Capitalisation Rules

CAPITALISATION RULES
Study the following dos and don'ts carefully in order for you to
know the words that should be written with initial capital
letters. Some of them might surprise you.
1. Capitalise the first word of a quoted sentence.

a. Example – He said, ‘Treat me as you would your own son.’
Note: If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence,

capitalise it only if it’s a complete sentence. If it’s merely a
phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it does not
require capitalisation. Study the following two examples for
clarification:
Compare these:
•The waiter said, “My manager will be here shortly,” but he
never came.
•The waiter told us that his manager would “be here shortly,”
but he never came.
2. Capitalise a proper noun.

a. Personal names —Chioma, Ojo, Montell, Jonathan Ebele,
etc.
b. Geographic places: Lake Chad, Nigeria, Asia, National Park,
Olumo Rock
c. Names of famous and important places – Golden Gate
Bridge, Windsor Castle, Aso Rock, The White House,
Westminster Abbey, etc.
d. Names and adjectives of religion sacred things —
i. Christianity/a Christian/Christian faithful
ii. Islam/a Muslim/Muslim faithful.
iii. Bible, Qur'an, Talmud, Scripture
e. Names of races and nationalities:

Examples - Caucasian, African American, Spaniard, Indian
f. The pronoun ‘I’ (wherever it appears in a sentence)
g. Names of most stars and planets:
Examples - Milky Way, Jupiter
i. Names of institutions, organisations, and government
agencies:
Examples - Central Bank of Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State
University, Red Cross Society, National Security Agency
h. Names of states, streets, and places i. general: Akwa Ibom
State, Brownson Street, etc.
3. Capitalise a person’s title when it precedes their name.

This one may seem obvious, but there’s also a catch. Of
course, you capitalise the first letters of a person’s first, middle
and last names (John Quincy Adams), but you also capitalize
suffixes (Jr., the Great, Princess of Power, etc.) and titles.
Titles can be as simple as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., but they also apply
to situations wherein you address a person by his or her
position as though it’s their first name. For example, when we
talk about President Lincoln, we are using his role as though it
were a part of his name. We don’t always capitalise the word
president. Indeed, we could say, "During the Civil War, President
Lincoln was the president of the United States."
Another way to look at capitalising job titles is to look at the

position of the job title in the sentence in reference to the
person's name.
You should capitalise the title when it come immediately before

or after someone's name.
You don't have to capitalise the job title if it comes after the
word "the."
For example: "Dr. Rogers was the Cardiac Surgeon." "The

cardiac surgeon allowed me to come into the room and
observe the patient."
a. Example – Chairperson/Chairman Godfrey
Do not capitalise when the title is acting as a description
following the name.
b. Example – Ms Eugene, the 'chairperson' of the company, will
address us at noon.
e. Do not capitalise names of currencies:
naira, dollar, pound (sterling), etc.
4. Capitalise the person’s title when it follows the name on the

address or signature line.
a. Example – Mrs Ekanem, Chairperson/Chairlady
5. Capitalise the titles of high-ranking government officials
when used with or before their names.
b. Governor Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins,
Attorney General Dalloway, and Senators James and Twain will
attend.
Do not capitalise the civil title if it is used instead of the name.
a. Examples – The governors, lieutenant governors, and
attorney generals are
called a special task force.
6. Capitalise any title when used as a direct address.

a. Will you take my temperature, Doctor?
7. Capitalise the points of a compass only when they refer to

specific regions.
a. Examples – We have had three relatives visit from the North.
Don't capitalise if they don't.
b. Go north and then turn left.
8. Always Capitalise the first and last words of titles of

publications, regardless of their parts of speech. Capitalise
other words within titles, including the short verb forms Is, Are,
and Be.
a. Exception: Do not Capitalise little words within titles such as
a, an, the, but, as, if,
and, or, nor, or prepositions, regardless of their length.
b. Example – The Day of the Jackal
9. Capitalise federal or state when used as part of an official
agency name or in government documents where these terms
represent an official name. If they are being used as general
terms, you may use lowercase letters.
a. Examples – The State Board of Equalization collects sales
taxes.
b. We will visit three states during our summer vacation.
10. You MAY capitalise words such as department, bureau, and

office if you have prepared
your text in the following way:
a. Example – The Bureau of Land Management has some
jurisdiction over Indian lands. The Bureau is finding its
administrative role to be challenging.
11. Do not Capitalise the names of seasons.

a. Example – I love autumn colors and spring flowers.
12. Capitalise the first word of a salutation and the first word
of a complimentary close.
a. Example – My dear Mr. Sanchez
b. Very truly yours
13. Capitalise words derived from proper nouns.

a. Example – I must take English and math.
i. Note: English is capitalized because it comes from the proper
noun
England, but math does not come from Mathland.
14. Capitalise the names of specific course titles.

a. Example – I must take history and Algebra 2.
15. After a sentence ending with a colon, do not capitalise the

first word if it begins a list.
a. Example – These are my favorite foods: chocolate cake,
spaghetti, and
artichokes.
16. Do not Capitalise when only one sentence follows a

sentence ending with a colon.
a. Example – I love Jane Smiley’s writing: her book, A
Thousand Acres, was beautiful.
17. Capitalise when two or more sentences follow a sentence

ending with a colon.
a. Example – I love Jane Smiley’s writing: her book, A
Thousand Acres, was beautiful. Also, Moo was clever.
18. Capitalise adjectives and adverbs derived from proper

nouns:
Examples:
From personal names, book/film characters:
a. The work before us is a Herculean task.
b. The put him in a Lilliputian cage.
c. She looked Christly in the red dress.
From names of places:
a. The poem is dedicated to an Anglo-Saxon warrior.
b. He wrote about a Grecian Urn.
19. Capitalise
a. Names of days of the week and months of the year: Monday,
May
b. Names of holidays and historical events: Veterans Day,
Workers' Day, Thanksgiving Day, Civil War, Industrial
Revolution, Dark Ages, Judgement Day
20. Capitalise brand names:

Examples - Kleenex, Heinz, Baby Ruth, Milo, Calvin Klein,
Globacom, etc.

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CAPITALISATION RULES

1. Capitalise the ﬁrst word of a quoted sentence.

Note: If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence,

2. Capitalise a proper noun.

e. Names of races and nationalities:

3. Capitalise a person’s title when it precedes their name.

Another way to look at capitalising job titles is to look at the

You should capitalise the title when it come immediately before

For example: "Dr. Rogers was the Cardiac Surgeon." "The

4. Capitalise the person’s title when it follows the name on the

6. Capitalise any title when used as a direct address.

7. Capitalise the points of a compass only when they refer to

8. Always Capitalise the ﬁrst and last words of titles of

10. You MAY capitalise words such as department, bureau, and

11. Do not Capitalise the names of seasons.

13. Capitalise words derived from proper nouns.

14. Capitalise the names of speciﬁc course titles.

15. After a sentence ending with a colon, do not capitalise the

16. Do not Capitalise when only one sentence follows a

17. Capitalise when two or more sentences follow a sentence

18. Capitalise adjectives and adverbs derived from proper

20. Capitalise brand names:

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