Capitalization and Quotation Marks

By: Destinie P., Greg R., and James W.

Capitalize the first letter of significant words (but not the whole word) for these reasons:

• Why do we capitalize??• We capitalize to indicate the beginning

of a new sentence.• We also capitalize important names

and/or titles• There are many reasons why we

capitalize, and there are many rules to capitalizing.

Capitalizing

• Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence.

• Ex: The concert was great!• A proper noun is a noun which names a

specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized.

• Ex: We went to Busch Gardens last weekend.

Capitalizing cont.

• There are two rules for capitalizing when writing a letter.

• (Rule 1)- Capitalize the first word and all names in the greeting.

• Ex: Dear Sir, My dearest Aunt, Greetings!

• (Rule 2)- Capitalize the first word in the closing.

• Ex: Sincerely, Truly yours

Capitalizing cont.

• Always capitalize the Pronoun “I”• Capitalize days of the week,

months, and holidays.• Never capitalize seasons• Ex: Thursday, October, Christmas,

winter

Capitalizing cont.

• Always capitalize the first and last word in a title.

• Capitalize all words except “a,” “an,” “the” and conjunctions and prepositions of four letters or fewer.

• Ex: Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince

Capitalizing cont.

• Capitalize the first word in a quotation if the quotation is a complete sentence.

• Ex: Walter said “Why did Jessie leave?’’

Quotation Marks

• Why do we use quotation marks?• We use quotation marks to set off

material that represents quoted or spoken language.

Quotations cont.

• Periods and commas go inside the “close quote” marks.

• Ex: “I don’t care,” she said, “what do you think about it?”

Quotations cont.

• If a quoted word or phrase fits into the flow of your sentence without a break or pause, then a comma may not be necessary.

Quotation cont.

• When you have a question outside quoted material and inside quoted material, use only one question mark and place it inside the quotation mark.

• Ex: Did she say, "May I go?"

Quotation cont.

• Use single quotation marks for a quotation or title using quotation marks inside another quotation or title which uses quotation marks.

• Ex: She asked, “How many of you have read ‘The Lady of Shalott’?”

Work Cited

• "Quotation Marks." OWL: Online Writing Lab. Purdue University. 3 Jul 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quoteEX1.html>.

• "Quotation Marks." Guide to Grammar and Writing. Capital Community Technical College Foundation. 3 Jul 2007 <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm>.

• "Single Quotation Marks." Grammar Slammer. Emme Interactive of France. 3 Jul 2007 <http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000110.htm>.