Capitalising titles

Key Notes:

General Rule:

• Capitalise the first and last words of the title, regardless of their part of speech.
• Capitalise all major words in the title, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (e.g., because, although).
• Do not capitalise articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor), or prepositions (in, of, on, for, with, to, by, etc.) unless they are the first or last word of the title.

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Examples:

• The Great Gatsby (capitalised: “The”, “Great”, “Gatsby”)
• A Tale of Two Cities (capitalised: “A”, “Tale”, “Two”, “Cities”)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (capitalised: “To”, “Kill”, “Mockingbird”)
• The Lord of the Rings (capitalised: “The”, “Lord”, “Rings”)
• The History of Modern Art (capitalised: “The”, “History”, “Modern”, “Art”)

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Exception Rules:

• Prepositions that are longer than 5 letters should be capitalised, such as “During,” “Between,” “Among,” etc.
• Some style guides may allow different conventions based on the specific writing style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).

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Titles of Works:

• For books, articles, movies, songs, albums, magazines, and TV shows, use title case (capitalising major words).
• For poems, short stories, chapters, articles, and essays, title case also applies.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid:

• Avoid capitalising unimportant words (e.g., the, and, or, but) unless they are at the beginning or end of the title.
• Ensure that all important words are capitalised correctly, including adjectives and verbs.

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Applying Style Guides:

• Different style guides may have specific rules. For example:
  • MLA: Capitalise most words in the title.
  • APA: Similar to MLA but tends to capitalise only the first word of the title and proper nouns in the subtitle.
  • Chicago Style: Similar to MLA but with slightly more flexibility regarding prepositions.