✏️ Grammar · Punctuation & Mechanics
Capitalisation Rules
Which words get a capital letter in English and which don’t — names, places, languages, days, film titles and job titles, with the mistakes to avoid and a quiz to check.
Grammar › Punctuation & Mechanics › Capitalisation Rules
The rule in one sentenceCapitalise the first word of a sentence, the pronoun I, and every name — people, places, brands, languages, days and months, and the main words of a film title (Four Weddings and a Funeral) — but keep ordinary words, seasons and job descriptions in lower case.
What is it?
English uses capital letters (A, B, C…) far more than many languages. A capital letter is a signal: it says this is the start of something or this is a name. Get it wrong and your writing looks careless, even when your grammar is perfect.
The good news is that the rules are short. Every sentence starts with a capital: Local Hero is a gentle comedy set in Scotland. The pronoun I is always a capital, wherever it appears: My sister and I watched Billy Elliot on Sunday. And proper nouns — the names of specific people, places and things — always take a capital: Olivia Colman, Notting Hill, Kenya.
🎬 Compare: “Notting Hill is a district of London” (a place — capital N, capital H) vs. “the hill behind the cinema” (an ordinary hill — no capital).
Same word, different job. A capital letter turns a common noun into a name.
The tricky part for learners is the group of words that English capitalises but many other languages don’t: nationalities and languages (English, French, Italian — always), days and months (Friday, May) and the main words in titles (Out of Africa). If your first language writes english or monday in lower case, this page is for you.
How to use it
Names, places, languages, days
Director Jane Campion is from New Zealand.
person + countryThe Italian Job is a British film set in Italy.
nationality + countrywe saw notting hill on friday in may.
✓ We saw Notting Hill on Friday in May.Titles of films and books (title case)
A Man for All Seasons · Out of Africa
first word always capital; of / for stay smallFour Weddings and a Funeral
and / a in the middle stay smallWithnail and I
the pronoun I keeps its capital even mid-titleWhen to use which
Capital letter — it’s a name or a start
- Sentence starts: Billy Elliot is set in a mining town.
- The pronoun I: Withnail and I is the film I recommend most.
- People and places: Olivia Colman, Notting Hill, Africa.
- Brands and studios: Notting Hill was produced by Working Title.
- Nationalities and languages: Out of Africa is in English, with some Swahili.
- Days, months, holidays: Saturday, December, Christmas.
- Titles before a name: Mrs Wilkinson, the dance teacher in Billy Elliot.
Lower case — it’s an ordinary word
- Seasons: Local Hero is a perfect film for a winter evening.
- Job descriptions: Jane Campion is a director; Olivia Colman is an actress.
- General nouns: the cinema, the studio, a country, a language.
- Little words inside a title: A Man for All Seasons, Out of Africa.
- School subjects (except languages): history, maths — but French, English.
- Points of the compass as directions: The Italian Job ends in the mountains to the north.
Spot the pattern
If a word belongs to one of these groups, reach for a capital letter.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
Common mistakes
❌ The Italian Job was filmed in italy and in england.
✅ The Italian Job was filmed in Italy and in England.
Countries, cities and nationalities are names — always capitalised. If you got Italian right in the title, give Italy the same treatment.
❌ In the Summer i watched Local Hero on a monday night.
✅ In the summer I watched Local Hero on a Monday night.
Two errors in opposite directions: seasons are ordinary words (small s), while I and days of the week are always capitals.
❌ I loved out of africa, and four weddings and a funeral is on tonight.
✅ I loved Out of Africa, and Four Weddings and a Funeral is on tonight.
Film titles take title case: capitalise the first word and every main word, and leave of, and, a in lower case. Without capitals, readers can’t even see where the title starts and stops.
British vs American note: The rules above are the same on both sides of the Atlantic. One small difference shows up in headlines: British newspapers usually write headlines in sentence case (Colman to star in new drama), while many American papers use title case (Colman To Star In New Drama). Film titles themselves use title case everywhere.
Exceptions & tricky cases
Three places where learners hesitate — and what to do.
1. Job titles: capital only when it becomes part of the name. Describe someone’s job in lower case: Jane Campion is a director. Capitalise a title only when it sits directly before a name like a label: Mrs Wilkinson teaches Billy to dance in Billy Elliot.
✅ the director Jane Campion ✅ Mrs Wilkinson ❌ Jane Campion is a Director
2. “The” at the start of a title. Capitalise it when it begins the title and lower-case it when it is just part of your sentence.
✅ The Italian Job is a classic heist film. (title starts the sentence) ✅ I’ve seen The Italian Job three times. (title in the middle — The is still capital because it belongs to the title)
3. Short words at the very end of a title. The rule “keep of, and, for, in small” has one limit: the last word of a title is always capitalised, whatever it is. And the pronoun I is capital everywhere — which is why it is Withnail and I, never Withnail and i.
Practice: capital or small letter?
Eight quick questions. Choose the version that is written correctly — you get the explanation either way.
1. Which is correct?
The first word of a sentence and the pronoun I are always capitals.
2. Which title is written correctly?
Short words like “for” stay in lower case inside a title; “A”, “Man”, “All” and “Seasons” are capitals.
3. Local Hero is set in ___.
Countries are proper nouns — always capitalised.
4. Billy Elliot came out in ___.
Seasons are ordinary words, not names — lower case.
5. Out of Africa is in ___ with some Swahili.
Languages and nationalities are always capitalised in English — even though many languages don’t do this.
6. Which is correct?
“And” stays small inside a title, but the pronoun I is a capital wherever it appears.
7. Jane Campion is a ___ from New Zealand.
A job description after “a” or “the” is an ordinary noun — lower case.
8. Four Weddings and a Funeral is on TV on ___.
Days of the week and months are capitalised — unlike seasons.
Keep going
Related lessons in Punctuation & Mechanics:
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