In our previous lesson, we spoke about the various occasion where the use of capital letters is mandatory. Much like we saw last time, we end up erring while writing more than when we speak. Writing English requires one to be cautious with grammar, spellings, punctuation, and capitalization amongst the many other things.
Before we move on to learn five more situations where capital letters play a role in written English, let’s have a quick recap of the previous lesson. If you wish to read the entire Part 1, click here.
Recap of Part 1
- At the beginning of a sentence
- The beginning word of every line of a poem
- Proper Nouns
- Days, months and festivals should begin with capitalization
- All dialogues within quotes
That was a quick recap of the points we covered in our previous lesson. Let us now begin Part 2 and discuss five more points where capital letters come in use.
When to use Capital Letters?
6. Divine Words
There are a number of words that represent divinity, the most common of them being God. All such nouns and pronouns should be capitalized. Sometimes, people take offense of writing these words in small. Even when talking about God, when you switch to the pronoun “his”, it should be in capital letters. Take a look at this example. “God loves us so much, that He gave His only son for our sins.” So you see, the pronouns that we have written in bold (for emphasizing) begin in capital letters.
The same is the case with other divine words, names of Gods, saints, the word “Almighty,” etc.
Isn’t this something we do not think about when we speak? While a language is primarily verbal, we do have to indulge in writing in the language too. Why not get it right?
7. Titles should be in Capital Letters
Every title, be it of a poem, the headlines of a newspaper, plays, movies, etc should all begin with a capital letter. You can look at it as a name. Just like we cannot use anyone’s name without capitalization, similarly, we cannot use these names as well. The Tribune, Merchant of Venice, Deep Blue Sea, are all examples of titles. All of them begin with a big letter.
8. Historical, Literary or Social Events
Wouldn’t it be so wrong if we do not capitalize independence day? Where is the emphasis or importance? This is a day of importance to every country that has fought for freedom. This day, and the many others that hold significance in history, literature or socially must start with capital letters. Other examples of such days are World Aids Day, Republic Day, The Independence Movement, etc.
All of these leave specific memories of why we celebrate this day. If it has a reason to be known across a nation/world, it requires the written respect of capitalization.
9. To address people with titles
When we visit a court, all we do is call the signatory as Your Honour. Did you notice something in our previous sentence? Your Honour is a title given to someone who holds the value to make decisions and give justice. So, it is an important title. Such people who we address with respect should begin with a capital letter.
Other such titles like My Lord, His Majesty, His Highness, etc. are also titles that fall in this category. They all need to start with the big letters; not just the first word, but both the words in the title or all the words in the title.
10. Abbreviations should be in Capital Letters
When we shorten the name of anything to make it easier to use, it is an abbreviation. Like, World Health Organization; the name is long when you want to use it repeatedly. Therefore, another way of using it is using its abbreviation, which is WHO.
Automatically, this explains the point, that an abbreviation should be capitalized. We don’t use the United States of America every time, right? We tend to use the abbreviation “USA” often since it is shorter for conversations. There are many such other examples such as MP (Member of the Parliament) or BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation.
Practice is the only way to get better at writing. Keep practicing, and keep sharing. Do leave us a comment if you liked Part 1 and Part 2 of this lesson.
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