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After Colons
To capitalize or not to capitalize after colons? Opinion
varies.
Spark-Notes almost always keeps words after colons lowercased. Even
if a colon precedes a complete sentence, we don’t capitalize the
word after the colon.
• After work, Theodora picked up three
items at the store: lotion, bobby pins, and a fashion magazine.
• Nigel and Emmanuelle hatched a brilliant
plan: they would forge a note and go to the lake for the day.
Note that proper names following colons should always
be capitalized.
• Mr. Roberts’s class is full of superstars:
Mandy, for example, is a baton twirler of the highest caliber.
Colons may be used to introduce lines of dialogue,
as in a play script. Follow normal capitalization rules.
• JACK: Come on, just calm down. BELINDA:
Don’t you dare patronize me!
Ethnic Groups
Capitalize the names of ethnic groups.
• Nearly every group on campus was represented,
including Caucasians, African Americans, Arabs, Latinos, and Asians.
For Emphasis
It’s usually a bad idea to capitalize entire words
for emphasis. Don’t use full caps unless you have a truly compelling
reason for doing the written equivalent of screaming.
Undesirable: Nicky
considered the painting UNBELIEVABLY beautiful.Better: Nicky considered the painting unbelievably beautiful.
Grades
Capitalize grades.
• As punishment for the two Fs on his
report card, Oscar was grounded for a week.
Place Names
In general, don’t capitalize words that come from place
names.
• french fries, roman numeral, swiss
cheese
Places
Don’t capitalize words that suggest general location.
• A north wind brought snow, delighting
the students.
• Sharrod’s southern accent charmed the
ladies.
Capitalize words that stand in for proper names of
locations.
• A typical easterner, Kate felt out
of place in the South.
Capitalize nicknames for places.
• Before he turned forty, Gus had lived
in the Big Apple, Silicon Valley, the Sunshine State, and the Lone
Star State.
Capitalize words like street, boulevard,
and lane only if they follow street names.
• Take a right on Orchard Street. The
next street on the left is ours.
Capitalize the names of buildings.
• Mrs. Hannigan wanted the place to shine
like the top of the Chrysler Building.
Capitalize words like federation, empire, state,
and kingdom only if they are part of a place name.
• During his visit to the United Kingdom,
Howard ate hundreds of pub lunches.
Questions in Sentences
If a question is asked within a sentence, the first
word of that question need not begin with a capital
letter.
• The question becomes, why do I crave
french fries so desperately?
• Ms. Astrid’s languid query, is that
all there is? worried her audience.
Quotations
When quoting text, heed basic grammar rules. If the
text you want to quote begins with a capital letter, but the construction
of your sentence demands a lowercase letter, you may use brackets
to indicate that you’ve changed the text.
• According to Alcott, “[l]ove is a great
beautifier.”
When omitting text from a quotation, capitalize the
first word after an ellipsis (. . .) if that word is the beginning
of a full sentence.
• “The most winning woman I ever knew
was hanged for poisoning three little children. . . . [T]he most
repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent
nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”
Religious Words
The question of whether or not to capitalize religious
words is an individual one. SparkNotes capitalizes God but
does not capitalize he or his in
relation to God.
• In Sunday school, the kids study God
and His word.
• In Sunday school, the kids study God
and his word.
Titles of Works
Capitalize the major words in a title.
• We recently saw How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying.
Don’t capitalize minor short words—articles (a, an, the),
coordinating conjunctions (and, but, nor, or, yet),
and short prepositions (to, on, in, etc.).
• We recently saw A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum.
How short is short? It’s a matter of personal preference;
we recommend capitalizing five-letter and longer prepositions.
• I’ve never read Travels with
Charlie nor heard “Over the River and Through the Woods.”
We also recommend capitalizing all verbs and pronouns,
even if they are very short.
• “This Is His Face: Identifying Features
of Prepubescent Males”
Capitalize prepositions used adverbially, such as on in
the phrase you turn me on.
• Turn Up the Volume: The History
of Critical Reception in Rock ’n’ Roll
• “Looking Out for Number One”
• Eight Votes For, Four Against:
The Prosecution Rests
Always capitalize the first and last words in a title.
• Willa listened to “Bring It On” on
the way to the gym.
Capitalize the first word of a subtitle.
• Isaac’s class studied Patricia:
The Dark Mistress of Twilight.
Personal Titles
There is no need to capitalize titles that stand on
their own. Unless titles precede names, keep them lowercased.
• After she was elected president of
the student council, Lila insisted that everyone call her President
Lila Jones.
• After the war, the general pontificated
from his armchair.
• Barnard College attracts everyone from
hippies to future politicians; all of its students love the college.
• The dean of the University cracked
down on after-hours parties.
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