In sentence case, the title is written as if it were a sentence. This is considered a more casual style and is commonly used in newspapers and on the web for headline capitalization.
There are a couple reasons why writers choose sentence case over title case:. Ordinary nouns and pronouns are not capitalized in sentence case. However, proper nouns within the title are still capitalized:. One of the complexities of the English language is that, for every rule you learn, there's probably an exception.
Here are some advanced rules for title capitalization. Capitalize subsequent elements unless they are articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor :. Do not capitalize the second element if the first element is a prefix that could not stand alone by itself such as anti- or pre-.
An open compound comes to life when a modifying adjective is used in conjunction with a noun. This creates a new noun. Hopefully, warning bells will signal in your mind, as nouns are almost always capitalized. Both Chicago and AP Stylebook guidelines say you should capitalize the first word after a colon in title case:.
In sentence case, you should capitalize the first word after a colon if it begins an independent clause. In sentence case do not capitalize the first word after a colon if the clause cannot stand alone. Prepositions often find themselves on the "do not capitalize" list.
However, when a preposition becomes an important part of a phrasal verb , it does need to be capitalized. When you're in doubt and you do not have a reference guide in front of you, here is one general rule recommended by The U. Government Printing Office Style Manual:. Capitalize all words in titles of publications and documents, except a, an, the, at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up, and, as, but, or, and nor.
Furthermore, no matter your personal preference, make sure you write the exact titles of books, newspapers, journals, and other publications as they are written on the original document even if they do not follow common capitalization rules. Knowing the general rules for capitalization in titles can help make the writing process easier.
Many of these rules also work for headline capitalization in articles as well. Take some time to familiarize yourself with these basic guidelines, and you'll be all set the next time you need to write a bibliography or reference a title in your writing.
All rights reserved. Common Title Capitalization Rules. Capitalize the First and Last Word In all three styles, always capitalize the first and last word of any title. Capitalize Nouns and Pronouns You should capitalize nouns and pronouns in titles in all three styles. Well, let's compare two style guides to clarify some of the differences that exist.
According to The Chicago Manual of Style 8. However, some style guides allow words that are longer than five letters to be capitalized such as the style guide of the Associated Press. Here are some useful links that provide more information on the rules for title case capitalization according to various style guides:.
Though properly capitalizing a title of your own might be difficult, we hope that this guide has eliminated some of the confusion regarding what to capitalize in a title. The majority of the rules are pretty straightforward, but others such as the capitalization of prepositions vary among style guides. Make sure you know which style guide you want to use and that you stick to it.
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Related Posts. Hyphenation: Are You Confused? Are hyphens causing havoc in your humanities papers? Have dashes destroyed your dissertation? Don't let punctuation puzzle you any longer; we are here to help. The Rules of Capitalization Capitalization in English entails quite a bit more than simply knowing to begin names and titles with capital letters. To be successful, follow these simple capitalization rules. The Student's Guide to Grammar and Punctuation When writing a paper, never underestimate the importance of correct grammar and punctuation.
In AP title case, prepositions of four or more letters such as between , above , and below should be capitalized. However, the Chicago Manual of Style says to lowercase all prepositions, regardless of their length.
So if you were writing the following title of this novella, you would write it this way, according to Chicago style:. But if you were following AP style, you would write it this way:. Consider these additional examples of correctly capitalized titles which meet the criteria in any style guide to help guide you:. East of Eden was a popular book by John Steinbeck. The sitcom Two and a Half Men explores the lives of two brothers.
The same rule regarding title capitalization applies to subtitles. See the examples below:. Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando: A Biography.
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