Capitalize these words when they designate regions. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. The concept of a "region" is significant and used widely among the several geography branches, each of which could describe the areas or zones in region-based terms. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. When north, south, east, and west refer to generic directions (i.e., the points of the compass), they are not capitalized: The master bedroom is in the east wing of the mansion. Capitalization in APA, Chicago, MLA, and AP - ProofreadingPal Copyright 2022 - TheContentAuthority.com, Reindeer Vs. Moose: Main Differences, How To Tell Them Apart. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. When words like northern, southern, eastern, or western precede a place name, they aren't usually capitalized because they only indicate a general location within a region. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '499cbd76-cfa5-4fea-836f-ead06058d874', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); North, East, South or West - Capitalize or Not? I have published a variety of other capitalization posts related to time periods, geographic features, people, and product names. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. 4 Is Southern California capitalized AP style? When referring to a specific region, you should capitalize the words East Coast such as Im traveling to the East Coast since East Coast is a proper noun in this case. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. Is South Capitalized In South Florida - Beginners Travel State names had to be abbreviated to make room for the ZIP code. 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. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. Hope all that helps! If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Southern States. However, if instead you reference a general location, such as the southern winds, then the word southern should be lowercase. However, when the terms southerner and northerner refer to people on either side of the United States civil war, the civil war was fought between Southerners and Northerners. Only when it's very apparent or writing the direction names in small letters looks completely off, capitalize them. Similarly, the European Union is an assortment of multiple countries. You would capitalize "Southern" when referring to the people, or their culture, politics, or social activities, e.g., Southern hospitality, Southern cuisine, Southern accents. It also looks at when to capitalize those regions when they are used as adjectives and to describe U.S. geographic populations. I live to the west of Detroit Michigan. Use capital letters in the following ways: The first words of a sentence When he tells a joke, he sometimes forgets the punch line. In terms of "human geography", the regions and their subregions are elucidated by the ethnography discipline. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The pastor prayed that God should deliver us from our sins. Capital offenses - The Daily Californian What does it mean that the Bible was divinely inspired? Should southern be capitalized? When they indicate compass direction, lowercase north, south, northeast, and so on, but capitalize when it indicates a region: the West Coast. Regardless of what side of the debate table you are on, the different thoughts clearly illustrate how differing opinions could be on the matter, causing people to use capitalization rules the way they deem appropriate. CMOS recognizes that common usage and context determine conventional approaches to capitalization in connection with the treatment of certain terms related to regions. Do You Capitalize the Word "Queen" in a Sentence? Instead, I have compiled a partial list of things people shouldn't capitalize but commonly do anyway. However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. Many scholars now study the global South. In "the eastern portion of Colorado", however, "eastern" is written in small letters since it doesn't denote people or specific culture or practice. (There is a lot of leniency on whether to capitalize "The." Few would argue that the region is called "The North" as . However, be consistent and do not write: "Visitors to southern California climbed while visitors to northern California fell." Should south be capitalized? If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as " the Southern States ." However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. Column: Should 'white' be capitalized? It feels wrong, but it's the way Capitalization Unless the word is part of a formal name, do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, or other similar words. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. What is, In a front-wheel drive setup, theyre what transfers power to the wheels via the transmission or differential (in a rear-wheel drive setup). Are you captivated by capitalization? PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, all of which have 29,000 locations, Money differs from other economic assets in that it is the most liquid asset available. Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? capitalization. Lowercase to when it functions in an infinitive. He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. Capitalize names of organizations, institutions, stores, businesses, teams, political parties, and government bodies. If you are merely referring to a . Should Southern colonies be capitalized? Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? When to Capitalize Words for Compass Points - Daily Writing Tips What are some examples of how providers can receive incentives? Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. Except for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah, the name of a city and state should be abbreviated when they are used together. Is Colorado in the west or the West? You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites owner is strictly prohibited. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? If it's a name, it's a proper noun. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. Of course, they should be capitalized at the start of sentences and in titles, as they are with other nouns. One reason partisans capitalize "White" or "Black" is to denote its importance in messages, even subliminally, magnified by lowercasing the "other." As always, we believe that labels can oversimplify, and that a specific description is better. Other assets have a wide range of liquidity. Prepositions, such as at, around, by, after, along, for, from, of, on, to, with & without. In this particular sentence, I is capitalized because it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Do you capitalize Pacific Northwest? Black and white: Why capitalization matters - Columbia Journalism Review The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." However, they should be capitalized only in such contexts; names of compass points in sentences such as "I drove southeast for several hours" or "Have you been to any of the southwestern states?" are not capitalized. When to Capitalize People's Titles - The Blue Book Of Grammar And 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. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Therefore, use "Black" and "White" instead of "black" and "white" (do not use colors to refer to other human groups; doing so is considered pejorative). When does a locational distinction change its suffix and capitialization in a proper name? Unless you are referring to the Four Seasons, there is no reason for seasons to . They are written with capital letters. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? Capitalize the first word of every sentence. The sentence which is capitalized correctly is My easiest classes are Chemistry and Spanish. You can even submit asample document for free to see how our services work. However, it is accepted that these are capitalized when discussing the American Civil War, for example, and, as mentioned in this article in the final Summary section, some style guides prefer north and south to always be capitalized when referring generally to these areas of the United States. North, South, West, East Capitalizing Can Be a Beast - ProofreadNOW.com For example, Silicon Valley isn't a proprietary name or legally defined area, but it receives initial caps anyway. 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). The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) suggests lowercasing terms like midwesterner, northerner, southerner, and westerner, except when referencing the Civil War, in which case Northerner and Southerner should be capitalized:6. Seasons. In domains such as ecology, physical geography, environmental geography, and zoogeography, regions are typically based on ecosystems, biomes, natural regions, drainage basins, soil types, mountain ranges, and other natural features. So: North Carolina is north of South Carolina and east of West Virginia. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Should Southern Be Capitalized? - Caniry 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. Capitalization AP Style Directions and Regions - Writing Explained Southern belle (from French belle 'beautiful') is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South. The word god is generally not capitalized if it is used to refer to the generic idea of a deity, nor is it capitalized when it refers to multiple gods. But because it has defined boundaries and administration, it's a "region". Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. The following examples illustrate not only the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS] but also variations based on context and usage. When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. Should the word northwest be capitalized? Explained by Sharing Culture 3. When referring to regions, capitalize these words. When words like northern, southern, eastern, and western precede a place name, they are not ordinarily capitalized, because they merely indicate general location within a region. Of course, as with other nouns, they should be capitalized at the beginning of sentences and in titles. Should The South Be Capitalized? - FAQS Clear The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. When common nouns like party, river, and street are included in a proper name, capitalize them. Is it "southern California" or "Southern California?". Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. If it's a general noun such as a river, lake, ocean, etc., the region need not be capitalized. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. When Should You Capitalize Geographic Regions in the United States? September 18, 2013, at 9:56 pm. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Do I Capitalize Western Blot? - Advansta Inc. are not capitalized when they merely denote compass direction. Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. 1. MLA style follows The Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. Each state has its own shortened name codes, which are used in written documents and mailing addresses. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. In general, you should capitalize the names of countries and languages. Are coca cola and pepsi owned by the same company? Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. Here Carlotta is the name hence it needs to be in capital and I, Halloween should be capitalized. For example, Southern US is proper because it is a specific region. When in doubt, lowercase. Geographic Regions Used as Adjectives Consistency is the most important thing, though, so you should be fine as long as the form chosen is clear and you use it each time. A region could also be a group of nations. Dont capitalize the word when it precedes the states name unless its included in a states title. Use the US Postal Services symbol system, which is a two-letter abbreviation that consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are capitalized and no periods are used when giving an address or in tables or other uses where space is limited. Dates. Federal or federal? Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. But if someone prefers "African American," use that term rather than a more generic "black." @Devil07, the geographical adjective "southern" is not usurped -- it just means something different. Examples: southern France, northern Canada. For example, The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends capitalization:2. 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 . If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. For example: The words are also not capitalized if they only indicate locations or the climate or geography of a region. For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. North, South, East, West: Are Directions Capitalized? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The administration's solution: Ease credit for riskier borrowers. When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names - Daily Writing Tips That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. Should north southeast and West be capitalized? Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet & so (FANBOYS). Does the word federal need to be capitalized? Capitalization - APA Style Citation Guide 7th Edition - Library In other words, directions can be tricky! It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. But when the words are used in specific contexts, denote people belonging to a particular region, or refer to their social, political, or cultural activities, they are capitalized. Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, Doubling the cube, field extensions and minimal polynoms. How should "Northern Europe" be capitalized? Do you capitalize the S in Southern California? - TipsFolder.com Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. 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). Is this correct. Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? Capitalize words that are part of the formal name, but lowercase in less formal uses: he crossed the Hudson River; but: he fell into the river. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. Capitalization Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name. You should read both Western and Eastern philosophy. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Here are some rules to follow. So the upshot of my answer is that you didn't miss the memo (or perhaps I should say The Memo) on this issue, but at the same time you didn't notice a larger phenomenon in accordance with which initial-capping Southern California is by no means a unique, inexplicable, or indefensible treatment of a regional name. The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Western States. However, if youre referring to a general location, such as the western winds then western should be lowercase. Some common examples of when you should capitalize north include: down North. What about capitalizing a Southerner or a Southerner? Popular usage sets the rules for standard practice especially in the case of region names. Unless they are actually part of the place name, directions dont need to be capitalized, but this depends on personal preference (e.g., if it might make this clearer to the reader) and whether its specified by a style guide. northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts Northern Ireland, Western Australia 9 Should north southeast and West be capitalized? However, as in the case of plant names, animal names are not capitalized ("I spotted a red-tailed hawk," not "I spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk"), except when an element of the name is a proper noun, as in "Steller . The West Coast has beautiful scenery. Home-buyers pay a 1.75% fee up . Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. any that aren't articles, conjunctions or prepositions) should be capitalised. 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. For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. The first instance of when "global" should be capitalized is when used as the first word in a sentence. With states, lowercase in most uses: northern New York. When to Capitalize North, South, East and West. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. Should southern states be capitalized? - TipsFolder.com Use lowercase when referring to directions on a compass. only if it's a proper name. South Pacific. Capitalize such words as northern, southern, eastern, and western when they refer to the people in a region or to their political, social, or cultural activities. The periods are omitted in headlines. The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. Using Kolmogorov complexity to measure difficulty of problems? NOTE: Within certain regions it is not uncommon for many who live there to capitalize the adjective because of the special importance they attach to the regional designation. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Hello! Erin Wright, 20122023. When youre talking about Americas West Coast or the Middle East, the directional word is also part of a proper name, and it gets a capital letter. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Capitalizing the Word States If a writer refers to the United States and refers to it only as the States, states must be capitalized. Explanation: Because Pisces is a verb. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the South.". Capitalize these words when they designate regions. The water and land global areas are further divided into subregions bounded by huge geographical features influencing large-scale ecologies. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Surely not one word Southeast? Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. For example, The hurricane move north towards the Gulf Coast. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
