The Use Of Capital Letters In The English Language

Most often while writing, some people are confused when it comes to capital letters; which word should start with a capital letter and under what circumstances?! This is because Capital Letter usage is mostly done by intuition by most of us; do you know exactly when to use capital letters? If yes, I invite you to see if you got it right - if no, you have come to the right place, continue your reading below.

When To Use Capital Letters?

1) Beginning of a sentence

This is the very basic and classical usage of capital letters in the english language and any language since old times.

2) When using proper nouns

E.g:
Wakish, Duffy, London, Manchester, November Jupiter, etc.

3) For adjectives formed from proper nouns

E.g:
Elizabethan poets, Scotch whisky, the French language

4) When using ’special proper nouns’

Please note that ‘special nouns‘ is not an official word class, but it is just how I’m personally tagging the following:
E.g:
God, Christ, Bible, Trinity, etc.

5) For a pronoun or possessive adjective applying to ‘God’

E.g:
“They trusted in God that He would save His people”

6) For the first person singular, I

But this does NOT apply for ‘me, my, etc..’

7) For personification (often used in poetry)

E.g:
- If Winter comes, can spring be far behind? (Shelley)

8.) For the chief words in title of people, books, plays, etc.

E.g:
Elizabeth the Second, Alfred the Great, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Tale of Two Cities

9) For salutations or forms of addressing (often in letters)

E.g:
Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss, etc.

10) In letters, for the greeting and complimentary close

E.g:
Dear Sir,…
Yours faithfully,…

11) When using abbreviations of degrees, titles, etc..

E.g:
B.Sc ==> Bachelor of Science
Q.C ==> Queen’s Counsel
M.P ==> Member of Parliament

12) For the opening words of direct speech

E.g:
“Blogging is my passion as well as my job”, said Darren Rowse

But the capital letter should not be repeated in the second part of a broken quotation:

“I am working hard now,” he said, “in order to provide for my old age.”

13) For the first word in each line of poetry

E.g:
First liner..
Second liner..
Third liner..

But this convention, as far as I remember, is however being disregarded by modern poets. (New generation, new styles)

Have I missed Any Other Uses Of Capital Letters?

If you think so, please do use the comment form below to add to this list, thanks.