Capitalization – Lesson 2

Dr. Grammar says:

“What’s wrong with this sentence? I lived in mexico city for a while, and it is a great City to live in.”

EXPLANATION:

In the previous lesson we looked at some basic uses of capital letters, and this lesson will continue on from this to look at some more difficult rules for capitals.

For place names

When writing the name of a place (Continents, Countries, Cities, Towns, Districts, Provinces etc)

Asia                                      Europe                                    South America

Singapore                           Vietnam                                  Great Britain

Ho Chi Minh City                London                                    Washingtion

Note:

In English, Ho Chi Minh is the person, and Ho Chi Minh City is the place. Here, “City” has a capital letter. However, “London” is the name, so we do not need “City”. For example:

London is one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

For the names of geographical features

When writing the names of rivers, lakes, mountains, or other geographical features, we use capital letters.

The Amazon River is in South America.

(“River” is part of the name, so has a capital)

The Amazon is the second largest river in the world.

(“river” is just a noun here, not the name, so has no capital)

I would love to climb Mount Everest to see some amazing views.

The Sahara Desert is the second largest desert in the world, and it is getting bigger every year.

For family terms

When using a family term (mum, daddy, uncle, grandpa etc) use capitals if the word replaces a name, but not when they are not instead of a name.

“Have you seen Mum?” my little brother asked me.

My favourite grandparent is Grandpa Jones, because he is so funny.

John’s mother bought me an ice-cream.

For personal titles

When writing the title of a person, this has a capital.

I love watching Mr. Bean on television, he is incredibly funny.

My favourite teacher at school was Mrs. Smith.

Note:

Mr. is for married men and single men

Ms. is for married women and single women

Miss is for single women

Mrs. is for married women

(Often it is a good idea to use “Ms.” for women if you are unsure if they are married or not, and also because some married women don’t like “Mrs” and some single women may not like “Miss”.)

For titles (in essays, books, headlines etc)

When writing the title of a work (book, article etc.), most of the words need a capital letter. However, unless they are at the beginning of a title, articles (a, an and the) and prepositions (of, on, in, with etc) do not have capital letters.

My favourite book of all time is Lord of the Rings.

I went to a great lecture yesterday called, “The Theory of Evolution Today”.

So…

I lived in mexico city for a while, and it is a great City to live in. X 

I lived in Mexico City for a while, and it is a great city to live in. √

EXERCISE:

Read through the following sentences and decide where capital letters should be used:

1. i visited the river yesterday in the countryside near my hometown.

2. the most dangerous city in the world is often said to be mexico city, because of the many drug crimes.

3. the mekong river runs through many countries, including vietnam and china.

4. i saw a very scary movie at the weekend called the ring, but it was the american remake, not the original.

5. “mum, have you seen dad anywhere? i want to watch tom and jerry with him.”

Answers:

6. I visited the river yesterday in the countryside near my hometown.

7. The most dangerous city in the world is often said to be Mexico City, because of the many drug crimes.

8. The Mekong River runs through many countries, including Vietnam and China.

9. I saw a very scary movie at the weekend called The Ring, but it was the American remake, not the original.

10. “Mum, have you seen Dad anywhere? I want to watch Tom and Jerry with him.”

FURTHER PRACTICE:

Read through anything that you can find which is easy to understand. While reading, find any capital letters. Why are they capitalised?

Now write your own story about anything you like, and try to follow the capitalisation rules from this lesson, and lesson 1.

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).