Home › How to Write Letters › Capital Letters

Capital Letters

The capital letters only set apart the sentences and paragraphs, but while their proper use adds greatly to the beauty of an epistle, their omission or improper use will make the pages present a perfectly absurd appearance. Begin every paragraph with a capital letter.

Begin every sentence following a period with a capital letter. Begin all proper names with a capital letter.

Begin all titles, as President, Vice-President, General, Doctor or Captain, with a capital letter. letter.

Begin all names of places, as Chicago, Long Branch, Niagara, with a capital Begin the words, North, South, East, West, and their compounds and abbreviations, North-east, S. W., with a capital letter. Begin the names of the Deity and Heaven, or the pronoun used for the former, as, in His mercy-Thou, Father, with a capital letter. Begin all adjectives formed from the names of places or points of the compass, as English, Northern, with a capital letter.

Begin every line of poetry with a capital letter.

Begin all quotations with a capital letter.

Begin all titles of books, and usually each important word of the title, as, Bancroft's History of the United States. letter.

Begin the name of any historical event, as the Civil War, with a capital The pronoun I and the interjection O must invariably be written with a capital letter. P Begin all the names of the months, as June, April, with a capital letter. Begin all addresses, as, Dear Sir-Dear Madam, with a capital letter. Capital letters must never be placed in the middle of a word; never, except in accordance with the foregoing rules, in the middle of a sentence. Be very careful not to repeat the same word. Tautology is a crime in writing. Do not underline unless in very extreme cases.

Never abbreviate unless in business. Dates should be given in figures, and money, in parentheses, thus ($15,000). Date carefully. Begin a letter this way: or