that
8 she plans to return to enjoy those festivities also.
9 She apparently saw everything there was to see in the town—the old French Quarter,
10 Audubon park, Tulane university, and Lake Pontchartrain. While visiting the city’s famous St.
11 Louis Cathedral, she met and elderly Catholic Priest, father Pernet, who proved to be an
12 Encyclopedia of unusual information about the early history of the city.
13 She is still opposed to movies and urged us not to take six-year-old Jerry to see “Devil On
14 Wheels,” even though Parent’s magazine listed it as suitable for young children. Just as Jerry
15 was about to condemn her as a killjoy, she produced a handful of little bars of Dixie Soap
16 from the Roosevelt hotel, where she had been staying. My gift was a charming handmade
17 silver bracelet from one of the Royal street antique shops. Have I ever told you that not unitl I
18 was in High School did I realize that Aunt Ada wasn’t a “real” Aunt? Her husband, captain
19 Carey, was great friend of my Mother’s father from their boyhood days when they used to
20 fish for Catfish on the Mississippi River.
21 By the way, does this letter smell of rhubarb? Aunt Ada is still convinced that Rhubarb is
22 the tonic that keeps her young, and we are eating it with her at every meal. If we should
23 server her cauliflower, she would phone amtrak to inquire when the next train leaves for the
24 good old south.
25 My family is calling me to join them on aunt Ada’s daily sightseeing tour, which is to
26 include Greenfield Village and the Ford Motor company, not far from the village. Write me
27 when you can.
28 Sincerely,
29 Jane