Writer's Choice Grade 7

Unit 19: Capitalization

Overview

In writing, capital letters perform several functions. A capital letter identifies the beginning of a sentence, the beginning of a direct quotation, and the salutation and closing of a letter.

Capital letters also highlight important words in a sentence like proper nouns. The following are proper nouns: names of people, cities, states, countries, bodies of water, streets, highways, buildings, bridges, monuments, celestial bodies, organizations, brand names, days of the week, months, holidays, and ethnic groups. Adjectives that are formed from proper nouns are called proper adjectives and are always capitalized as well (Mexican cooking).

Capitalize titles and initials that come before someone's name (Capt. Jack or Principal Gutierrez; W. C. Fields). Names and abbreviations of academic degrees should be capitalized whenever they come after a person's name (Randall Jones, M.D.). Capitalize words that show family relationships when used as titles or as substitutes for a person's name. For example: Aunt Sue fishes for trout.

Study this unit (pp. 572-587) to discover more about capitalization rules.