Here are some rules to follow. There's not enough context in your example to offer any solid advice (e.g., the "north" of where? Similar is the case with the following set of words: Here are a couple of sentences for further clarity on the matter: When terms such as "southern district" and "western region" are used as names for specific units within an organization, capitalize them. Of course, as with other nouns, they should be capitalized at the beginning of sentences and in titles. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. When dealing with geographic terms, capitalize nouns such as "river", "lake", etc. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. To capitalize or not quoted text after be form, How to handle a hobby that makes income in US. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. The word should only be capitalized if it appears in the body's name. When possessive pronouns like her, his, my, our, and your are used, do not capitalize them. Southern, on the other hand, is capitalized by convention when it refers to California: I live in Southern California. To put it another way, capitalize words like Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis in place of the persons name. 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. Q. Hello! In the case of prime minister, either both words begin with a capital letter or neither, except, obviously, when it starts a sentence. Note that exceptions based on specific regional, political, or historical contexts are inevitable and that an author's strong preference should usually be respected. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. What about capitalizing a Southerner or a Southerner? The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox. O needs to be capitalized since it is at the beginning of the sentence, I needs to be capital, Pisces is a specific constellation so it is a proper noun, and likewise North is proper noun. When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. Hi, Lynne. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Updated on December 22, 2018. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. This is known as 'title case'. Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? Capitalize proper nouns and most adjectives formed from proper nouns. For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. Likewise, capitalize terms such as "Native American," "Hispanic," and so on. As a compass direction, south and southern are not capitalized: Capitalize each term when it is used as a proper name or as part of a proper name, and if the region is widely known: The Civil War pitted the South against the North. For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. Should southern be capitalized? The basic guidelines for using capital letters in English appear simple enough: Capitalize the first word in a sentence. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. However, it is only compulsory to do so when "North" is part of a proper noun. The FHA insures mortgages for buyers with low credit scores and down payments as low as 3.5%. Using Kolmogorov complexity to measure difficulty of problems? The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. Names of regions should be capitalized if those are proper nouns or denote a country, city, continent, etc. Capitalizing southern and capitalizing south have the same rules. Except for England, the other three countries have their own parliaments. When words like northern, southern, eastern, or western precede a place name, they arent usually capitalized because they only indicate a general location within a region. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. In your first paragraph after the caption you make a good comparison between Wild West and Southern California, but I'm still troubled by a couple of issues. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. In headlines, the periods are omitted. When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style. Hi, Victoria. The word 'southern' shouldn't be capitalized in a sentence unless it is a proper noun. Capitalize regional terms when they refer to a commonly accepted proper name of an area. As a compass direction, south and southern are not capitalized: Capitalize each term when it is used as a proper name or as part of a proper name, and if the region . States and territories Use initial capitals for words in the formal name. But it would be unusual to do this for a less well-known location, such as south Coventry.. But because it has defined boundaries and administration, it's a "region". My friend is a southerner. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. It's not a continent, nor is it a country. The same rules apply to capitalizing western as capitalizing west. Words such as one, it, its, its, him, and own should all be capitalized no matter where they appear in a title. We lowercase the terms when they refer to directions: The United States is located north of Mexico. (I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker. Which sentence is capitalized correctly on a cloudless night? Lowercase with names of nations (southern France) unless they indicate a political division (South Korea). Thus, here are 10 capitalization rules you should know for a well written write-up: Capitalize the first word of every sentence. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN. Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. Capitalization Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name. It might be amusing to look for instances of "southern Southern California" or "northern Southern California". The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. As explained in the post, there is no need to capitalize these words when used generically (only when they're part of a proper noun). Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. To summarize the advice above, we suggest: However, capitalization may depend on the style guide youre using. The English language has grammar and usage rules by the boatload. I am living in Western Downtown. Only a few signs of the zodiac are automatically capitalized (Capricorn, Gemini, Sagittarius, Taurus). When does a locational distinction change its suffix and capitialization in a proper name? In other words, directions can be tricky! If youre referring to a specific location, such as the southern winds, southern should be lowercase. The term "region" is a general noun, and it's usually not capitalized, as a result. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. So you would only capitalize federal when you use it in the name of a federal agency, an act, or some other proper noun. What about capitalizing a Westerner or a Westerner? Which sentence is capitalized correctly I learned that Thor? Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. 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. Proper nouns include the specific names of people, places, and things. 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. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location. These are not governed entities, but they are official designations. doesn't shout the need for "capitalization", it's safe to write it in lowercase. They are written with capital letters. Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. 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. Surely not one word Southeast? . When proofreading or editing documents, we often find that writers are confused about when to capitalize these terms. Use capital letters in the following ways: The first words of a sentence When he tells a joke, he sometimes forgets the punch line. Home-buyers pay a 1.75% fee up . Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. editing, The correct answer is option C. In option A, the word Chemistry is only capitalized leaving the other proper noun in lower case. Words Which Should Not Be Capitalized in a Title. For example: I live in The North. Actually, you should capitalize federal only when it is part of a proper noun, that is, the official name of a particular or unique person, place, or thing. In contrast, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends lowercasing specific U.S. geographic regions used as adjectives:3. 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. Capitalizing western and capitalizing west have the same rules. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? South Pacific. In this particular sentence, I is capitalized because it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Did the Allman Brothers Band play southern rock or Southern rock? MLA style followsThe Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. Terms that denote regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized, as are a few of the adjectives and nouns derived from such terms. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. When to capitalize North East South West? Job seekers, Is Pepsi the owner of KFC? Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. Do you capitalize north? The street is named Bolton Avenue. I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) suggests capitalizing terms like Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner:5. Strength Vs. Strong: Differences, How To Tell Them Apart? Hi, Kelly. capitalization, maps, writing tips. 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).1. Youd also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are. The word states would remain lower case if states is referred to in a general way, such as There are two senators for each state.. Each state has its own unique shortened name codes used in written documents and mailing addresses. For example, we capitalize north, south, east, and west when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. 17th ed., U of Chicago P, 2017,www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec047.html. Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '809ac5c4-ef90-4489-8311-03d2c90632ee', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Topics: Hello! Here is part of that discussion: 8.46 Regions of the world and national regions. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? Capitalizing North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic, as are those lacking any signs of reasonable research. You would capitalize "Southern" when referring to the people, or their culture, politics, or social activities, e.g., Southern hospitality, Southern cuisine, Southern accents.

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