Here’s this month’s addition to the ‘Mechanics’ section of your Written Communication Tool Kit – Capitalization:
Capitalize
- Proper nouns – The names of people, animals, places, days, months, holidays and publications.
- The first word of a direct quote. Example – ‘’The user clearly said, “We need it by Friday.”
- The first word and all main words of a title (book, magazine, article, film, show) except articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, or, but), and short prepositions (in, on, of, to). Examples – “In Search of Excellence…”, “Harold Kerzner’s book Project Management…”
- The first word following a colon when what follows is a formal statement or question. Examples – “Here’s a smart rule: Work your plan and plan your work.”, “Ask yourself this question: Do I really want to improve?”
- Titles that precede or follow a name. Examples – “Division President Jackie Moss…”, “Jackie Moss, Division President …”, “Editor Robert Harvey…” , “Jane Stone, Editor…”
- One word sentences. Examples – “Now.” “Great!” “No!”
- The word “number” when used to designate something. Examples – “…room No. 4…” “…policy No. 970957…”
Don’t Capitalize
- The first word in an indirect quote. Example – “He said it took time to look for a new analyst.”
- Nouns representing family members when preceded by a pronoun. Examples – “Please call our father.”, “She hired her brother.”
- Names of seasons, unless they precede a noun. Examples – “Our profits are lower during the winter.”, “Our profits are lower during Winter quarter.”
- The first word in the second part of an interrupted quote. Example – “Let’s get moving on this,” he said, “or it will fail”
- The first word in a parenthetical sentence. Example – “Ed said (and we all agree) that the output must increase.”