We all know that we use capital letters at the beginning of every sentence, for the letter ‘I’, for names of people (Nelson Mandela) and places (Johannesburg) and other proper nouns (Christianity, Second World War).
There are also less obvious uses of the capital letter:
- Use an initial capital letter for ranks and titles attached to names (President Ramaphosa, Judge Howie). Drop the capital letter when you refer to the person by rank only (the president, the judge).
- Use capital letters when a point of the compass forms part of a place name (East London, West Indies, South Africa)
- Capitalise the first word and the main words for the titles of books, journals and articles:
Writing in Plain English (book)
Scientific and Technical Writing (journal)
Validity of the Learning Styles Questionnaire (article)
- Recognise brand names and trademarks with capital letters (Coca Cola, Adidas, First National Bank)