Questions tagged [capitalization]
This tag is for questions about the use of capital letters in writing.
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1answer
18 views
Correct capitalization in figure caption
I'm writing my thesis and it has many figures in it.
I was wondering when I should use upper case and when do I need to use lower case in the caption.
For example:
Figure 23: Lateral moment vs ...
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0answers
29 views
When a quotation is interrupted by someone finishing the quotation's sentence, should the second part be capitalized?
My question has to do with the following example:
“And remember to turn off the stove after using it in the mornings,
and—”
“Put up all the ingredients,” I finished for my mother with a
...
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0answers
27 views
Is capitalization of the personal pronoun “I” a modern thing in English? [duplicate]
In an answer to a question I asked, the user included an extract from a text seemingly written in older English. Not Old English, but definitely older English, made evident by the fact it spelled e.g. ...
2
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2answers
53 views
Capitalisation in texts where the title is also a concept that is referred to within the text?
I'm going to use Karpman's drama triangle as an example for my question because I can't seem to find any consistency around its capitalisation (although I'll admit I don't own the book).
Say you have ...
0
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0answers
30 views
Is it appropriate to capitalise 'office' in situations like 'our London Office'?
I can't seem to find any specific guidelines for this despite some Googling, but I'm aware that department names become capitalised when referring to a specific department, as do team names and so on. ...
2
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0answers
40 views
All-caps trademark usage. Do I have to follow the all-caps recommendation? [duplicate]
There is a trademark product that is registered with all-caps (example: MATLAB®). However, the all-caps formatting is usually considered bad practice, so the spelling with only title-caps (Matlab) has ...
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0answers
36 views
Should You Capitalize Attorney General?
I know that we should not capitalize titles in general except when in front of a name or used as a direct address or replaces a proper name (not certain of this last point). However, I cannot ...
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0answers
22 views
Should I capitalize the letter labels before nouns? For example, “person A” or “sentence B”?
Often I find myself explaining things where person A says something, and person B says something, or sentence A or sentence B is more correct. I’m used to seeing “Professor Bob” where words like “...
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2answers
63 views
What is the correct capitalization for “zip file? ”
Because "zip" is not an acronym, my feeling is that it should be "zip file." However, I've seen "ZIP File" and "ZIP file" commonly. What is correct?
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37 views
Should I capitalise short phrases of dialogue in the middle of a sentence?
He chanted "activate" to activate his powers.
or
He chanted "Activate" to activate his powers.
This question is specifically for short phrases, not entire sentences.
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1answer
42 views
Is “mom” a proper noun when it refers to multiple individual mothers?
Having read When should "Mom" and "Dad" be capitalized?, I am confused about what feels like an edge case to me. Context:
A client wants to send out an email to multiple ...
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3answers
59 views
When referring to the capitalised version of letter in text, should uppercase or lowercase be used?
In practice, which would be correct: "Does the word begin with a capital m?" or "Does the word begin with a capital M"?
In that situation I'm minded to use M, because that's what I'm referring to, ...
0
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1answer
43 views
Capital letter in the word City [duplicate]
When should a capital letter be used for the word city?
E.g
spark innovation in the city....
The city has an opportunity....
The city is growing...
Would I use a capital in any of the above ...
0
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0answers
27 views
In American English are the following three examples good to use for colon capitalization useage? [duplicate]
I know that a variant of this question has been asked before, and recalled what my Creative writing teacher told me about when to use capitalization after a colon, by using the following three example ...
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2answers
39 views
Capitalization of president in very specific sentence structure
I know the general rules about when to capitalize "president" but our opinion is divided on this example. It was a headline along these lines.
Trump meets new Kazakh President Nazarbayev in ...
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2answers
55 views
Do you capitalize Lake when you are referring back to proper noun Tahoe Lake [duplicate]
If I state a proper noun such as Tahoe Lake, and then later in sentence refer to the lake, do I capitalize lake when it refers back to the proper name Tahoe Lake?
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3answers
64 views
Acronyms - Uppercase, Lowercase, or either
Is there a rule on acronyms being spelled out with the first letter of each word being uppercase or lowercase?
Example:
interim final rule (IFR)
Interim Final Rule (IFR)
0
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1answer
30 views
Capitalization With Hyphen in Length-Limited Title
Imagine a scenario where you had to write the following title:
A Scientific Breakthrough
However, you were limited in length and had to split it. Do you capitalize “through” even though the original ...
0
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1answer
40 views
Department or department? [closed]
I have been asked to review a document but I have a dilemma:
"D" in below phrase should be capital?
"It can flourish collaboration among the members of the Department"?
Or job title:
"The ...
0
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1answer
37 views
1
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1answer
26 views
Number and Capitalization of Phrase [closed]
At work we have what we call "environments" (groups of computers, essentially). Each environment has a number (e.g., Environment 1). I maintain a list of the environments. I am unsure how to ...
0
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1answer
25 views
Do I capitalize course concentrations? [closed]
We offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with concentrations in Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, or Crafts and a Digital Media Arts degree with concentrations in Video or Animation.
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0answers
21 views
Capital letters in product composition?
I am trying to find out why I see product composition written with capital letters, such as 70% Polycarbonate 20% Silicone 10% Thermoplastic Elastomer. Why is that? Is there an official rule or is it ...
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0answers
27 views
Conversion of all-cap acronyms to first letter only; when did NASA become Nasa? [duplicate]
The BBC will often refer to well recognized organizations named by an acronym by capitalizing only the first letter. For example, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration written as all ...
43
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3answers
4k views
Why is quixotic not Quixotic (a proper adjective)?
Adjectives derived from proper nouns are known as proper adjectives, and are capitalized:
A piece of writing could be Shakespearean, not shakespearean.
A person may be Canadian, not canadian.
Even ...
0
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2answers
44 views
When I say 'She teaches high school English', do I use H and S as capital? (American English)
When I say 'She teaches high school English', do I use H and S as capital? (American English)
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0answers
21 views
“Battle of…” and “seige of…” capitalization
I edit a lot of military history articles, and I know that named battles use a capital "B" for "Battle", e.g. the Battle of Agincourt. However, when it's a siege rather than a pitched battle, most ...
0
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0answers
32 views
Is it command-line or command line and where to capitalize? [duplicate]
not sure if the word has a hyphen, and if I should write 'line' with capital letter if it does.
0
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1answer
29 views
Hyphens and capitalization [closed]
I am editing a document. The writer used the hyphenated form of "Company-Wide" in the article title. Note that the writer bot only hyphenated the word; the writer also capitalized "Wide." Is this ...
0
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1answer
68 views
capitalisation of 'mum' [duplicate]
Which reference to 'mum' in the following text shouild be capitalised, and which not capitalised? I'm confused...
...................................................................
What? Did you ...
1
vote
1answer
172 views
When referring to the British Empire, should the 'e' be capitalised?
When referring to the British Empire, or any empire with a specific title, should the 'e' of 'empire' always be capitalised?
If so, does the rule also apply even if only 'empire' of full 'British ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Capitalization of “you are here” on maps?
I understand that capitalization "rules," aside from capitalizing the beginning of a sentence and so forth, are less steadfast rules and are more (somewhat arbitrary in my opinion) style guidelines ...
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2answers
145 views
Should the plural form of “daphnia” be used if there is more than one?
For my science fair, I am confused on if I should write, "daphnia", "daphnias", or "Daphnia" regarding to the species, especially multiple of them.
Is there a certain time to use the word in upper ...
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0answers
33 views
Correct capitalization when starting a sentence or headline with a parenthesized word
What is the correct way of capitalizing the following sentence?
(Most) people are good.
Should people also be capitalized? Or is it incorrect that most is capitalized?
Finally, does the same ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Should DevOps be in pascal case?
What are your thoughts on the word DevOps? Most big brands in the field (Atlassian, Puppet) use pascal case for all instances of the word, even if it's in the middle of a sentence, as in: "The concept ...
0
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1answer
139 views
Do you capitalize yakuza?
When referring to the infamous Japanese criminal organization, which sentence would be correct?
The yakuza member picked up his glasses, scooped some of the jewelry and loose change into his ...
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2answers
45 views
Capitalization and hyphenation of proper name derived from a number sequence
I'm writing a sci-fi novel in which humans travel to a nearby star known by the catalog number Gliese 892, where they encounter a sentient species.
Listening to numerous videos about such stars, it ...
2
votes
1answer
35 views
Capitalization - Students with Disabilities
In a section, I am writing using statistics including Black, White, and Hispanic. In the same section, I also reference a statistic for Students with Disabilities.
Should Students with Disabilities ...
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2answers
52 views
After starting a sentence with a name, do you capitalize the next part of the same sentence?
For example, in the case of the following sentence, do you capitalize the "Good Morning!" and the next part "It..."?
Mr. Smith, Good Morning! It was a pleasure meeting you the other day.
Please ...
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votes
3answers
1k views
Capitalizing a word mid-sentence
I am creating an ad for a newspaper and want to emphasize a word. Can I use a capital for the word and follow with an exclamation point in the middle of a sentence?
Here is what I am saying:
CRC ...
2
votes
1answer
193 views
Should Chartered Accountant be capitalised in a professional profile or CV
I regularly prepare professional profiles for a client to use in proposals and on their website. They work in a sector where excessive capitalisation is endemic, so I often have to explain my reasons ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Capitalization of titles in an essay where the original work does not capitalize its title according to style (MLA)
In my essay (MLA), I talk about Kendrick Lamar's album titled good kid, m.A.A.d city (stylized like that). Which of the following ways would be the correct way to title my essay:
Kendrick Lamar's ...
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vote
3answers
561 views
Can the word “staff” be written with capital S?
Can I use capital S in the sentence below? The word staff refers to a unit.
The Board of Directors and the staff of x company wish you a happy and peaceful New Year!
Thank you!
0
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1answer
37 views
Chemical elements spelled out are not capitalised but what about Natural Gas?
A quick google shows that natural gas is generally capitalised whereas the rule for chemical elements seems to be that they are not. I am writing a text that includes Natural Gas (I cannot replace ...
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vote
2answers
96 views
Using capital case on every word of a title [duplicate]
I have to write a post for my college website and it is the format of a "listicle". An introduction followed by short paragraphs with each paragraph getting a heading. My question is regarding these ...
0
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1answer
84 views
How to emphasize the word I in a sentence?
So usually if I want to emphasize a word in a sentence (casual conversation not professional writing style) I'll capitalize it. Or maybe bold if that formatting option is available. But the word "I" ...
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3answers
106 views
Capitalization of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
An epithetical question: Should ALL of Rudolph "the red-nosed reindeer" be capitalized? Why or why not, and where do we draw the line?
This was inspired by some seasonal discussion on this question ...
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votes
2answers
158 views
Should repeated words after an ellipsis be capitalized?
I've searched everywhere, including questions about whether to capitalize after a stutter (no), capitalize after an ellipsis (no if it's a continuation of a sentence, yes if it's a new sentence), but ...
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vote
1answer
40 views
Capitalize name of document section when used in text sentence?
I file briefs with appellate courts. Each brief has a section called a "Table of Contents" and one called a "Table of Authorities," where the "C" and the "A" are capitalized because those phrases are ...
0
votes
1answer
405 views
Proper noun capitalisation: “The Union” or “the Union”? [duplicate]
When capitalising a proper noun that has a “the” prefix, should the “the” be capitalised?
Eg:
“This puts the Union at risk”
or:
“This puts The Union at risk”
