Which words should be capitalized in titles of books, plays, films, songs, poems, essays, chapters, and the like? This is a vexing matter, and policies vary. The time-honored advice\u2014capitalize only the \u201cimportant\u201d words\u2014doesn\u2019t help much. Aren\u2019t all words in a title important?<\/p>\n
The following rules for capitalizing composition titles are virtually universal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Capitalize the title\u2019s first and last word.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Capitalize all adjectives, adverbs, and nouns.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Capitalize all pronouns (including\u00a0it<\/em>).<\/p>\n \u2022 Capitalize all verbs, including the verb\u00a0to be<\/em>\u00a0in all forms (is<\/em>,\u00a0are<\/em>,\u00a0was<\/em>,\u00a0has been<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>etc.).<\/p>\n \u2022 Capitalize\u00a0no<\/em>,\u00a0not<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>and the interjection\u00a0O\u00a0<\/em>(e.g.,\u00a0How Long Must I Wait,\u00a0<\/em>O<\/em>\u00a0Lord?<\/em>).<\/p>\n \u2022 Do not capitalize an article (a<\/em>,\u00a0an<\/em>,\u00a0the<\/em>) unless it is first or last in the title.<\/p>\n \u2022 Do not capitalize a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, for, yet, so<\/em>)<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>unless it is first or last in the title.<\/p>\n \u2022 Do not capitalize the word\u00a0to<\/em>, with or without an infinitive, unless it is first or last in the title.<\/p>\n Otherwise, styles, methods, and opinions vary; for instance, certain short conjunctions (e.g.,\u00a0as<\/em>,\u00a0if<\/em>,\u00a0how<\/em>,\u00a0that<\/em>) are capped by some, lowercased by others.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n A major bone of contention is prepositions.\u00a0The Associated Press Stylebook<\/em>\u00a0recommends capitalizing all prepositions of more than three letters (e.g.,\u00a0with<\/em>,\u00a0about<\/em>,\u00a0across<\/em>). Other authorities advise lowercase until a preposition reaches five or more letters. Still others say not to capitalize any preposition, even big words like\u00a0regarding\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0underneath<\/em>.<\/p>\n Hyphenated words in a title also present problems. There are no set rules, except to always capitalize the first element, even if it would not otherwise be capitalized, such as\u00a0to\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0My To-go Order<\/em>\u00a0(some would write\u00a0My To-Go Order<\/em>). Some writers, editors, and publishers choose not to capitalize words following hyphens unless they are proper nouns or proper adjectives (Ex-Marine<\/em>\u00a0but\u00a0Ex-husband<\/em>). Others capitalize any word that would otherwise be capped in titles (Prize-Winning<\/em>,\u00a0Up-to-Date<\/em>).<\/p>\n Many books have subtitles. When including these, put a colon after the work\u2019s title and follow the same rules of composition-title capitalization for the subtitle:\u00a0The King\u2019s English: A Guide to Modern Usage.\u00a0<\/em>Note that\u00a0A\u00a0<\/em>is capitalized because it is the first word of the subtitle.<\/p>\n Capitalizing composition titles is fraught with gray areas. Pick a policy and be consistent. Next time we\u2019ll discuss more of the pitfalls of this tricky business.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n Capitalize the following titles. Answers are below.<\/p>\n 1. how to be decisive yet careful<\/p>\n 2. the secrets of the woman who is free<\/p>\n 3. where, o where, is my in-the-flesh soulmate?<\/p>\n 4. happiness: the proof that it is possible<\/p>\n 5. the man who did not dance with wolves<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. How to Be Decisive yet Careful<\/em><\/p>\n 2. The Secrets of the Woman Who Is Free<\/em><\/p>\n 3. Where, O Where, Is My In-the-Flesh Soulmate?<\/em> (OR In-the-flesh<\/em>)<\/p>\n 4. Happiness: The Proof That It Is Possible<\/em> (OR that It Is Possible<\/em>)<\/p>\n 5. The Man Who Did Not Dance with Wolves<\/em> (OR With Wolves<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Which words should be capitalized in titles of books, plays, films, songs, poems, essays, chapters, and the like? This is a vexing matter, and policies vary. The time-honored advice\u2014capitalize only the \u201cimportant\u201d words\u2014doesn\u2019t help much. Aren\u2019t all words in a title important? The following rules for capitalizing composition titles are virtually universal. \u2022 Capitalize the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,15,35,33,8,31,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capitalization","category-colons","category-hyphens","category-prepositions","category-pronouns","category-titles","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}