This is a continuation of the article I shared last week on rules guiding capitalisation – how to capitalise proper nouns and adjectives, names of people and personal titles, family relationships, races, languages, nationalities, and religions. I now continue with sharing more rules on capitalisation.
Ever thought of how to capitalise the Supreme Being and sacred writings? All words referring to God, the Holy Family, and religious scriptures ought to be capitalised – the Lord, Jehovah God, Jesus Christ, Allah, the Gospel, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Torah, the Koran, the Talmud, the Virgin Mary. An old rule says to also capitalise personal pronouns referring to God, for example – He, His (God in His infinite mercies has shown us He is worthy of praise). Do note, however, that when referring to multiple deities such as the gods and goddesses of various mythologies ‘god’ and ‘goddess’ are not to be capitalised: ‘Zeus is a god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology.’ Second Corinthians chapter 8 verses 5 and 6 notes, “For even though there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’, there is actually to us one God, the Father, from whom all things are and we for him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and we through him.” The quoted verses deploy the use of the lower case for deities and the upper case for the Almighty God and for Jesus. Notice also the capitalisation of ‘Father’ in reference to the only true God.
The first person personal pronoun ‘I’ is always to be capitalised no matter where it occurs in the sentence. Except you are a poet who has the poetic license, refrain from using the lower case when writing this pronoun.
Can you try using capital letters in the following sentences?
1. Buddhism is a religion that began in india in the pre-christian era of history.
2. My uncle emmanuel made wedding clothes for the family, and i was so impressed with the array of beautiful clothes he delivered to us.
3. Followers of christ can read about his life in the four gospels documented in the bible.
The first ten persons to send their answers to my email [email protected] will receive a response!
Moving on, we consider how to capitalise certain nouns and adjectives that refer to geographical areas or topographical features. In a geographical name, capitalise the first letter of each word except articles and prepositions.
Examples:
Continents: South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica
Roads and highways: Obafemi Awolowo Road, Allen Avenue, Kofo Abayomi, Lekki-Epe Expressway
Landforms: the Sinai Peninsula, the Syrian Desert; the Grand Canyon, Mount Constance, Isthmus of Panama
Public areas: Muson Centre, Fort Niagara, the Amusement Park, National Theatre, Obudu Cattle Ranch
Bodies of water: the River Niger, the Jordan River, the Red Sea, the Adriatic Sea, Strait of Belle Isle, Lake Ontario, Agbokim Waterfalls
World regions: the Middle East, the Far East, the Orient
Political units: the House of Representatives, the House of Assembly, the West Indies, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Texas
Special terms: the North Pole, Aso Rock, the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator, the Northern Hemisphere, the White House
Notice that all articles and prepositions are not capitalised in the words above.
How do you know whether to capitalise a word modified by a proper adjective? Simply check that the noun and adjective together form a geographical name. For example, you could write ‘the Indian Ocean’, where, ‘Indian’ – a proper adjective – modifies ‘Ocean’ and both words together are a geographical name, whereas you do not capitalise ‘artifacts’ in ‘Indian artifacts’ since both together do not refer to a geographical location.
Directions and sections
Capitalise names of sections of the country or the world, and any adjectives that come from those sections:
The North stands well positioned than the West.
Easterners are always holidaying.
Do not, however, capitalise compass directions or adjectives that merely indicate direction or a general location:
Drive south on Ahmadu Bello Street to the first traffic light.
Her family spent their holiday on the eastern axis of Lagos.
Bodies of the universe
When referring to planets in the solar system and other objects in the universe, capitalise their names: the Milky Way Galaxy, Jupiter, Halley’s Comet, but do not capitalise the words ‘sun’ and ‘moon’: an eclipse of the sun, a phase of the moon.
The word ‘earth’ is to be capitalised only when used in conjunction with other planets: Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto are well-known terrestrial planets.
Also, when the definite article ‘the’ precedes ‘earth’, the latter is not to be capitalised: These other planets resemble the earth in size and density.
Structures and vehicles
When monuments, bridges, and buildings are specific, capitalise them. For example: the Third Mainland Bridge, Eko Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Flat Iron Building, Sterling Towers.
When ships, trains, airplanes, automobiles, and spacecraft are specifically named, capitalise them: Air Peace, Dana, the Virgin Atlantic, the Denver Zephyr, Mercedes, Kleenex, Toyota, and Hyundai.
Trade names are capitalized. However, words following them are not capitalized unless they are part of the trade names: Lipton tea, Pepsi Cola, Coca Cola, Nice potato chips, and Mr Biggs bread.
Organisations and institutions
Capitalise the names of organisations and institutions, but not prepositions and conjunctions. If their names are abbreviated, do also capitalise those.
Examples:
Smat-G Tech, managed by Mr Wisdom and Mrs Ngozi Israel, is the best smart gadgets company in Lagos to shop from.
Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) is the best among equals.
Build-Well Integrated Services is the go-to business in Nigeria for interior and exterior finishing and beautification of homes and business places, and I am proud that my husband, Mr. Uchechukwu Oji, is the CEO.
When not used as parts of names, kindly do not capitalise common nouns such as school, company, church, college, and hospital.
Events, Documents, and Periods of Time
Capitalise the names of historical events, documents, and periods of time:
the Dark Ages, the Nigerian Constitution, World War I, the Renaissance
Months, Days, and Holidays
Capitalise the names of months, days, and holidays: January, February, March, September, December, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday, New Year, Easter, Independence Day.
Do not capitalise the names of seasons: harmattan, winter, summer, spring, and fall.
Time Abbreviations
It is usually best to capitalise the abbreviations B.C, A.D., A.M., and P.M.
Note that B.C. always comes after the date while A.D. comes before it. Examples:
Jesus Christ was likely born in the year 2 B.C.
In A.D. 33, on the day of Pentecost, Holy Spirit came upon the disciples.
I hope this meeting will start at 11:00 A.M. and end at 12:30 P.M. as promised.
Finally, for school subjects, do not capitalise the general names of school subjects: biology, mathematics, physics, social studies, fine and applied arts, economics. However, do capitalise the titles of specific courses and of courses that are followed by a number: Comm 201, Biology 101, Physics 301, Eng 114. Please note that school subjects that are languages are always capitalised: Igbo, Yoruba, French, Mandarin, Italian.
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