Capitalization

1. Capitalization 1. Capitalize people’s names. Also capitalize the initials of abbreviations that stand for names. bob is sally’s best friend. I like riding in j.d’s car better than pascal’s car. People used to refer to President franklin delano roosevelt as “f.d.r.” susan b. anthony fought to get women the right to vote, but she didn’t live long enough to vote herself.

2. Capitalization 2. Capitalize the titles used with people’s names. Also capitalize the initials or abbreviations that stand for those titles. I think mr. loisel did not deserve to have to work hard for ten years just to replace the necklace mrs. loisel lost at the party. dr. jones lives next to judge judy, and they both get driven to the church were rev. ramos preaches, by corporal martinez.

3. Capitalization 2b. Do not capitalize a title that is used without a name, because it is a common noun. judge judy used to work as a real judge, in a federal court, before she starred on television. I talked to the lieutenant about what he thought of the corporal who chauffeured the judge to work every day. lieutenant smith said the corporal was nicer than the president of the studio.

4. Capitalization 3. Capitalize titles of very high importance, even when they are used without names. Being prime minister of Canada or prime minister of England is similar to being president of the United States. I briefly glimpsed the queen of England, several months before lady diana married the prince, when the queen drove passed me in London, but I’ve never personally seen the pope, though I have seen cardinal bishop.

5. Capitalization 4. Capitalize the pronoun I. When i was roller-skating on a tennis court i fell down and broke my tailbone. When i was still in pain, six months later, i realized the break hadn’t healed, so i went to the doctor. He told my i needed to wear looser jeans because the ones i was wearing were re-breaking the bone every time i sat down!