Capitalisation: When to Use Capital letters
When should I use a capital letter?
A capital letter should be used in the following instances.
At the beginning of a sentence
The first letter of a sentence should be capitalised
When using the pronoun I. The personal pronoun I is always capitalised
Who am I?
In proper nouns
New York, London Bridge, Winston Churchill, Asia
In words related to proper nouns
New Yorker, Londoner, Churchillian, Asian
Brand names and trademarks,international organisations, etc. fall into this category
Burberry, Tesco, Sony, United Nations, World Bank
In salutations and valedictions
Dear Marc,
This note is a reminder that your hard work and time do not go unnoticed. I value everything you‘ve done in helping me reach my current position. Thank you.
With* best wishes,
Emma
*Only the first word of the valediction is capitalised begins with a capital
When a complete sentence follows a colon
The most important rule was very simple: Do not look back.*
His had three pieces of fruit in his lunchbox: an apple, a pear and an orange.**
*'Do not look back' is a complete sentence so the first word is capitalised
**'an apple, a pear and an orange', is merely a list so the first word is not capitalised.
Titles, when referring to a specific person
Mr Prime Minister, Mr President, The Queen (of England)
In quotations when the quotation is a complete sentence
He said to his sister, "Open the door quickly!"
For days of the week, months of the year, holidays
Monday, March, Christmas, Remembrance Day
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