Plain English

When you begin a new sentence always begin that sentence with a capital letter. Each sentence is a statement of a complete thought and is independent of every other sentence. The use of the capital letter indicates this independence and calls attention to the fact that you are beginning a new thought.

467.Begin every line of poetry with a capital letter. Sometimes in poetry, the line is too long to be printed on a single line and must be carried over into another line; in this case, the first word of the second line does not begin with a capital letter.

468.Use a capital for every proper noun. This includes names of persons, countries, states, towns, cities, streets and geographical names, as the names of seas, lakes, mountains, rivers, etc.

469.The words North, South, East and West are capitalized when they are used to refer to geographical divisions. When these words simply refer to the points of the compass, they should not begin with a capital.

470.The pronounIand the interjectionOshould always be capitals. Never write the pronoun I with a small i.

471.Every proper adjective should begin with a capital letter. Proper adjectives are adjectives derived from proper nouns. For example: the Marxian philosophy, the Darwinian theory, Indian money, Japanese labor, etc.

472.Always begin the names of the months and the days of the week with capital letters. For example: January, February, August, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, etc.

473.Use a capital letter for every name or title of the Deity. For example: God, Jehovah, Christ, Jesus, etc. It is also customary to capitalize all personal pronouns referring to God or Christ.

474.Begin with a capital letter names of all religious sects and political parties, also all adjectives derived from them. As for example: Christian Church, Methodism, Republican Party, Mohammedan, Socialist, etc.

475.Begin the names of all things spoken of as persons with a capital. In poetry or poetic prose we often speak of war, fame, death, hope, fancy, liberty, etc., as persons. Whenever these words are used in this way they should begin with a capital letter.

476.Use capital letters to begin important words in the title of a book or the subject of a composition. In titles the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs should begin with a capital, while the prepositions and conjunctions should begin with small letters. The articles, the, a and an are not capitalized unless they are the initial word in the title.

477.Use a capital to begin every direct quotation. The first word of an indirect quotation should begin with a small letter. A direct quotation is one which uses the exact words of the speaker. For example: He said, "I will come." This is a direct quotation, but He said that he would come, is an indirect quotation.

478.Use a capital to begin an important statement or to ask a question. For example: Resolved; That the United States should democratize war. The question is, Shall the people determine the question of war?

479.Use capitals for the chief items of any enumeration of particulars. For example;

480.Begin the words indicating titles of offices and honor with a capital. For example, President Wilson, Doctor Smith, Professor Locke. When you use a title of this kind as a general term, that is, not indicating any particular person, do not use a capital. As for example: The society has had several presidents. But if you use the title to take the place of the person's name, for example: The President read the message to Congress, always use a capital.

481.Use capitals for the titles at the beginning of a letter or in written composition and in direct address. For example: My dear Father, My dear Mother, My dear Comrade, Dear Aunt Emma, Dear Friend, Dear Fellow Workers, etc. Also in conversation.

Are you coming with me, Mother?

What did the Doctor say, Comrade Smith?

When these words are not used in direct address, however, they should not be capitalized. For example, at the close of a letter you would write:

Your sincere friend.

Your loving brother.

Or in conversation:

I asked my mother to go with me.

My brother wrote me concerning the matter.

482.Begin the names of important buildings and localities with a capital. For example:

Public Library, High School, The East Side, The Union Square, Central Market, etc.

These words used in a general sense, however, should not begin with a capital letter. For example:

Our public libraries, our high schools, jails, prisons, post offices, etc.

483.The words state and territory, when they refer to particular divisions of the country, should be capitalized. For example:

The State of New York, The Territory of Alaska, The French Government, etc.

State and government are also capitalized when they are used in place of proper names. For example:

The State is based on exploitation.

The Government has issued an edict of war.

We do not use a capital in such expressions as:

Church and state, state affairs; they occupy a large territory, etc.

484.In directing letters or other matter for the mail, capitalize all words except prepositions, conjunctions or articles. These should be capitalized only when they begin a line.

Exercise 1

Draw a line under each word in the following that should be begun with a capital:

john joffre, lake michigan, day, thursday, friday, spring, august, december, germany, country, france, man, jones, smith, doctor, doctor george, professor moore, girl, mary, susan, methodist, mohammedan, church, party, republican party, socialist, company, national electric light company, river, mississippi river, the red river, essex county, state of illinois, iowa, railway, new york, new york central railway, the french revolution, novel, the sea wolf, poem, arrows in the gale, american.

Exercise 2

Notice carefully the following quotations and sentences and capitalize every word that should begin with a capital letter.

1. iron, the twin brother of fire, the first born out of the matrix of the earth, a witness everlasting to the glory of thy labor, am i, o man.

2. therefore i say unto you, banish fear from your hearts.

3. but ye, plebs, populists, people, rebels, mob, proletariat, live and abide forever.

4. and they came here from all parts of the earth, the syrians and the armenians, the thracians and the tartars, the jews, the greeks and the romans, the gauls and the angles and the huns and the hibernians, even from the deserts of the sands to the deserts of ice they came to listen unto his words.

5. marx and engels wrote the communist manifesto.

6. its closing words are; working men of all countries unite.

7. italy was the last of the great powers of europe to become involved in the war.

8. john randolph submitted an amendment to the constitution providing that the judges of the supreme court of the united states shall be removed by the president on the joint address of both houses of congress.

9. eugene v. debs spent six months in woodstock jail for exercising his right of free speech.