7/25/2023 0 Comments Capital letters![]() ![]() Later, he says, capitals “were extended to any words thought to be important (such as titles, terms of address, and personification) as well as to words receiving special emphasis.” In The Stories of English (2004), Crystal writes that capital letters were “first used for proper names as well as for sentence and verse-line openings.” Can you shed some light on the capitalization of common nouns in 19th-century America? Is it intended for emphasis?Ī: When William Caxton introduced printing to England in the 15th century, “great uncertainty” surrounded the use of capital letters, according to the linguist David Crystal. You must not make more than one copy without our permission.Q: In rereading Emily Dickinson’s poems, I’m impressed by her use of midline capitals. You can save one copy of the guide to disk, and print one copy out for your personal use. Plain English Campaign owns the copyright to this guide. If an organisation insisted on using an initial capital when it referred to itself in a general way, we would (reluctantly) accept it. However, when we are referring to an organisation in a general way without giving its full name, we would use a lower case letter. If we are referring to an organisation by quoting their full name, we would use capitals where they are used in that name. However, if we are referring to government in general (for example, 'national and local government'), or as an adjective (for example, 'many government departments'), we would use a lower case 'g'. If we are referring specifically to 'the Government' (for example, 'when the Government decides its policy'), we would use a capital 'G'. But some acronyms only have an initial capital letter (for example, Aids) and others, normally scientific words, are so well accepted that they have no capital letter at all (for example, laser). Most acronyms are in block capitals (for example, OPEC, NASA and SPECTRE). These are words formed from the initial letters of other words. Don't put full stops after any of the letters. We often use capital letters in abbreviations such as BBC, TV, USA, GMC and PEC. There is no need to capitalise every main word. However, if, in your writing, you are quoting the title of a document, you should quote it precisely, using capitals where appropriate. There is no need to capitalise the main words in a document title. Most adjectives derived from proper nounsīut, take care with the following. The names of languages and nationalities. ![]() The points of the compass (NW) and specific regions (the North West, South Manchester) but not general areas (north-west England, the south of Manchester).Specific titles and ranks (Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard).Some significant days (New Year's Eve, Mother's Day). ![]()
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