Capital letters

• Capital letters
• Secundair onderwijs

Capital letters

When to use them?

How would you correct this sentence? 'in uruguay, the summer starts in december.'

I like ... films.

1. French
2. french

That's not a church - it's a ... temple.

1. hindu
2. Hindu

My children's favourite holiday is ...

1. christmas
2. Christmas

The ... works in Zagreb.

1. president of croatia
2. President of Croatia
3. President of croatia
4. president of Croatia

When I was a teenager, I enjoyed reading ... by J. D. Salinger.

1. the catcher in the rye
2. The catcher in the rye
3. The Catcher In The Rye
4. The Catcher in the Rye

When use capitals?

Internet search

Try to find a complete overview of when to use capital letters in English.

Be critical about the source (e.g. no commercial sites - their URL ends in .com)

Target: there are some fourteen rules (the exact amount could vary slightly) that apply to capitalisation.

Any differences with Dutch rules concerning capitalisation?

Capitals when?

1. the first word of a sentence or fragment
2. the name of a day or a month
3. the name of a language
4. a word expressing a connection with a place e.g. the Parisian writers
5. the name of a nationality or an ethnic group e.g. the English
6. a proper name (name OR title referring to an individual person, place, institution or event e.g. John, the Winter Olympics, King Charles III, the House of Commons

7. the name of a historical period

8. the name of a holiday

9. a significant religious term e.g. the Buddhist

10. the first word, and each significant word, of a title e.g. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
11. the first word of a direct quotation which is a sentence e.g. Then Daisy said:"I'll never leave this place!".
12. a brand name e.g. a second hand Ford Escort
13. a Roman numeral

14. the pronoun I

15. Initials, initialisms and acronyms e.g. John M. du Maurier, BBC, NATO