Some may question the need for a two-part series on this esoteric topic. But even those who consider themselves top-notch at identifying parts of speech in a word grouping will find composition-title capitalization a skill worth mastering.<\/p>\n
Any title of more than two words can be a challenge. How would you capitalize a title such as\u00a0not yet rich<\/em>? Since the first and last word in any title are always capitalized, the only question is whether to cap\u00a0yet<\/em>. In this case,\u00a0yet<\/em> is an adverb, and adverbs are always capped. So make it\u00a0Not Yet Rich<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now suppose the title is\u00a0rich yet miserable<\/em>. This time\u00a0yet<\/em>\u00a0is one of the seven coordinating conjunctions (the others are\u00a0and, or, nor, but, for,\u00a0<\/em>and so).\u00a0<\/em>Since coordinating conjunctions are not capitalized in titles, the right answer is\u00a0Rich yet Miserable<\/em>.<\/p>\n Here are two correctly capitalized titles:\u00a0Going up the Road<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Going Up in a Balloon<\/em>. In the first title,\u00a0up<\/em>\u00a0is a preposition, and short prepositions are not capitalized. In the second title,\u00a0Up\u00a0<\/em>is an adverb and should be capped.<\/p>\n Along the same lines, compare the following three titles:\u00a0I Got It off the Internet<\/em>,\u00a0Please Put It Off for Today<\/em>, and\u00a0I Hit the Off Switch<\/em>. In the first example, the preposition\u00a0off<\/em>\u00a0is lowercase. But the word must be capped in the second example because\u00a0put off<\/em>, meaning \u201cto postpone,\u201d is a two-word phrasal verb (a verb of two or more words). One-word verbs, auxiliary verbs, and phrasal verbs are always capitalized.\u00a0Off<\/em>\u00a0is also capped in the third sentence because the word functions as an adjective in that title, and adjectives are always capitalized.<\/p>\n Although the seven coordinating conjunctions are not capitalized, you may have noticed there are many more than seven conjunctions in English. Most of these are called subordinating conjunctions, because they join a subordinate clause to a main clause. Familiar examples include\u00a0as<\/em>,\u00a0although<\/em>,\u00a0before<\/em>,\u00a0since<\/em>,\u00a0until<\/em>,\u00a0when<\/em>.<\/p>\n There are three approaches to capping subordinating conjunctions: capitalize them all, lowercase them all, or capitalize them if they are words of four letters or more. Take your pick.<\/p>\n Try applying your own composition-capitalization policy to any sentence you see or hear. This is a great mental exercise, which will help keep you well grounded in the fundamentals of our language.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n Capitalize the following titles. Extra credit: indicate which words could go either way. Answers are below.<\/p>\n 1. oh, how i hate to get up in the morning <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning<\/em>\u00a0(OR\u00a0how<\/em>) Some may question the need for a two-part series on this esoteric topic. But even those who consider themselves top-notch at identifying parts of speech in a word grouping will find composition-title capitalization a skill worth mastering. Any title of more than two words can be a challenge. How would you capitalize a title such […]<\/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":[24,21,33,31,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-capitalization","category-prepositions","category-titles","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821"}],"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=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2. we will be there although it is madness
\n3. always look up as you go down the road
\n4. i thought it had no on button
\n5. pick me up on your way over here
\n6. my work: the search for a life that matters
\n7. have you heard of that of which I speak?<\/p>\n
\n2.\u00a0We Will Be There Although It Is Madness<\/em>\u00a0(OR\u00a0although<\/em>)
\n3.\u00a0Always Look Up As You Go down the Road<\/em>\u00a0(as<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0down<\/em>\u00a0could go either way)
\n4.\u00a0I Thought It Had No On Button<\/em>
\n5.\u00a0Pick Me Up on Your Way over Here<\/em>\u00a0(OR\u00a0Over<\/em>)
\n6.\u00a0My Work: The Search for a Life That Matters<\/em>
\n7.\u00a0Have You Heard Of That of Which I Speak?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"