capital letters

1. One of the two kinds of letters. Capital letters, also called upper-case letters , are larger than, and often formed differently from, lower-case letters . Capital letters are used at the beginning of a sentence or a proper name and may be used to show respect. Some examples are: “ T he dog barked,” D aniel, the L ord, and Q ueen E lizabeth.

More About Capital Letters

What are capital letters?

Capital letters are the bigger, taller versions of letters (like W), as opposed to the smaller versions, which are called lowercase letters (like w).

Capital letters are also called uppercase letters or simply capitals.

Some capital letters are just larger, taller versions of their lowercase counterparts (like capital W and lowercase w or capital C and lowercase c), but in many cases the two versions of the letter take different forms altogether, such as capital A and lowercase a or capital B and lowercase b.

To capitalize a word is to make its first letter a capital letter. For example, to capitalize the word polish (which is here spelled with a lowercase p), you would write it with a capital P, as Polish.

The state of being capitalized (or the process of capitalizing) is called capitalization, as in Please check your paper for proper punctuation and capitalization.  

In English, capital letters are used at the beginning of words for a few different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to use capital letters to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo. Using a capital letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company).

We also use capital letters for the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Sometimes, we use capital letters for the first letter of each word in a title, as in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. 

Some acronyms and abbreviations are written using all capital letters, such as NASA and U.S. A word written entirely in capital letters (like WHAT) is said to be written in caps or all caps. 

Example: A lot of people don’t bother using capital letters in text messages unless they want to emphasize something.

Where does capital letters come from?

The term capital letter has been used since at least the 1400s. The word capital comes from the Latin capitālis, meaning “concerning the head,” or “chief,” from caput, “head.”

It can be confusing to know whether or not to use capital letters in certain situations, but a capitalization guide can help.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for capital letter?

• capital
• uppercase letter

What are some words that share a root or word element with capital letter? 

 

• capitalize
• capitalization
• letter

What are some words that often get used in discussing capital letter?

• spelling
• first
• word
• sentence
• title
• lowercase

How is capital letters used in real life?

Capital letters are used in the beginning of names and other proper nouns, at the beginning of sentences, at the beginning of words in titles, and in some abbreviations. In casual use, a word might be written in all capital letters for emphasis.

The capital letters spelling out April Ninth….. people work hard but Taylor Swift works HARDER pic.twitter.com/q7GqtmkWW6

— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) February 11, 2021

My son confirms that’s it’s not only cold in BC it’s COLD with capital letters!! 😆🥶 pic.twitter.com/pA4KF9TmW8

— Jill Taylor (@jilltaylor680) February 10, 2021

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS ANGIE!
SO EXCITED WE'VE HAD TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS!

— bookouture (@bookouture) February 8, 2021

 

Try using capital letters!

Which of the following kinds of words is often spelled with capital letters at the beginning?

A. proper nouns
B. the first word in a sentence
C. the first word in a title
D. all of the above