Quiz 46 · Capitalization — The Talking Hands Series

First, the idea

Every letter has two forms. There is the small letter: a, b, m. And there is the capital letter, the larger form: A, B, M. Most words in a sentence are written in small letters. A few begin with a capital. This quiz is about which ones.

Think of a room full of people at a meeting: a union meeting, a tenants' meeting, a class on Zoom. Most hands are resting. When one hand goes up, it stands out from the others, and everyone knows it means something: here, this one. A hand does not go up for no reason, and it does not go up just because the person feels important. It goes up to say one thing.

A capital letter is a raised hand. Most words in a sentence keep their hands down. A word raises its hand, by starting with a capital, for one of two reasons only. Either a sentence begins here, or this word is a name: the name of one particular person, place, day, group, or thing. If neither is true, the hand stays down, however important the word may feel.

The first reason: a sentence begins here

The first word of every sentence raises its hand, whatever the word is.

The ovens were hot by five. Then the first rye went in.

The and Then are ordinary words. They have capitals only because each one starts a sentence. In the middle of a sentence, the same words would keep their hands down: by then, at the door.

One word always raises its hand, wherever it stands: the word I, when it means the person speaking.

Tomorrow I open the shop, and then I start the rolls.

The word I is the one exception to the two reasons. It is not a name, and it may stand in the middle of a sentence, but it always takes a capital. Learn it as a plain fact.

The second reason: this word is a name

A name points to one particular person, place, or thing, and no other. Grammar books call a name a proper noun. An ordinary word for a kind of person, place, or thing, a word that could fit many of them, is a common noun. The proper noun raises its hand. The common noun does not.

Brooklyn is a name: there is one Brooklyn. The borough could be any of the five, so it is an ordinary word. Nostrand Avenue is a name, and both words in it raise their hands, because the whole thing is the name. The avenue, by itself, is an ordinary word. Prospect Park is a name; the park is not.

The Start Here page gives a test you can say out loud, and it is the most useful thing on this page. Put the, a, or my in front of the word. If it still means the same thing, it is usually an ordinary word, and its hand stays down.

the avenue · a park · my cousin · the owner

Each of those makes sense, so each is an ordinary word. Now try it with names: the Brooklyn, a Daniela, the October. They sound wrong, or they change the meaning. Those are names, and their hands go up.

The kinds of names the test asks about

People. First names and last names: Ahmed Diallo, Marisol Vega. A word for a person's job is ordinary: the night baker, the cashier, our assistant manager.

Titles. A title is a word like Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., Pastor, or Council Member that tells a person's position. When a title stands right before a name, it becomes part of the name, and it raises its hand: Mr. Okafor, Pastor Allen. When the same word stands alone, without the name, it is ordinary: the pastor, the council member. Run the test: the pastor makes sense, so the hand stays down.

Places. Boroughs, cities, streets, parks, buildings, countries: Brooklyn, Nostrand Avenue, Prospect Park, Haiti. The ordinary words for them stay down: the borough, the street, the park, the country.

Days, months, and holidays. These are treated as names: Saturday, October, Thanksgiving. When a holiday's name has more than one word, every main word raises its hand: Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Eve.

Seasons are different. Spring, summer, fall, and winter keep their hands down. Many careful readers find this strange, because a season seems as much a name as a month. There is no reason you could work out for yourself; it is simply the rule written English uses, and the test uses it too. It is worth learning as a plain fact: months raise their hands, and seasons do not.

Directions and regions. A direction, the way you go, stays down: walk two blocks north, the east side of the street. A region, a part of the country used as its name, raises its hand: her grandparents came up from the South. Ask whether the word tells which way to go, or names a place. Most of the time on the test, it is a direction, and it stays down.

Groups, organizations, and businesses. The name of a business, a union, a school, a church, or a club raises its hand, every main word of it: Okafor's Bakery, Brooklyn Public Library. The ordinary words stay down: the bakery, the library, the union. In Okafor's Bakery, the word Bakery is part of the name, so it is up. In the bakery opens at six, it is an ordinary word, so it is down. The word is the same; its job changed.

Languages and school subjects. A language is a name, and it raises its hand: English, Spanish, French, Arabic. A school subject that is not a language stays down: math, science, history, biology.

Family words. A word like mom, dad, grandma, or aunt is usually an ordinary word. But sometimes it is used in place of a person's name, the way you would use the name itself. Then it raises its hand. The test settles it here too. In my mom works nights, the word my is already in front, so mom is ordinary. In I told Mom I would be late, you could put her first name in its place, I told Rosa I would be late, so Mom is being used as a name, and its hand goes up.

Where most mistakes come from

The test checks for missing capitals, but it checks just as often for capitals that should not be there. Writers raise a word's hand because the word feels important: our Owner, the Night Shift, fresh Rye, this Fall. Feeling important is not one of the two reasons. Each of those words passes the test: the owner, the night shift, the rye, the fall. Each one keeps its hand down.

So the check for this quiz is two questions, asked of any word with a capital, and of any word you are not sure about: Does a sentence begin here? Is this word a name? If the answer to either is yes, the hand goes up. If both answers are no, it stays down.

How people really write

In text messages, almost nobody follows these rules. Whole conversations go by in small letters, i'll be there at 6, ok see u saturday, and everyone understands them. That is a real way of writing, suited to its place. Signs, menus, and flyer headings often raise every word's hand for show: Fresh Bread Baked Daily. That is a choice of style, and nobody calls it an error on a sign. But inside the sentences of a letter, a notice, or a test answer, the reader expects the two reasons and only the two. The test marks anything else. Quizzes 42 and 57 are where moving between these kinds of writing, the text message and the formal page, becomes a named strength.

On the test, capital letters arrive as dropdowns inside a document. Usually the three choices are the same sentence with one or two words changed from small to capital, or capital to small. Find the words that changed, and ask the two questions of each one.

Worked example — thinking out loud

A note for the staff board at Okafor's Bakery, first drafted in a hurry, with no thought for capital letters. Here is its first line, whole.

starting this Fall, mr. Okafor will close the shop on thanksgiving day, and the Assistant Manager will post the holiday hours by friday.

Go through it word by word, and stop at every word that has a capital or might need one.

starting. It is the first word of the sentence. A sentence begins here, so its hand goes up: Starting.

Fall. Here is the tempting path. Fall is a time of year, and the line also has friday, another time, which surely needs a capital. Days and months raise their hands, so it feels as if a season should raise its hand too. Run the test instead of trusting the feeling: the fall means the same thing. And the rule says it plainly: seasons stay down. The path fails because it reasons from one kind of time word to another, and written English does not treat them alike. Days, months, and holidays are names; seasons are not. So: this fall.

mr. It is a title, and it stands right before a name, so it is part of the name: Mr. Okafor.

thanksgiving day. This is the name of one particular holiday, and both words are part of the name. Both go up: Thanksgiving Day.

Assistant Manager. This one tempts the other way. Daniela worked for this job, and it is an important one, so the writer gave it capitals. But importance is not one of the two reasons. Run the test: the assistant manager already has the in front, and it makes sense. It is an ordinary word for a job, not a name. Both hands go down: the assistant manager.

friday. A day of the week is a name: Friday.

The line, repaired:

Starting this fall, Mr. Okafor will close the shop on Thanksgiving Day, and the assistant manager will post the holiday hours by Friday.

Eight words changed. Four went up because they are names: Mr., Thanksgiving, Day, Friday. One went up because the sentence starts there: Starting. Three came down because neither reason applied: fall, assistant, manager.

The note's second line has a single word to settle, and it is worth slowing down for.

On the next morning, the Bakery opens at six as usual.

Is Bakery a name here? Run the test: the bakery is exactly what the sentence says, and it means the same thing. So it is an ordinary word, and its hand comes down: the bakery opens at six. If the line had said Okafor's Bakery opens at six, the word would be part of the business's name, and it would stay up. It is the same word with two different jobs. The two questions tell you which job it has in this sentence.

☞ Behind you: Quiz 45 (apostrophes, where the bakery's name, Okafor's, showed who holds the bakery; here the whole name, Okafor's Bakery, raises its hand) and Quiz 31 (clauses and sentences: knowing where a sentence begins is knowing where the first capital goes). Ahead: Quiz 47 (transitions, the words that often start the next sentence, and so carry its capital) and the essay quizzes, 48 to 52, where every sentence you write is your own and every capital is your call. In plain words first: Punctuation: Start Here, Part 4.

Part B · The skill in the wild

Every October, the shops on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn close the street to cars for one Saturday and set up tables outside. This year Okafor's Bakery will have a table. Daniela wrote this flyer to hand out at the counter. The heading is set all in capital letters, the way flyers often are; leave it as it is. Five decision points, all inside sentences. At each dropdown, choose the version where every capital is there for one of the two reasons, and no other word has one.

OKAFOR'S BAKERY — COME FIND US AT THE STREET FAIR

Saturday, October 17 · 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. · Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn

For twenty years, Okafor's Bakery has baked rye, sourdough, and rolls for this neighborhood. 1 [a. This year we will have a table on Nostrand avenue, right outside our front door. / b. This year we will have a table on Nostrand Avenue, right outside our front door. / c. This year we will have a table on Nostrand Avenue, right outside our Front Door.]

2 [a. Come by on Saturday, October 17, and taste the first apple pies of the fall. / b. Come by on saturday, October 17, and taste the first apple pies of the fall. / c. Come by on Saturday, October 17, and taste the first apple pies of the Fall.] We will also bring rye and sourdough from the morning bake, and rolls made overnight by Ahmed Diallo, our night baker.

3 [a. Our owner, Mr. Okafor, will be at the table all afternoon, and so will Daniela Vega, our new Assistant Manager. / b. Our Owner, Mr. Okafor, will be at the table all afternoon, and so will Daniela Vega, our new assistant manager. / c. Our owner, Mr. Okafor, will be at the table all afternoon, and so will Daniela Vega, our new assistant manager.]

4 [a. Ask your questions in english, Spanish, or French; someone at our table speaks each one. / b. Ask your questions in English, Spanish, or French; someone at our table speaks each one. / c. Ask your questions in English, Spanish, or French; someone at our Table speaks each one.]

5 [a. We will also take Thanksgiving pre-orders at the fair, and pies can be picked up at the Bakery on Wednesday, November 25. / b. We will also take thanksgiving pre-orders at the fair, and pies can be picked up at the bakery on Wednesday, November 25. / c. We will also take Thanksgiving pre-orders at the fair, and pies can be picked up at the bakery on Wednesday, November 25.] Apple, pumpkin, and sweet potato pies are on the list.

Bring your family and your neighbors. We will see you on the avenue.

Everyone at Okafor's Bakery

The key — and why the tempting answers tempt

Part A

1. B. French is a language, so it is a name. History is a school subject, not a language, so it is ordinary. The high school has no name given, so it is ordinary too. Bedford Avenue is the name of a street. C raises every word that sounds official or important, and this is the pull the lesson warned about: in a sentence about a teacher, History and High School feel official. But history is a school subject, not a language, and no school's name is given; the high school makes sense with the in front. A lowers french, perhaps because it sits beside history and looks like one more subject; but a language is always a name. D lowers avenue, the second word of a street's name.

2. D. Council Member stands right before the name Ortiz, so it is part of the name, and it is up. Later, the council member stands alone, with the in front, so it is an ordinary word, and it is down. C tempts because the same words appear twice, and it seems they should look the same both times. They have different jobs: the first is part of a name, the second is not. A swaps the two, lowering the title before the name and raising it when it stands alone. B gets the council member right but lowers mr., which is a title right before a name.

3. A. Days and months are names: Saturday, October. Seasons are not: the fall. D is the strongest trap. It has every day and month right, and then raises Fall, because the season sits in a row of time words that all have capitals. Months go up; seasons stay down. B and C each lower a name, a day in one and a month in the other, and C also raises the season.

4. D. Two blocks north of the subway tells which way to go. That is a direction, and directions stay down. B tempts most, because the lesson showed the bakery with its hand down. But here Bakery is part of the business's name, Okafor's Bakery, so it stays up. C tempts for the same reason: association is an ordinary word by itself, but here it is the last word of a group's full name. A is a day of the week, and it is up wherever it falls in the sentence.

5. C. Nostrand Avenue is the name of one street, and both words are part of the name, so both are up. The park has no name attached; it already has the in front and makes sense, so it is an ordinary word. D is the near-miss: it gets the street right, then raises the hand of park, because a park can feel like a place that deserves a capital. Only a named park does: Prospect Park. A lowers avenue, the word people most often drop, since it seems like the ordinary half of the name; but it is part of the name. B lowers Nostrand, the word that makes this street this street and no other.

6. A. Mom here is used the way her name would be used: I told Rosa. So it is up. My aunt has my in front, so it is ordinary. And I, the person speaking, is always up. D sounds right, and many people write it: my Mom. But the word my has already turned it into an ordinary word; you would not say my Rosa. B swaps the two family words. C forgets that I always raises its hand, the way a text message would write it.

Part B — the street fair flyer

1. b. Nostrand Avenue is a name, both words. Our front door has our in front of it and is ordinary. Option c raises Front Door, the way a sign might, as if the door were a landmark. It is a door, not a name. Option a lowers avenue, the second half of the street's name.

2. a. Saturday and October are names. The fall is a season, and seasons stay down. Option c raises Fall because it comes in the same sentence as a day and a month, the trap from the worked example. Option b lowers saturday, which is how a quick text would write it.

3. c. Mr. Okafor and Daniela Vega are names. Our owner and our new assistant manager are ordinary words for jobs; each has our in front and makes sense. Option a raises Assistant Manager, and this is the strongest pull on the page: the job is new, Daniela earned it, and the flyer is proud of her. Pride is not one of the two reasons. Option b raises Owner for the same reason, and it tempts because it sits right beside the name; but it comes before the comma, as a description, not as a title like Mr.

4. b. All three languages are names: English, Spanish, French. Our table is ordinary. Option a lowers english, perhaps because it is the language the flyer is written in and so seems ordinary; it is a name like the other two. Option c raises Table, as if the bakery's table at the fair were an official place. It has our in front and means the same thing, so it stays down.

5. c. Thanksgiving is a holiday, Wednesday is a day, and November is a month: all names. The bakery, standing alone with the in front, is an ordinary word. Option a raises Bakery, and it tempts because the flyer is about one particular bakery, and because Okafor's Bakery is written with a capital all over this page. But here the name is not there, only the bakery, and the test says ordinary. Option b gets the bakery right and lowers thanksgiving, a holiday, which is always a name.