Having trouble capitalizing? It's something that most of us started to learn when we  were very young, but it can be tricky to master. Is it a Professor or a professor? Facebook or facebook?

You have probably encountered people Who Feel The Need To Capitalize Every Word Of A Sentence Like This. That's not quite right.  Read on for a simple guide into the ins and outs of capitalizing like a  pro.

(Capitalise" is the British/Australian spelling, in North America, it is "capitalize)

      1. Capitalize the first word in a sentence.

One of the most basic rules of grammar: no matter what type of word the first word in the  is, it is usually capitalized. After you write a full stop (also known as a period in American English) at the end of one sentence, make a note in your mind to capitalize the first word of the next.  The first word of sentence written in brackets "( )" in the middle of another sentence does not need to  be capitalized; for example, in this sentence "also" is not capitalized.

However, a sentence written in brackets which is not  embedded in another sentence will need to start with a , for example: I didn't really understand what was going on. (I don't often, to be honest!) Oh well.

If a complete sentence follows a colon (:), then the first word can be capitalized, although this is optional. However, note that capitalization in this case is considered standard in many North American English grammar books. Capitalise the first word in a quotation, unless the quotation is syntactically joined to the sentence. A  describing what someone said is usually capitalized as it is apart from the sentence.

Quoting a short word or  is not usually capitalized, as it does form part of the sentence, for example: What is he doing with that "thing"?. You can also have longer quotes that are syntactically joined to sentences, for example: She was sent here to "observe and discreetly ascertain what the hell we were up to". Although many spell-checking services may correct this, the first letter of the first word after an ellipsis (...) does not need to be capitalized if it is in the same sentence.

They  will recognize the full stops (periods  in American English) and try to capitalize the subsequent word,  although this is wrong unless it is in a quote. When using an ellipsis  in a quote, the next word is allowed to be capitalized at the writer's  discretion, as the ellipsis signifies that the writer is still quoting  from the same source, but has skipped a part. Capitalize if it makes  sense in context.        

2. Capitalize all proper nouns.

This is perhaps the hardest thing to grasp when capitalizing, as you need to be able to identify the difference between   which must be capitalized, and common nouns which, in English, do not  require capitalizing. Proper nouns are nouns which refer to one  specific, unique thing, such as people, places and objects, as opposed  to a common noun which could refer to more than one entities which are  not unique.

For example, a boy and the boys are left uncapitalized as common nouns, as they could refer to any boy. However, Bob refers to one specific boy, and thus is a capitalised proper noun. Likewise, the village could refer to any village, whereas Hethersett refers to one village in particular.

Proper nouns can often be distinguished by the fact that you can't  usually put a "the" in front of them, for example, you can say the city, but it doesn't really sound right to say the London. Similarly, you can say the program, but you wouldn't say the .  Proper nouns also include things like organisations, religions,  particular ideas and unique things. The following are some groups of  proper nouns that must be capitalised that you should watch out for:   Personal names of people or animals.

People's first, last, and  however many in-between names are nearly always capitalised. Even though  there are probably other people with the same name, when the name is used it refers to one person in particular and thus is a proper noun. One of the most obvious examples of proper nouns, you should nearly always  capitalise names. There are a few exceptions, sometimes be seen with  people who have a non-English derived surname, such as Dafydd ab Hugh,  L. Sprague de Camp, Tim LaHaye, or D. J. MacHale. As a matter of  courtesy, one should spell a personal name as the person so named  desires.

Brand names and trademarks. Brands (legally called )  refer to one specific brand of products, distinguishable from their  competition and are usually proper nouns. They are defined as a "name,  term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's  good or service as distinct from those of other sellers". 

Specific places and countries. Geographical locations like countries, established regions, seas, roads, ,  towns, etc. are all proper nouns as they refer to that place in  particular. This also includes geographical features like the Equator,  rivers, mountains and public places, structures and buildings. Note that  the compass points or directions north, ,  east and west do not need to be capitalised as they are not proper  nouns, unless they are used as part of the name of an established  region, for example, East Anglia or Southern California. Some examples:"Go north, then you'll find yourself in North Carolina.""I've come all the way from the South to see you!""Our house is in the southwest region of Adelaide." In this case, the direction acts as an adjective, not a noun.

items.  Days of the week, months and public holidays all need to be  capitalised. Days of the week and months are fairly simple to remember,  although you must remember that some of the month names have other  meanings that should not be capitalised, for example, I may go to the opera or Time to march!

Public holidays like ,  Christmas Eve or St Patrick's Day must be capitalised, no matter which  words they are made up of. Similarly, famous historical events and time  periods are also capitalised, for example, the  or the Revolutionary War Seasons do not get capitalised. Capitalising the seasons is a very old-fashioned habit that still lingers but spring,  (fall), summer and winter are not capitalised unless they are at the beginning of a sentence or form part of a renowned name. Avoid capitalising descriptors of eras, such as the eighties, the sixties, etc.     

3. Capitalise adjectives derived from proper nouns, or "proper adjectives".

These are usually adjectives made up from proper nouns, and must be  capitalised just like their ancestors. Note that any other parts of  speech derived from proper nouns should also be capitalised, for  example, a "proper verb" like Americanise or a "proper " like Britishly.

  Nationalities and languages. These are the biggest example of  proper adjectives, and must always be capitalised, as they are proper  adjectives derived from the name of that particular region. For example,  from the proper noun  comes the proper adjectives German (referring to the language that is spoken there) and German  (referring to a person, object, custom, etc. that originates from  Germany). However, this is not limited to nationalities which derive  from a specific proper noun – it includes any race, tribe, etc.  including names like "Cherokee" and "Asian".

Note that this is complicated by varying approaches to national  references when used in a non-literal sense, such as French fry/french  fry, French doors/french doors or French poodle/french poodle. The  capitalization or otherwise of these "non-literal" words is dependent on  the style guide you're referring to and often on how much you'd really  like to associate the French with French... or is it french... fries.      

Capitalize personal titles when used specifically as titles, but not when just referring to the rank in general. This includes the more common mister and miss, familial titles like  and father, courtesy titles like earl and   and military ranks like wing commander and sergeant. When used as a  title, the first letter must be capitalized whether the title is in its  abbreviated form or not, for example, Mister Jones and Mr Jones  (in each of these cases, the person's specific name is attached to the  title). In the example given in the picture, the two titles are capitalized because they are used as personal titles, rather than just a captain, it is the captain. Although "Captain" does not precede a name, it is still capitalized because it is used in place of a name.

Some examples:   "I disagree Senator Bandy Andy." (direct address to person)"Senator Bandy Andy disliked attending committee meetings in the month of May." (before a person's name)The senator gave a speech at the dinner party held in honor of his years in office. (common noun)Royalty is also included. Any royal, imperial or position of office  titles are also included in the title rule, although it is a little more  complicated. You can say both the king and the King and  either will be right depending on in which context it was used. When you  are referring to a specific king, and this is clear, you can capitalize, for example, the King of Denmark. If you are in England,  their queen is always referred to as "the Queen", and it is obvious  which queen this is referring to. This title stands for her name - not  many people would just refer to her as "Elizabeth"!

Royal styles are  also capitalized, e.g. His Majesty.Family names can also be thought of as personal titles. They are capitalized only when used in place of a name or preceding a name, e.g. Uncle Joe. Normally, the familial term is just a regular noun, e.g. I have one sister.

However, when used as a substitute for a name,  that usage is a proper noun. Remember: all names are capitalised. When  used in front of a name, that is a personal title. This above rules  about personal titles do also apply when "family" names are used in a  or religious context, as in that case they are used as titles, for example, Father Joseph, or Sister Kate.     

4. Check capitalization for abbreviations. Initials and   are often written in all capital letters, although this differs  depending on the word in general. (An initialism is a term often used  for acronyms that are made up of and pronounced as a series of initial  letters, for example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the British Broadcasting Corporation). These can be written in all capitals, for example, FAQ or USA, or also as a normal word, for example, Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) or laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).

If you're not sure, look up the word in question in a search engine and see how others capitalise it.  The capitalisation of "internet" or "Internet" is an interesting  case still under evolution. Either way is currently accurate, dependent  on what you use as your reference source, although it does seem to be  evolving more towards being treated as a common noun, especially outside  of North America.      

5. Respect that publication titles have different capitalization rules dependent on in-house guides and rules.

Things like book titles, movie titles, song and album titles,  historical documents, laws, newspaper headlines, etc. are each treated a  little differently. It's "War and Peace" not "War and peace", right?  These titles aren't all always capitalised the same way, but follow  similar patterns, quite like wikiHow .  Often, the first word (whatever it be may) and maybe the last word of  the title is capitalised, along with any words that are not articles (like a or the), coordinate conjunctions or prepositions (like of, to, or in) that have less than five letters, for example, The Catcher in the Rye.  Titles using all capitalisation is a personal or organisational preference.  While the initial letter should be capitalised at the beginning of the  title, always aim for consistency of use with either all upper or all  lowercase (after the initial word) for the entire title. Always check  your organisation's or publisher's style guide to see what they prefer  for titles.     

6. Respect any words with inherent capitalizations.

Some  nouns have odd capitalization, most commonly brand names, websites,  etc. For example, this includes Apple Inc. products, often titled things  like iPad, iPod; software like MediaWiki and websites like deviantArt  and even wikiHow! These words are always spelt thus regardless of other  rules. wikiHow can go at the start of the sentence without capitalising  its first letter, because it is always spelt with a lowercase w.  Where possible, do your best to avoid placing an unusually  capitalised noun at the beginning of the sentence, and that way you can  avoid writing "IPod" or "WikiHow". For example, change "IPods are used by high school students for  learning purposes" to "High school students use iPods for learning  purposes".

P.S. Carikavanlog I hope this is useful to you? Cleared it up pretty well for me. Just takes extra thinking sometimes to figure out if something must be capitalized or not.