Capitalization Rules in Titles

Study Notes

Title Case: In title case, major words are capitalized, while minor words are not.
- Major words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns
- Minor words: articles (the, a, an), prepositions, and conjunctions
Examples of Title Case:
- The Great Gatsby (book title)
- The Importance of Punctuation (article title)
Exceptions to Title Case:
- The first and last words of a title are always capitalized, regardless of their part of speech
- Capitalize the first word after a colon (:) in a title

Quotation Marks:
- In American English, double quotation marks ("") are used to set off quotations
- In British English, single quotation marks ('') are used to set off quotations
Commas and Periods:
- In American English, commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks
- In British English, commas and periods go outside the quotation marks, unless they are part of the quotation
Colons and Semicolons:
- Colons and semicolons always go outside the quotation marks
Exclamation Marks and Question Marks:
- Exclamation marks and question marks go inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quotation
- Exclamation marks and question marks go outside the quotation marks if they are part of the surrounding sentence

In title case, major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) are capitalized, while minor words (articles, prepositions, and conjunctions) are not.
The first and last words of a title are always capitalized, regardless of their part of speech.
The first word after a colon (:) in a title is always capitalized.

In American English, double quotation marks ("") are used to set off quotations.
In British English, single quotation marks ('') are used to set off quotations.
In American English, commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks.
In British English, commas and periods go outside the quotation marks, unless they are part of the quotation.
Colons and semicolons always go outside the quotation marks.
Exclamation marks and question marks go inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quotation.
Exclamation marks and question marks go outside the quotation marks if they are part of the surrounding sentence.

Use commas to separate two independent clauses joined by a conjunction (e.g., and, but, or, so).
Separate items in a list of three or more items with commas.
Use commas to set off non-essential clauses or phrases that provide additional information.
Separate dates and addresses with commas.

A sentence fragment is a group of words lacking a subject, verb, or both.
Types of sentence fragments:
- Lacking a subject: a phrase that starts with a verb, but has no subject.
- Lacking a verb: a phrase that has a subject, but no verb.
- Dependent clause: a clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
Fix sentence fragments by:
- Adding a subject or verb to the fragment.
- Combining the fragment with a nearby sentence using a conjunction.

Use an apostrophe to indicate possession in singular nouns by adding 's to the end of the noun.
Use an apostrophe to indicate possession in plural nouns by adding 's to the end of the noun if it does not end in -s.
For plural nouns ending in -s, add only an apostrophe.
Use an apostrophe to indicate the omission of letters in a contraction.
Do not use an apostrophe with plural possessive pronouns (e.g., its, theirs, yours).