Capitalize My Title (2024)

FAQs

How should my title be capitalized? ›

If all else fails and you don't have a reference guide to help, a good rule to follow is to capitalize all words in a title. Exceptions include the following: a, an, and, as, at, but, by, for, in, nor, of, on, or, the, and up. Again, this trick holds true unless they're the beginning or ending words in the title.

According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. You'd also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are.

In title case, all major words are capitalized, while minor words are lowercased. A simple example would be Lord of the Flies.

For example, you'd capitalize Uncle Ben and Grandpa Ed will be at the picnic, but you wouldn't capitalize them in a sentence like My uncle and my grandpa will be at the picnic. Similar to the rules for professional titles, you should capitalize the names of family titles when they're used in place of proper names.

Each question begins with a lowercase letter and ends with a question mark, according to language guides. But if the series is at the end, and if the questions are complete clauses, you have a choice.

Titles are usually in the form of a phrase, but can also be in the form of a question. Use correct grammar and capitalization with all first words and last words capitalized, including the first word of a subtitle.

Use lowercase for minor words that are three letters or fewer in a title or heading (except the first word in a title or subtitle or the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading): short conjunctions (e.g., “and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet”) articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)

Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs all need to be capitalized in titles as well. Small words like articles and prepositions are generally lowercased, unless they're the first word in a title.

Can you capitalize not in a title? ›

Do you capitalize the word not in a title? As an adverb, the word not is capitalized across all style guides.

Capital letters are useful signals for a reader. They have three main purposes: to let the reader know a sentence is beginning, to show important words in a title, and to signal proper names and official titles.

Under AP Style: Capitalize only the first word of your headline and all proper nouns or abbreviations; all other words should be lowercase (e.g. “The people making North Dakota's future bright”). Use numerals for all numbers (e.g. “3 ways to write headlines” as opposed to “Three ways to write headlines”).

Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), or the words to and as unless such a word is the first or last word in the title or subtitle.

If you are using title case, the word immediately preceding the hyphen should be capitalized. The word following the hyphen is capitalized, unless it is an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction.

Capitalize only the first word of a book or article title. Capitalize proper nouns, initials, and acronyms in a title. Separate a subtitle with a colon and a space. Capitalize the first letter of the subtitle.