English Grammar: Nouns
Nouns — Special Uses of Capital Letters
1. Words derived from proper nouns are usually capitalized. If the word has acquired a special meaning, it is not capitalized.
2. The principal words in titles of books, magazines, pictures, songs, articles, etc., are capitalized. Prepositions, conjunctions, and the articles a, an, and the are not capitalized unless the title begins with one of these words.
3. The definite article the is not capitalized unless it is the first word of a title. Many titles do not begin with the. If the word the is within the title, it is written with a small letter. The only way to be sure about the correct form of a title is to check the official form, or the form adopted by the company, publication, etc.
4. All words referring to the Deity, the Bible, books of the Bible, and other sacred books are capitalized.
5. Names of school subjects are not capitalized unless they are names of the languages. Subjects listed in school catalogs as names of special courses are capitalized.
6. Capitalize words which show family relationships when they are used with a person's name. The words father and mother are not capitalized when they are preceded by a pronoun. When used without a pronoun, they are usually capitalized.
7. Capitalize the first word in a compound word. If the second word in the compound word is a proper noun, it should also be capitalized. Capitalize both parts of compound titles of distinction.
