Minimum
Essentials of English   Second
edition   by Fred Obrecht

 

USAGE/MECHANICS

 

CAPITALIZATION

 

A.
Proper
names

Note that common nouns like boulevard,
heights, university, park, and store are capitalized when they accompany proper
nouns.

1.
Names
of persons or specific entitles or trademarks

Johan Lennon, William the Conqueror, the
Constitution, English 101, the Statue of Liberty

2.
Geographical
names

New York, Niagara Falls, Rocky Mountains,
Asia, Cape Fear

3.
Specific
nations, cultures, ethnic groups, and languages

Mexican, Thai, Afro-American, Koreans,
Iranians, Chinese

4.
Schools,
institutions, government divisions and agencies, companies

UCLA, Library of Congress, Red Cross,
Rotary Club, Coast Guard

5.
Days,
months, commemorative days, or holidays

Monday, March, Veterans’ Day, Father’s Day,
Thanksgiving

6.
Significant
events or periods, historical documents

the Fourteenth Amendment, Middle Ages,
Operation Desert Storm, the Great Depression

7.
Religious
references to documents, holidays, personages or deities

the Bible, Koran, Genesis, Revolutions,
Easter, Christmas, Hindu

8.
Words
used in a special sense

We all know that Time waits for no man.

Only the all-consuming obsessive drive for
Money remains as a motivation.

 

B.
Abbreviations
and acronyms

Capitalize abbreviations or shortened forms
of capitalized words

USC, NBC, IBM, AT&T, CA, NYC, UNESCO

 

 

 

 

 

C.
Capitalize
titles indicating rand or relationship

Capitalize titles and words denoting family
relationship that precede the name but not those that follow it.

Mama McCaslin; President William Clinton; George Bush, the president of
the United States; General Taylor; Adrienne, my aunt

When words indicating family relationships
are substituted for proper names, they are usually capitalized:

    Well, Father, you certainly did well on the
course today!

D.
Capitalize
the first word and all other important words in titles

Articles (the, a, an), coordinating
conjunctions (and, but, for, or yet), prepositions (in, to, for, around, up,
under), and the to in infinitives are not normally capitalized, unless they are
the first word in the title.

E.
Always
capitalize the first word in a sentence and the first word in directly quoted
speech

      Never have so
many viewers tuned in to one program.

      Are you sure?
Well, then, let’s cancel the wedding. I’m serious.

      Father Mike
often says, “Blessed are those who are funny.”

      Without
hesitation, Elizabeth shouted, “Down with the Bruins!”

   Keep in mind this handy rule:
common (uncapitalized) nouns are often preceded by articles (a, an, the) or by
limiting words like each, many, several, every, some.

F.
Capitalization
review chart

Capitals	No Capitals
Lieutenant Cameron Winston	the lieutenant in charge every lieutenant
the Korean War	the gas wars of the 70’s
German, Swedish, Tagalog	foreign languages
East-West University	your local university
the U.S. Army	a rough and ready army
March, St. Patrick’s Day	spring, holidiay
the Midwest, Midwesterners	to fly west, midwestern states
the Retail Merchants Association	an association for merchants
Tay-Sachs disease	cancer, colds, pneumonia
a Himalayan, Toyota trucks	cats, small trucks
several Republican hopefuls	democratic movements
our Declaration of Independence	the women’s declaration of independence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitalization
Rules 大寫規則

 

一個句子的第一個字要大寫。I永遠大寫。其他規則如下

 

G.
Proper
names 專有名詞的第一個字要大寫

1.
人名、頭銜、商標、地標等

Jessie Lin, President Barack Obama, Coca-
Cola, Taipei 101

2.
地理名稱。如國家、城市、路名、區域、山川、海洋、河流等

Taiwan, Taipei, Zhongshan Road, Xinyi
District, Jade Mountain

3.
特定國家的人、文化、種族、語言、宗教等

Taiwanese, Hakka, Asian, Mandarin, Buddhism

4.
學校、政府部門與機構、公司的名稱

National Taiwan University, Government
Information Office, Republic of China, Red Cross, First Bank

5.
星期、月份、紀念日、假日

Monday, March, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving

6.
特定活動或期間，歷史性文件

the Fourteenth Amendment, Middle Ages, Operation
Desert Storm, the Great Depression

7.
宗教性著作、假日、人物

the Bible, Koran, Easter, Christmas, God,
Allah

8.
在句子中有特別意義的字

We all know that Time waits for no man.

9.    學校課程名稱

Chemistry 101

 

H.
縮寫、首字縮寫要大寫

 IBM, WTO, AIDS

 

I.
報章雜誌、書籍、電影等標題的第一個字與其他重要的字都要大寫。冠詞（the, a, an), 連接詞(and,
but, for, or yet), 介係詞(in, to, for, up, under)等除非在第一個字，否則不必大寫。

The Lord of the Rings