It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. 6 Does the word federal need to be capitalized? Sallie Ward, a Southern belle. Is it "southern California" or "Southern California?". States should also be abbreviated when used as part of a short-form political affiliation. Capitalize locations in a country if the proper noun is given in other words, the name of a region or city, such as the Congo, the Mississippi River, etc. However, it is accepted that these are capitalized when discussing the American Civil War, for example, and, as mentioned in this article in the final Summary section, some style guides prefer north and south to always be capitalized when referring generally to these areas of the United States. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the southern winds, southern should be lowercase. This confusion can also be attributed to the fact that certain region names have direction names in their official names, such as "the Middle East". The first letter of someone's first, middle, and last name is always capitalized, as in John William Smith . To capitalize or not to capitalize "southern" California [duplicate]. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). are not capitalized when they merely denote compass direction. Some could argue the word "Southerner" in the sentence denotes someone who belongs to a specific region, and the letter "S" should therefore be capitalized. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. Words Which Should Not Be Capitalized in a Title. AP Style holds to the general rule of lowercasing compass directions and capitalizing regions. Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) suggests lowercasing terms like midwesterner, northerner, southerner, and westerner, except when referencing the Civil War, in which case Northerner and Southerner should be capitalized:6. The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) I wanted to know how to write Southeast Albania correctly (proof reading). In June 1963, the Department provided an initial list of abbreviations, but many had only three or four letters, which were still too long. For example, Silicon Valley isn't a proprietary name or legally defined area, but it receives initial caps anyway. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. Thank you. In other words, capitalize words such as Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis when they are used in place of the persons name. For example, Southern US is proper because it is a specific region. The storm is heading east. Should southern be capitalized? Rule 2. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. Is summer a good time? Broadly speaking, a region is an area that's divided by: Geographic regions are usually depicted by their not-so-clearly defined, and at times transitory boundaries. For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. In what contexts would I capitalize "city" and "county"? Title Case Capitalization (APA 7th) Sentence Case Capitalization (APA 7th) With states, lowercase in most uses: northern New York. So, noun will be always first capital letter. When to capitalize North East South West? Hi, Kelly. South Pacific. Should north East south West be capitalized? Is it Southern or Southern? In all cases, though, you should: And if you need help, our expert proofreaders are ready! capitalization, maps, writing tips. When dealing with geographic terms, capitalize nouns such as "river", "lake", etc. When using a U.S. geographic region as an adjective, the decision to capitalize or lowercase will depend on your style guide. Only capitalize state when it follows the states name, such as New York State is also known as the Empire State, or when it is part of a traditional state name, such as Empire State or Lone Star State, can be capitalized. But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places name. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. More answers below 5 Free French-to-English Translation Services, Broad geographical regions (e.g., the North or the Far East), People from a specific region (e.g., Northerners, Southerners), Cultures or movements related to a region (e.g., Western philosophy). But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize Southern when referring to the South in the United States, regardless of whether youre discussing the Civil War. Home-buyers pay a 1.75% fee up . For example, capitalizing "Southerner" in the sentence "As a Southerner, she had a distinct drawl" can be up for debate. Is Southern California capitalized AP style? AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. A region could also be a group of nations. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Rule 1. Hello! The periods are omitted in headlines. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. The mines are in the plateaus western region. You should only capitalize "east" when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the East" or "in the Middle East". Capitalize the traditional geographic regions in the United States: the Midwest, the North, the South, the West, and the combined regions (i.e., the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Southwest). Also, if "region" is the first word in a sentence, it is capitalized. Does the word federal need to be capitalized? If the designation is widely known, the "direction" terms are capitalized for instance, "Southern California". Unless you are referring to the Four Seasons, there is no reason for seasons to . As an aside, when we toured through the San Francisco Peninsula earlier this year, our guide told us that the natives generally didn't like the name 'Silicon Valley'. When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." We lowercase the terms when they refer to directions: The United States is located north of Mexico. ), but I'd suggest not capitalizing it unless you're certain it is necessary. Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. Is "Southern California" considered a proper noun? Why distinguishes money from other assets in the economy. Am I a midwesterner or a Midwesterner? In contrast, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends lowercasing specific U.S. geographic regions used as adjectives:3. There may be disagreement about where the border of Southern California begins, just as there was and is about the border of the Wild West, but the fact that the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange County, and San Diego are all located in Southern California is beyond debate. I am living in Western Downtown. When words like northern, southern, eastern, and western precede a place name, they are not ordinarily capitalized, because they merely indicate general location within a region. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. In a June 11 statement, the National Association of Black Journalists issued a recommendation "that whenever a color is used to appropriately describe race then it should be capitalized . It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Capitalize the first word of every sentence. Are seasons capitalized or not? You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as in the South. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as go south on I-90, then you should keep south lowercase. Whether it's an "official" name or not and how well the thing is defined have no bearing whatsoever. They live in the western part of the country. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Erin Wright, 20122023. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Wotan is one of the gods in Wagner's Ring Cycle. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. The official USPS postal abbreviation is this format. The pronoun "I" By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. Clearly, LA, OC, and SD are part of Southern California, but there are a lot of other places that are located in southern California that are not located in Southern California, such as Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Joshua Tree, Blythe, etc. only if it's a proper name. If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Western States. However, if youre referring to a general location, such as the western winds then western should be lowercase. Hi, Michael. Southern United States, for example, is appropriate because it is located in a specific region. In terms of "human geography", the regions and their subregions are elucidated by the ethnography discipline. However, there are a few exceptions you should learn about. The term "region" is a general noun, and it's usually not capitalized, as a result. 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. If these geographic areas are part of a name, however, such as "River Thames", capitalize the term. For example, Southern France is capitalized because it is a proper noun and . Most style guides recommend capitalizing "West Coast" when referring to the western seaboard of the U.S. hi, should i capitalize 'west' in 'west Africa' or 'north' in north Africa'? Along with the proper nouns listed in the table above, you should also always capitalize: the first word after a colon when what follows the colon is an independent clause, most nouns when they are followed by numerals or letters (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2, Panel A; see section 4.17), and. Should I capitalize "the north" and "the south" in my work on the southern campaign of the Revolutionary war? Unless they are actually part of the place name, directions dont need to be capitalized, but this depends on personal preference (e.g., if it might make this clearer to the reader) and whether its specified by a style guide. Capitalize the pronoun. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. I often have to write north, west in reference to an entrance or exit, for example, the patron exited through the north turnstile. In most forms of writings, not capitalizing direction names when they could have been capitalized doesn't bother the readers much. In general, Midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. The Content Authority is where you will find great content, written by amazing writers, around topics like grammar, writing, publishing, and marketing. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The administration's solution: Ease credit for riskier borrowers. rev2023.3.3.43278. Are you captivated by capitalization? In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. Everyone knows that Southern blot is written with a capital "S". Whichever version you use, then, we'd suggest not capitalizing the direction, just the country name. However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. (Cap or no cap on east and west). 1 Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. How do I connect these two faces together? This suffix makes the direction an adjective, and when it describes a specific region, it should be capitalized. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. When possessive pronouns like her, his, my, our, and your are used, do not capitalize them. Keep reading to learn everything there is to regions and their capitalization, rules for related terms and phrases, what a region is, etc. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Here Carlotta is the name hence it needs to be in capital and I, Halloween should be capitalized. The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. Have you ever wondered when its okay to capitalize north, east, south, and west? It's not a continent, nor is it a country. The seasons are not proper nouns and are therefore not normally capitalized. Proper nouns are names of particular individuals, places, or things, such as Josephina, Michigan, Oreo, and United Auto Workers. Posted by The AP Stylebook, which is the guiding stylebook for a number of news organizations, including The Daily Tar Heel, advises against using the Oxford comma in most basic series. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But when the words are used in specific contexts, denote people belonging to a particular region, or refer to their social, political, or cultural activities, they are capitalized. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. At 8.47 ("Popular place names or epithets"), CMOS notes that certain other regions and epithets receive initial caps as well. As an Amazon Associate, CapitalizeMyTitle.com earns from qualifying purchases. When does a locational distinction change its suffix and capitialization in a proper name? You don't even want to know what he calls pancakes. For example: I live in The North. Here are the types of words that should be capitalized: Proper nouns. For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. When proofreading or editing documents, we often find that writers are confused about when to capitalize these terms. One reason partisans capitalize "White" or "Black" is to denote its importance in messages, even subliminally, magnified by lowercasing the "other." As always, we believe that labels can oversimplify, and that a specific description is better. The same rule applies for specific regions when you add -ern onto the end of a direction. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. MLA style follows The Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. You can even submit asample document for free to see how our services work. Job seekers, Is Pepsi the owner of KFC? The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the days of the week. I work in marketing, and I'm wondering if lowercasing the words "off" and "under" in these headlines is correct: "50% off Body Wash" and "Gift Sets under $40.". In other words, directions can be tricky! Back East. For example, we capitalizenorth,south,east, andwest when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. U.S. Dont capitalize names of directions like north, south, east, and west when used to refer to direction and location, but do capitalize these words when they appear in the names of places and regions. Regardless of what side of the debate table you are on, the different thoughts clearly illustrate how differing opinions could be on the matter, causing people to use capitalization rules the way they deem appropriate. Before capitalizing words like east, west, north, and south, check whether you are using them as part of a proper noun or merely to refer to direction or location.Don't capitalize directions (we sailed due east) and locations (western India), but do capitalize compass points when they occur in proper nouns (North Korea, South Sudan, East Dunbartonshire, the Great Western Plains). A recognized geographical region. It's the inconsistency or the abrupt switching between capitalized letters and lowercase letters is what that puts readers off. Capitalization For WebCT Users in Writing Classes: The "caps" icon (usually immediately before a word) indicates either that the following word ought to be capitalized (for one of the reasons listed here) or, if it is already capitalized, that it shouldn't be. northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts Northern Ireland, Western Australia The capitalization of as depends upon its function. @Devil07, the geographical adjective "southern" is not usurped -- it just means something different. So you would only capitalize federal when you use it in the name of a federal agency, an act, or some other proper noun. Names of racial and ethnic groups are treated as proper nouns, which means they are capitalized (e.g., African American, Asian American, Black, European American, First Nations, Hispanic, Native American, Latinx, White). , Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence. Use lowercase when referring to directions on a compass. So, option 2 is correct. 4 Is Southern California capitalized AP style? Capitalizing western and capitalizing west have the same rules. Should states and territories be Capitalised? That's when even the most exhaustive style . Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. Note that exceptions based on specific regional, political, or historical contexts are inevitable and that an author's strong preference should usually be respected. Thus, here are 10 capitalization rules you should know for a well written write-up: According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. seems less related to the usual descriptivist process, more opinion-based. 10 Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? Capitalizing the Word States If a writer refers to the United States and refers to it only as the States, states must be capitalized.