Capitalization Lesson | When to Capitalize in the English Language

[EDUCATOR] Capitalization.

The rules of capitalization
in the English language

can seem overwhelming,
but really there are only

three things that we capitalize,
and those would be proper

nouns, titles and headings,
and the first word in a

sentence and the pronoun I.

We're going to cover each one
of these cases in a little

more detail, and the goal of
this lesson is by the end of it,

you'll be much better at knowing
when to capitalize letters

in the English language.

The first case of
words that are always

capitalized are proper nouns.

A noun is a person,
place, or a thing.

Proper nouns refer to
specific people, places,

things, and brands.

We always capitalize proper
nouns, and some examples of

proper nouns are Matthew,
Chicago, and Kleenex.

Whenever these words appear in
any sentence you're writing,

you should always capitalize
the first letter of those words.

However, there are
also common nouns.

Common nouns refer to general
people, places, and things.

We never capitalize common
nouns nouns unless they're

the first word in the sentence.

Here are some examples of
common nouns, kid, city, tissue.

Now if you notice my examples
for proper nouns and my examples

for common nouns align.

Matthew is the proper
noun version of kid.

Chicago is a proper
noun version of city.

And Kleenex is a proper
noun version of the

common noun tissue.

Notice Matthew, Chicago,
and Kleenex are always

capitalized because they're
proper nouns, and kid, city,

and tissue are never capitalized
unless they are the first

word in a new sentence.

Since understanding proper nouns
is essential to capitalization,

we're going to stop right here
and do a quick practice.

What I'm going to do
is show you a noun.

You will, either on a separate
sheet of paper or in your head

right now decide whether each
is a common or proper noun.

If you know that
the noun is proper,

I would like you to
find a common noun

version of that proper noun.

And if the word word
is a common noun,

I'd like you to find
a proper noun version

of that common noun.

Let's try it out.

Eiffel Tower.

Is Eiffel Tower a common
noun or a proper noun?

If it's a common noun, think
of the proper noun version.

If it's a proper noun, think
of the common noun version.

Teacher.

Again, decide whether it's
a common or proper noun.

If it's a common noun,
think of a proper noun

version of teacher,
and if it's a proper noun,

think of a common noun
version of teacher.

Car.

Africa.

If I'm moving too quickly,
feel free to pause this video.

Language.

Okay, I'm going to show
you the answers that I got.

Your answers are quite
likely to be different

than the ones I thought of,
but the answers I came up

with should give you some
guidance as to whether you're

on the right track or not.

Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower is a proper noun.

The common noun version I
thought of was monument.

You might have also came up with
landmark, or sculpture, or some

other common noun version of
Eiffel Tower, the proper noun.

Teacher.

Teacher is a common
noun and I chose Mr.

Morton to represent the
proper noun version of

the common noun teacher.

Car.

Car is a common noun.

I chose Ford Escort,
my first car to represent

the proper noun version
of the common noun car.

Africa.

Africa is a proper noun.

Continent is the the
common noun version

that I chose to represent
the proper noun Africa.

Language.

Language is a common noun,
and I chose English as the

proper noun representative
of the common noun language.

We always capitalize proper
nouns no matter where they

appear in the sentence.

This is the first case of things
that we always capitalize in

the English language.

The second case is
titles and headings.

We always capitalize words in
title or heading, except we

don't capitalize little words.

By little words,
I'm talking about

articles like
the, a, or an,

conjunctions like
and or but,

or prepositions
like in, with.

We don't capitalize those words
when they appear in a title,

unless they are the first
word in the title.

Here are some examples of how we
capitalize titles and headings.

We read Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies,
the title of a book.

As a title,
we always

capitalize Lord
of the Flies.

But you will notice the words
of and the are not capitalized.

The reason why we don't
capitalize of and the in

this title is because
they are little words.

Of is being used as
a preposition and

the is an article,
so we don't capitalize

those in this title.

I listened to The Marriage
of Figaro by Mozart.

Here we have the
title of a song.

As with titles of novels
or shows or movies,

we capitalize every
word in the title.

Again, as with Lord of
the Flies, we do not

capitalize the word of
because it's a little word,

but we do capitalize the
word the in this case,

and that's because it's
the first word in the title.

Like when we start a sentence,
when we start a title, we always

capitalize the first word,
even if it's a little word.

And here's one more example of
capitalizing the first letter

of all the words in a title.

Many presidents have met
with Prime Minister May.

Here, we're not talking
about the title of a book,

or the title of the song,
but rather a professional title,

the title that a person holds.

And when we're giving that
title to a specific person

and it's attached to that
person's name, we capitalize

every word of that title.

That is why Prime Minister
May is capitalized.

However, if you look
at the word presidents,

presidents here is being
used as a common noun,

a general group of presidents,
not a specific or proper noun.

If we were referring
to President Lincoln,

for example, we would always
capitalize the word president,

because it's used as a title
attached to a person's name.

One thing to consider when
you're capitalizing titles

that can be complicated is class
titles or titles of courses.

We're talking about
specific course titles.

Knowing when and which words
to capitalize on the title of a

class can be really complicated.

But again, it sort of just
points back to our first rule

about capitalizing proper nouns.

So when we have a
specific course title,

that's a proper noun.

Here are some examples where we
capitalize course titles because

they refer to specific courses.

I am in Earth Science 101.

Here we capitalize both the E
in Earth and the S in science.

And the reason we do this
is because we're referring

to a specific course called
Earth Science 101.

I take Algebra 1 and
English Literature 2.

In this sentence,
we see the words

algebra, English,
and literature

all capitalized.

And the reason why we
capitalized all of these

words is because they are
the titles of specific

courses, proper nouns,
which are always capitalized.

We also have general
course titles,

and those are
common nouns.

Here are some examples
of course titles being

used as common nouns.

I like Earth science.

Here we do not capitalize
the S in science.

The reason why is because
science is a common noun.

We never capitalize the word
science unless it appears as

the first word in a sentence
or is attached to a course

title and refers to a specific
course as a proper noun.

However, the E in Earth
is always capitalized.

Any time we use the word
Earth, even as an adjective,

such as here describing a type
of science, we always capitalize

Earth, because Earth is a proper
noun, even in adjective form.

I like English literature
more than algebra.

We do not capitalize
the words literature or

algebra because they are
common nouns, but we still

capitalize the word English.

Though it is being used as
an adjective to describe

the type of literature,
we always capitalize the

names of countries or languages
no matter where or how they

are used, because they are
rooted in a proper noun.

We capitalize proper
nouns everywhere.

So far we have talked
about two cases where

you capitalize words.

Those would be, number 1, proper
nouns, always capitalized,

and number 2, titles.

Whether it's the title
of a book, class,

or professional title,
we capitalize every word in the

title unless it's a little word.

We still have one more case of
capitalization to look at, and

that would be first word and I.

We always capitalize the
first word in a sentence

and the pronoun I.

You probably already know
this, but since we're

covering capitalization,
let's take a look at it.

We left.

Since we is beginning the
sentence, we capitalize it.

Then Tim said, do you get it?

In this sentence,
we have three capitalizations.

First, we have the word then,
which is capitalized because

it's starting the sentence.

Next, we have the word Tim,
which is capitalized because

it's a proper noun.

But thirdly,
we have the word

do, which is also
capitalized because

it's starting a sentence.

So well, it seems like a
continuation of the first

part of the sentence,
it's actually treated

as a whole new sentence.

So we capitalize the first
letter in any dialogue

the moment it begins.

So I said, yes, I get it.

So here you see we're not
only capitalizing so and yes,

because they are words that
are beginning sentences,

we also see that we are
capitalizing the pronoun

I every time we use it
no matter where in the

sentence it appears.

In review, capitalization rules
in the English language can be

explained in very complicated
ways, but really there are only

three cases where we capitalize.

We capitalize these
things, proper nouns,

including brand names,
are always capitalized.

Titles and headings,
except little words

are always capitalized.

And the first word in a
sentence and the pronoun

I are always capitalized.

Okay, that's all the
instruction I'm going

to offer you for today,
but I do have a short

practice activity if
you'd like to review

what you've learned.

You can complete this activity
on your own with a piece

of paper or in your head,
we'll cover the answers,

or if you're doing this
with your teacher, just do

whatever your teacher says.

Now here's some practice
problems to help you

review capitalization.

Here's what I want you to do.

I'm going to show you sentences.

You will write down the
sentences and while you are

doing so, you will correctly
capitalize each sentence.

While you are doing so, you
will also write a letter under

each capitalization you make.

Put the letter A if
it's a proper noun.

Put the letter B if you're
capitalizing the word because

it's a word in a title, or put
the letter C if you're making

the capitalization because
it's the first word in a

sentence or the pronoun I.

So again, write the sentences
down, fix the capitalization

while you write them down,
and then note why you are

capitalizing, either
because it's a proper

noun, a word in a title,
or the first word in a sentence

with the pronoun I. Let's begin.

Tom ran to the Harold
Washington Library.

You may want to pause
these examples if I'm

not giving you enough time.

He met with Chief
Librarian Roberts,

the woman who ran
the whole library.

Tom was good at math,
but was getting a low grade

in his Reading 101 course.

Get ready for a curveball.

The Chief Librarian
helped Tom research Apple

iPhones for his report.

Ooooooooh!

Apple iPhones!

How do you capitalize that?

Why do you capitalize
it like that?

And lastly, Tom said,
'Thanks for the help

with my reading class.'

Okay, let's look
at some answers.

Tom ran to the Harold
Washington Library.

In this sentence,
we capitalize Tom

not only because
it's the first word in

the sentence, but also
because it's a proper noun.

We also capitalize
Harold Washington Library

because Harold Washington
Library is a proper noun.

It refers to a specific library,
and library would be the common

noun version of Harold
Washington Library.

He met with Chief
Librarian Roberts.

Here we capitalize the
word he because it's the

first word in a sentence,
but we also capitalize

Chief Librarian Roberts.

We capitalize Roberts
as a proper noun because

that's a person's name,
but we also capitalize Chief

Librarian because it's attached
to Roberts as part of her title.

Tom was good at math but
was getting a low grade

in his reading 101 course.

Again we capitalize Tom
as a proper noun and the

first word in the sentence.

I also capitalize Reading 101.

And the reason why I do this
is because it's a proper noun.

It's the title of
a specific course.

Had you put A or B there, that
would have been fine for me.

Continuing on.

The chief librarian
helped Tom research Apple

iPhones for his report.

This one was a
little bit trickier.

It's kind of fun thinking about.

So we capitalize the word the as
the first word in the sentence,

and we should capitalize
the word Tom and Apple.

I see I did neither.

I'm going to have
to work on that.

But yeah, Tom and Apple should
both be capitalized.

I'm not about to go
re-record this whole

thing because I didn't
capitalize those two words.

But know that yours should
be capitalized unlike mine

because Tom is a proper noun
and Apple is also a proper noun,

brand name, name of a company.

The word iPhones we spell
in that way because that's

how they say it's spelled.

It's their product.

They can break all the
conventions of English

language and spell it
however they want as

they have done here,
and we just sort of

have to respect that.

So well, you should spell
iPhones with a i and a P,

the only reason we do that is
because we respect that company.

They determine how to spell
the name of their product.

Lastly, Tom said,
'Thanks for the help

with my reading class.'

And here we see we capitalize
Tom, not only as a proper noun,

but the first word
of the sentence.

We also capitalize thanks,
because while it seems like

a continuation of Tom said,
that's actually treated

as a whole new sentence.

Thanks for following
along with me today.

Take a look at that link in
the description of this video.

That's going to lead you
right to my website where

I got a bunch of great free
resources on capitalization.

That includes worksheets,
PowerPoint lessons,

online tests, paper tests.

You're going to love it.

Click on through, stop by.

Thanks for listening
to me today.