Capital Letters

Using capital letters is important. It helps the reader to understand that you're talking about the name of something or person. It also indicates the beginning of a sentence.

1. At the beginning of a sentence: Her name is Susan. She lives in Jamaica.  I’m Joanne.

2. The letter “I” when talking about yourself: I live in Yorkshire and I'm a teacher. I’ve lived in Yorkshire for 10 years.

3. People’s names/ titles: Mr John Smith, Joanne Rudling, Mrs Burton, Dr Parker (American use a dot in: Mr. Smith, Mrs. Jones, Dr. Parker.)

4. Also names of characters/ pets: Bugs Bunny, Scooter, Bobby, Mickey Mouse 

5. Place names:

  • Town/ Cities: London, Grimsby, New York, Sydney, Tehran...

  • Streets: 2 Oxford Street, 14 Gladesmore Road, 3 Mayfield Ave, 98 Lawrence Crescent

  • Countries: Britain, Canada, Iraq, Poland, Fiji

  • Landmarks/ Oceans/ Mountains/parks: Big Ben, Atlantic Ocean, Everest, English Channel, Lake Como, Hyde Park

  • Institutions: the Home Office, London Underground, the Houses of Parliament, Scotland Yard

6. Shops, Cafes and Restaurants: Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Starbucks, Cafe Rouge, Greggs

7. Nationalities and languages: English, Irish, Canadian, Arabic, Kurdish

8. Religion: Christianity, Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim

9.Titles: films, books, TV programmes, college: Terminator, Star Wars, Pride and Prejudice, City of Westminster College, Eastenders

10. Company/ Brand names: Netflix, Mercedes, Puma, Nokia, Adidas, Apple, Prada, Armani, Prime

11. Names of teams/groups - football, rugby, community: Manchester United, Hull City FC, Spurs

12. Days of the week: Wednesday, Saturday, Monday, Friday 

13. Months of the year: April, May, September, October, January, March
(but NOT seasons: autumn, winter, spring, summer) 

14. Some forms may require BLOCK CAPITALS, WHICH ARE ALL THE LETTERS IN CAPITALS - only write in block capitals on forms.

15. Abbreviations: UN (United Nations) , BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), the USA, the UK, the EU (European Union), CNN, ITV

16. Single letters in X-ray, T-shirt, T-bone

Click here for a list of capital letters to save on your computer 

Click here for a worksheet from the BBC Skillswise team

Do the quiz below.