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Home > Grammar > Nouns > Capitalisation Rules for Nouns

Capitalisation Rules for Nouns

There are rules established in English for when capitalisation is called for. For example, at the beginning of a sentence, a capital letter must be used for the first word. In addition, there are rules set for when nouns call for capitalisation. 

For the first person personal pronoun “I”

Examples: 

  • I proofread every piece of writing for readability. 
  • You and I both value accessibility. 

The titles of works 

This can include art, films, books or pieces of music.

Examples:

  • Lifting The Fog Of Legalese: Essays On Plain Language
  • Girl with a Pearl Earring
  • Titanic

For the names and titles of people

Examples:

  • Rudolf Flesch 
  • Barack Obama

For months of the year and days of the week

In some European languages, such as Italian, capitalisation is used sparingly and not used for days of the week or months of the year. However, in English, both these types of nouns are capitalised. 

Examples:

  • Tuesday
  • November 
  • Sunday
  • April

For public holidays

Public holidays are capitalised, but not bank holidays. 

Examples:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Easter Monday

For countries and continents

Examples:

  • Africa
  • China

For counties, regions or states

Examples: 

  • North Yorkshire
  • Texas 

For geographical nouns

Examples:

  • The Nile
  • The Alps

For nationality-based adjectives

Examples:

  • French cuisine
  • Russian literature

For nationality-based nouns

This can relate to languages or a person’s nationality.

Examples:

  • His first language is German.
  • She has a particular interest in Australian animals. 

 

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