Posts Tagged ‘Capitalize’

When Do You Capitalize a Word?

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

I am always checking my style and grammar books to ensure that I am capitalizing words properly! It is not easy to remember all of the rules and regulations regarding capitalization.

But, a helpful way to remember when to capitalize (in most cases) is to use this phrase: Proper nouns and words derived from them are capitalized. Common nouns are not.

Here are some examples:

Weekdays, holidays and months are capitalized:

Monday
Tuesday
Labor Day
An exception is the Fourth of July. You would use the fourth of March.

Seasons, directions and events are not capitalized:

summer
north
northwest
my birthday
my anniversary.

Titles are capitalized when used with a name:

Example - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

But, it is not capitalized in this example:

The hearings for the secretary of state appointment begin today.

Capitalize the first, last and all major words of a title:

“The Long Hot Summer”
“Frannie and Zooey”
“The Red and the Black”

Capitalize the first word after a colon if it begins an independent clause: This may depend on whether you are using MLA Style or APA Style.

I found myself in an unusual position: My husband was not the man I thought he was. (APA)
I found myself in an unusual position: my husband was not the man I thought he was. (MLA)

Here are some other examples:

God (when used as a name)
god (when used as a description)
Aunt Judie
my aunt
English, French
history, mathematics, physical education
The World Wide Web and Web Site
a home page
Work War II
the war, a war
a Republican, a Democrat
an independent (but a member from the Independence Party)
I went to the game with Father.
His father was often at work on Saturdays.
The South (as an area)
the southern point
a southern state

If you have a question about capitalizing a word, look in the stylebooks in the index for “capitalization.” Most stylebooks provide exceptions.

You can also use a search engine on the Web to help you reference these types of questions. I have one site I like to use as well:

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp

But you can also go to the APA and MLA Websites for good information.

http://www.apastyle.org/
http://www.mla.org/

Tags: capitalizations, Capitalize
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How to Edit Christian Writing: God vs. god – Which is It?

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

So which is it? Well, it depends on how it is used. Many people tend to want to capitalize the word “god” all the time; let’s look at the context.

Chicago Manual of Style says that “understanding is best served by capitalizing only what are clearly proper nouns and adjectives in the context under discussion.” So basically, when the word “god” is used, look at its context. Is god used as a proper noun? In other words, can you replace “god” with a proper name? Consider the following sentences:

“It is a simple matter of believing in God.”
“What does God say about that?”
“It appears that the gods are angry.”
“Which god do you believe in?”

In the first two examples, God is used a proper noun and you can easily insert a proper name in place of “God” and the sentence still makes sense. Also, it is apparent that the sentences are referring to one Supreme Being, and that always requires capitalization. In the third and fourth examples, “god” is used as a regular noun and cannot be replaced with a proper name; you can see that the god in reference is rather generic and not specified.

All names referring to God as a supreme being are capitalized.

the Almighty
the Lord
the Supreme Being
the Holy Spirit
Jehovah
Yahweh
Jesus
the Messiah

You would only capitalize a prophet’s name or an apostle’s name, but not the word “prophet” or “apostle.”

the prophet Isaiah
the apostle Paul
the apostles

In Christian writing, there are very few times when there is cause to use the lowercase “god.” I think it’s safe to say that if you are a Christian writer, you are typically only speaking of one God—the Lord God Almighty—and any reference to him is always capitalized. Of course, there is always room for discussion of other topics and other gods in Christian writing, and that is where we exercise the distinction between the gods. Consistency is key so make sure you follow through with consistent capitalization throughout the text. Please note that even the names of deities of other religions are capitalized such as, Allah.

I love Christian writing. It is always a joy for me to read. It is close to my heart and I often get some clarity, revelation, or confirmation about something in my own life. Anyway, I hope this helps answer some questions.

Tags: Capitalize, Christian, Christian Publication, Christian Writing, God, Lord
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