Questions tagged [capitalization]

This tag should be used for questions about when to capitalize words, such as trademarks or as a stylistic device, for example in character speech.

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Capitalizing within a sentence

I am writing dialogue. I have googled this to no avail. Jane said, "What is your vision statement?" Mike replied, "It's 'To make men of men.'" Should "To" be ...
janey's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
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Capitalization of descriptive words referring to a proper noun

Which of the following is the correct choice for capitalizing (or not capitalizing) "bay mouth", and why? Mission Bay is a popular tourist location, with small waves near the bay mouth. ...
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How do I prevent forced capitalization after a period in Scrivener?

Scrivener forces a capitalization after a period when used in initials when possessive such as J.D.’S coat. It should be J.D.’s coat. How do I change it?
Les Butchart's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
605 views

Proper capitalization of the term "software as a service"

I need to use the term "software as a service", which is abbreviated as SaaS. (There are other ancillary terms as well like Platform as a Service, Functions as a Service, Infrastructure as a ...
pchittum's user avatar
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1 answer
702 views

Should the Table of Contents be title case?

I did read Which words in a title should be capitalized? Now I'm asking myself when creating the "Table of Contents" for a book should I apply there the same rules for capitalization in the ...
Alexander Schranz's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
110 views

Capital letter after colon, in list? [duplicate]

So I'm going through a list of reasons to choose something, followed by a semicolon and then an explanation. Aerodynamic resistance: The reason that this is important is bla bla bla... vs ...
stevederekson555's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
63 views

Should a common noun which has a specific word in a different language be capitalised?

The setting is that there is a celebration underway where people of different species (lets say, humans and elves) are attending. In the elves' language they call any celebration "Jashnak". ...
user96551's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
130 views

When should we use capitalization when writing research papers?

I am wondering how many cases we should notice when using capitalization (except the word standing at the beginning of the sentences, place name) in an academic paper. For example: "Days of ...
Phil Nguyen's user avatar
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2 answers
136 views

Capitalization of Section Titles

How to capitalize the words of a section title? In particular, when Should I capitalize the word "to?" Sometimes I see it capitalized and sometimes not.
Salah Khairy's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
459 views

Capitalization for a thought mid-sentence [duplicate]

This is an example of something I've run into: I felt my excitement grow at the view, with “now THIS is a true alien world!” running through my mind. Should the "n" in "now" be ...
J W's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Scientific report and capitalization

I'm writing a master's thesis in English, which is my second language. I have understood that I should capitalize Section, Chapter, Figure, etc., but should I also capitalize other elements that refer ...
Henrik Klev's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
204 views

Is it acceptable to punctuate and capitalize a dialogue tag like a separate sentence?

When a piece of writing has a quoted sentence followed by a dialogue tag, the sentence is usually ended with a comma (inside the quotation marks) and the dialogue tag is in sentence case, like this: &...
Tanner Swett's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
196 views

What are the rules for beginning a block quotation halfway into a quoted sentence?

I'm interested in the rules set by the Chicago Manual of Style. If I take a block quotation that starts with the following sentence: "To simplify: math and geometry are such and such" And if I ...
user3776022's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
97 views

Autocapitalize/correct two connected words?

Let's say I have a character in my story simply called "Slime Monster". With every instance of these two words, I want both words to be capitalized and to be corrected as a pair, so if I mistype it to ...
noClue's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
643 views

Capitlization of A Named Experiment

I have an experiment which we call 'the krypton experiment'. In referring to the krypton experiment, should it be capitalized? e.g. The Krypton Experiment was used as a source of benchmark data. or ...
Terry Price's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
4k views

Other than trademarked names, should recipe ingredients in a cookbook be capitalized?

Re: editing a cookbook Other than trademarked names, should ingredients in the recipe lists be capitalized? Thank you in advance.
user29286's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
467 views

Capitalization after use of colon?

This is a sentence from a current writing project detailing how people in jail feel about reading. It provides an escape from the reality of what lies before them: time. Should "time" be capitalized?...
TribeOfOne's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
576 views

Would I use a capitalization for vampire?

I have been writing a fantasy story, but I am not sure if I should use capitalization on "vampire" or not. In the first example it's talking about a single vampire, but not specific one. Example: "...
NinjaKitten99's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
250 views

Are human sounds capitalized like other sounds in the action line?

Such as: Bathsheba SNEEZES. Margaret SNORES loudly. Katrina SIGHS
Matt's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
105 views

Capitalization: Taylor guitar

If you refer to a Steinway piano or a Taylor guitar, do you capitalize piano and guitar? I couldn't think how to word a search for this information.
Thom's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
226 views

Should capitalization be used for emphasis for a character's tone?

Capitalization in a text has been something heavily debated in the writing community due to its nature as being preference based, and finding a hard set answer is fairly difficult. However, should ...
Kyle Li's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
666 views

Capitalization after interrupted dialogue

I'm confused about proper punctuation, spacing, and capitalization when a character is speaking and is interrupted by actions without continuing dialogue. "Maybe we could—" My phone rang. "Maybe we ...
Jeane L.'s user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
313 views

Capitalize 'it' when referring to a strange being?

I have a being with a name. I capitalize its name when I mention it. But mostly, I refer to it as "it". I use "it" a lot in dialogue, as characters talk about this being. Should I capitalize "it", ...
Ken - Enough about Monica's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
6k views

Dialogue interruptions — using em dashes

This is my first time in writers, so I apologise if I make a mistake. I've searched for this, but I can't find a concrete and complete answer. Please forgive me if I've somehow missed it and it had ...
Emmie's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
496 views

Capitalisation after punctuation in dialogue

I've seemed to have a problem with getting this right and doubting myself. In regards to writing dialogue, do you follow up with capitalisation after punctuation marks? Can someone tell me which is ...
Colm Mulhern's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
543 views

in English, is it necessary to capitalize after a colon?

I've seen that each language has its own rules when using the colon. In Spanish, it's not needed to capitalize: Los elementos incluyen: secado, lavado, etc. In French is the same, and even they put ...
Alejandro Marcos Aragon's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
63 views

Capitalize and/or hyphenate "the Start Your Own Business project"?

I have come across a situation which drives me mad, and I cannot find any satisfying answer in the Oxford Guide to Style, which I tend to follow. The problem concerns the phrase "Start Your Own ...
calvin's user avatar
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33 votes
4 answers
52k views

Referencing figure in text - capitalize the word "Figure" or not? Why?

I see it quite a lot. It looks a bit like this: It can be seen in Figure 3 that... My gut feeling is that there is no reason to scream in the middle of a perfectly calm sentence. I would like to ...
jonalv's user avatar
  • 433
1 vote
3 answers
5k views

It is unprofessional to use double exclamation marks and CAPS in a product or service?

I'm developing a website: http://alexchen.info/brianfunshine/ My customer wrote the following in the front page: Hi, I’m Brian “Funshine” Alexander. I offer professional Music, Voices, and ...
wyc's user avatar
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