Capitalization

So whats the big deal if words are not capitalized nor have punctuation, people we know what I mean.
Thats very presumptuous of you and completely wrong.

spot spots spots on spots spotted food bowl.

Whaaat? That is as clear as Swamp Things swamp. What happens when we add
capitalization and punctuation?

Spot spots spots on Spots spotted food bowl.

That is a little clearer. Now we know that Datas cat Spot spots (sees) spots on his (Spots)
spotted food bowl. So lets look at some basic capitalization rules.

1. Capitalize the names of specific people. Remember , specific people are proper
nouns and should begin with a capital letter:

Darth Vader, Norman Bates, Harry Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien

2. Capitalize specific geographical locations:

Planets: Galifrey, Tatooine, Earth, Alderaan

Countries: Canada, United States
Cities: New York, Hartford, Oshkosh
Sections of the country: The North, The Southeast

Dont capitalize the words north, south, east, west, southeast, etc when referring to a direction,
only if it refers to a section of the country.
In the South (a section) of the desert sandworms were heading north (a direction).

Bodies of water, continents, islands, mountains and roads (where we are going we dont need
any roads) are also capitalized.

Caution!

Because English likes to make things difficult here is an exception to that capitalization
rule. If a street name has a hyphenated number, the second number begins with a
lower case letter but the word street is still capitalized:

I bought my bootleg Star Wars Holiday Special DVD on the corner of Forty-second
Street.
 3. Capitalize the names of organizations, businesses, institutions and government bodies.

Starfleet, The Spice Guild, The Alliance, The Rebellion, The Empire, Yoyodyne, The
Umbrella Corporation, The FBI, Fringe Division, Browncoats, Covnet

4. Capitalize the names of historical events and periods, special events and
calendar dates. Do not capitalize seasons.

The Earth-Romulan War, The First Cylon War, Life Day, The Day of Honor, May the Fourth, Revenge of
the Fifth, First Contact Day, Towel Day, Free Comic Book Day, Hobbit Day, Batman Day

In the winter James likes to pretend it is Halloween everyday so he can wear a costume.

5. Capitalize the names of races, religions and nationalities.

Klingon, Vulcan, Bajoran, Whipid, Hutt, Tenctonese, Bene Gesserit, Jedi, Nugganism

That Tenctonese wanted to become a Bene Gesserit.

6. Capitalize brand names but not the product.

Skynet computers, Nazz-A-La cola, Star Trek ale

7. Capitalize the names of ships, monuments, awards and any other

particular place, thing or event:
Ships: The Enterprise, Serenity, The Millennium Falcon
Awards: Biggest Trekkie Award, Godzilla Destruction Award
Stars: Betelgeuse, The Big Dipper, The Milky Way

Planets, constellations, asteroids and groups of stars are capitalized;

however moon and sun are generally not capitalized, and earth is not
capitalized if it is preceded by the article the.

Picards family planet grape vines in the earth.

8. Only capitalize a school subject of it is a language or followed by a number.

astronomy, Astronomy II, Dothraki, shuttle piloting, xenobiology, Klingon

Dont capitalize freshman, sophomore, junior or senior unless the work is part of a proper noun
like Senior Skip Day.
 Scully became ill in biology so she will have to miss the Senior Science Fair where she was going
to teach mice to sing Green Day songs in Latin.

9. Capitalize the title of a person when it comes before a name.

Captain Kirk, First Lieutenant Rimmer, Commander Adama, Doctor Who

10. Do not capitalize a title used alone or following a persons name unless it
refers to a high official such as President of the United Federation of
Planets or to someone whom you wish to show respect to.

The President decided to open the boarders to all Bajoran refugees. (high title)

Weasley was made president of the young navigators club. (not a high title)

When a title is used alone in a direct address it is capitalized:

Revenge is a dish best served cold, Admiral.

11. Capitalize the first word and all important words in the titles of movies, books, poems, stories,
paintings and other works of art. The first and last words of a title are always capitalized no
matter if they are important or not. What are unimportant words? Unimportant words are
articles and prepositions that are under five letters.

Blade Runner, Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan, The Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

12. Capitalize words referring to Holy Books or Deities.

The Koran, the Torah, God and his Universe, Feklhr, the Prophets

The word god is not capitalized when it refers to gods of ancient mythology (although the gods in
any Rick Riordan series might disagree).

13. Capitalize a word showing family relationships when that word is used with that
persons name but not when the word showing relationship is preceded by a possessive
pronoun.

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru raised Luke like their own.

My uncle wont let me go to Toshi Station to get power converters.

This rule has a Loki in it. When a family relationship word is used as part of a name,
capitalize them, even after a possessive pronoun.

My mean Uncle Owen wont let me transmit my application to the Academy.

Another Loki; capitalize a word showing a family relationship when it is used in a direct address.

I want you to come to the Darkside Son, we really do have cookies.

14. Capitalize abbreviations for a degree that appear after the persons name.

Leonard McCoy, M.D.

15. Capitalize the abbreviations Jr. and Sr. when they follow a persons name.

Dr. Henry Jones Jr.

Bits and bobs left over

Abbreviations such as A.D., B.C., or the more politically correct C.E. or B.C.E. are always capitalized.

Abbreviations for measurements are not capitalized (ft. mg.)

For the time of day (a.m., p.m.); it is acceptable to capitalize or not capitalize your choice.

Capitalize the first word and each noun in a salutation (Dear Mr. Holmes, To Whom it may concern).

Capitalize only the first word in the closing of a letter (Sincerely yours, Bye for now).
(Quantum) mechanical errors

Find the capitalization errors in the following sentences and fix them.

1. The doctor is a very old time lord from galifrey.

2. Really mom. Cried Wesley. You are embarrassing me in front of the
captain.
3. Harry potter thought Snape was working for voldermort.
4. Which fictional sport is better? pyramid, paresis Squares or quidditch?
5. John Crichton worked for the international aeronautics and space
administration (iasa).
6. Patrick Stewart played both xavier and picard.
7. Michael Meyers wears a Captain kirk mask
on Halloween.
8. I liked the skeksis more than the urskeks.
9. You cannot not love the princess bride.
10. The enterprise is not just from star trek; it
is a real historical ship.
11. Codex loved the game so much she works
for the company now.
12. Between the television shows, audios,
plays and movies i wonder how many
actors have played the doctor?
13. Attack of the killer tomatoes had a lot of
sequels and an animated series.
14. Weird Al used to wear a lot of hawaiian shirts.
15. Aunt petunia secretly wanted to be a witch.
(Quantum) mechanical errors

Find the capitalization errors in the following sentences and fix them.

1. The Doctor is a very old Time Lord from Galifrey.

2. Really Mom. Cried Wesley. You are embarrassing me in front of the Captain.
3. Harry Potter thought Snape was working for Voldermort.
4. Which fictional sport is better? Pyramid, Paresis Squares or Quidditch?
5. John Crichton worked for the International Aeronautics and Space Administration (IASA).
6. Patrick Stewart played both Xavier and Picard.
7. Michael Meyers wears a Captain Kirk mask on Halloween.
8. I liked the Skeksis more than the Urskeks.
9. You cannot not love The Princess Bride.
10. The Enterprise is not just from Star Trek; it is a real historical ship.
11. Codex loved the game so much she works for the company now.
12. Between the television shows, audios, plays and movies I wonder how many actors have played
the Doctor?
13. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes had a lot of sequels and an animated series.
14. Weird Al used to wear a lot of Hawaiian shirts.
15. Aunt Petunia secretly wanted to be a witch.