Using capitalisation

CAPITALISATION is one way to call attention to important, meaningful words. The most familiar uses of capitalisation are at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns like names.

The other uses of capitalisation most often distinguish general nouns from specific ones. In general, the words that are capitalised fall into the following categories: names of people, personal titles, nationalities and religions, geographical names and structures, organisations, historical events and first words and titles. These appear very simple when writing, just like using the full stop or period. However, many people lose marks by failing to use these properly. You need to learn correct usage of capitalisation to score high grades in your English language examination.

Capitalise proper nouns and adjectives. A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Proper nouns are capitalised. Common nouns are not. A proper adjective is an adjective formed by a proper noun. It is also capitalised.

Examples of, common noun — writer. Proper noun — Charles Mungoshi. Proper adjective — Victorian. Capitalise people’s names and initials that stand for names: George Elliot, Nelson Mandela, J F Kennedy. Capitalise titles and abbreviations for titles used before people’s names or in direct address.

Examples: Justice Nicholas Ndebele, Dr G L Dube.

Capitalise a title used without a person’s names if it refers to a head of state or a person in another position, the President of Zimbabwe, the Secretary of State, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Family relationships. Capitalise the titles indicating family relationships when the titles are used as names or parts of names: Uncle Aron and Mom will arrive by plane tonight.

If the title is preceded by an article or possessive adjective, it is not capitalised. My mom’s plan is to start a business. Races, Languages, Nationalities and Religions. Capitalise the names of races, languages, nationalities and religions and any adjectives formed from these names. French, Swahili, Buddhism, Vietnamese, Egyptian, Caucasian, African, Navaho jewellery, Japanese restaurant, Italian pasta. The Supreme Being and Sacred Writings. Capitalise all words referring to the Lord, Allah, the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, Jesus Christ.

Do not capitalise god when the word means the spirits worshipped by ancient peoples. The pronoun. Always capitalise the pronoun. Rita and I ran the marathon. Geographical Names: In a geographical name, capitalise the first letter of each word except articles and prepositions. Continents, Africa, Asia. Bodies of water — Pacific Ocean. World regions, the Middle East. Public areas, Matobo National Park.

Capitalise the first, last and all other important words in titles. Do not capitalise conjunctions, articles, or prepositions with fewer than five letters. Book Title: Things Fall Apart, Play: Julius Caesar: Television Series: Godfather Of Harlem: Short story: A River Runs Through It:

The word “the” at the beginning of a title and the word magazine are capitalised only when they are part of the formal name. Time magazine, The New York Times. End marks. The punctuation marks that show where a sentence ends are called end marks. The three end marks are the period, the question mark and the exclamation mark. The period. Use a period at the end of a declarative sentence. A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement. Your exercise books are on the desk. Use a period at the end of an indirect question. An indirect question indicates that someone has asked a question. However, it does not give the reader the exact words of the question. Marco asked if you had seen his bookcase.
Use a period after an abbreviation or after an initial. When an abbreviation is the last word in a sentence, use one period. Nov. (November), Dr (Doctor), B. C (Before Christ), P.M. (post meridian).

Commonly confused Verbs. Do not confuse lie and lay, rise and raise, sit and set. There are three pairs of verbs that often cause problems; lie and lay, rise and raise and sit and set. Verbs presented under present, past, past participle.

Lie and lay; lie, lay (have) lain, laid, (have) laid. Rise and Raise –rise, rose, (have) risen; raise raised (have raised). Sit and Set — sit sat (have sat); set-set (have) set.

Lie means “to rest in flat position.” To be in a certain place” to exist. Lie never has a direct object. No lying of trash on the floor should be tolerated in the bus. Lay means to place. It almost always has a direct object. The builder will lay the bricks in the new structure. Rise means “to go upward.”

Rise does not take a direct object. The temperature rose to extreme levels. Raise means to lift or to make something go up. Raise almost always has a direct object. The stage hand raised the curtain for the play to start. (Curtain is the direct object).

Today’s lesson appears just straight forward, yet many students ignore the obvious rules. How many times have you left out the period when ending your sentences?
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