Capitalization

Using Capital Letters  Les Hanson 2002 Overview  This presentation reviews the rules you (should) already know as well as some of the tricky aspects of capitalization  It deals with the following topics: Sentences Lists   In general, specific names require capitals Lake the Titles Names Superior, Fred, Great Depression General names do not require capitals prairies, my uncle, a recession Sentences  Capitalize the first word of a sentence  And the first word of a quoted sentence  She said, “You are stupid.”  Don’t capitalize the second part of a fragmented quotation  “You are stupid,” she said, “and your mother dresses you funny.”  Don’t capitalize partial quotes  He talked of the “plausible deniability” of the scheme. Lists  Capitalize sentences that follow a colon  Capitalize the first word of each item in a vertical list  These  Remember this: Grammar is boring.  Don’t capitalize words in horizontal lists  Language  Colons  Semicolons  Dashes punctuation marks are confusing: is made up of numerous parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Titles of books, articles, and songs  Capitalize the first, last, and all important words in a title  Don’t capitalize short articles, prepositions, and conjunctions  As You Like It  The Merry Wives of Windsor  Love’s Labours Lost  Taming of the Shrew  The Merchant of Venice  Capitalize the specific names of people, places, and institutions   Names and Titles Stockwell Day, Alberta, Canadian Alliance party leader, communist, fascist, right wing Aunt Polly  But not general references Prime Minister Chretien,  Capitalize titles that precede names   But not when used alone, or after names   The minister was demoted to the back benches Bill, my uncle, sat beside Gary Doer, premier of Manitoba Names of Groups  Capitalize races, religions, and languages  Bosnian, Buddhism, French, Cree  Do not capitalize general references  aboriginal, A white, black, fundamentalist  Some words vary according to usage native speaker of English  A Native from the Yukon (used as a substitute for “Indian”  Australian Aborigines have certain aboriginal rights Product Names  Capitalize brand names and trademarks  Do not capitalize generic product names  Capitalize words derived from proper nouns  Freudian slip, Swiss cheese, English muffin scotch  pasteurize,  cola,  Coke, Kleenix, Roller Blades, Popsicle tissues, inline skates, flavoured ice  Eventually such words lose their capitals french fry, panama hat, Dates and Directions  Capitalize days of the week, months, holidays  But not seasons  summer, I  Monday, June, Thanksgiving fall, winter  Don’t capitalize directions  Unless it refers to a specific location  Fighting broke out in the Middle East  Winter roads are common in the North drove north for two blocks Course Names  Capitalize specific names of courses  History 101, Intermediate Basketweaving, a Bachelor of Arts degree  But not general references to courses  geography, communication, accounting  He is studying engineering Interactive Exercise  Click on the buttons below or key in the links to do interactive exercises on capitalization (and to receive a dose of Winnipeg trivia)  http://xnet.rrc.mb.ca/leshanson/Hot_Potat o/Capitalization_1.htm  http://xnet.rrc.mb.ca/leshanson/Hot_Potat o/Capitalization_2.htm Capitalization 1 Capitalization 2