Business Writing - Capitalization

In English capitalize the following:

Example:
1. The first word of every sentence.

She was happy. He was sad.

2. The first word of a quoted sentence.

He said, Treat her well.

3. The pronoun I.

He and I will help.

4. In a title, the first, last and important

words, but usually not articles or short
prepositions ie a, an, the, but, as, if,
and, or, nor (you might capitalise
between and towards).

The Principles of Business Ethics in the Nineties

Travelling Between Cities: Tips for Business
Travellers

5. Specific people and things.

The Bank of Canada

The House of Commons

6. Languages and nationalities including

adjective forms

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Nationalities: Korean, Brazilian, Canadian
Adjectives: French cuisine, Spanish omelette,
Mexican tortilla

7. Religions and deities including

adjective forms

God, Allah, Freya, the Lord, the Supreme Being, the

Messiah. Muhammad, the Prophet.
Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Anglican, etc.

8. Historical events

World War I, The Crusades, The Renaissance

9. Celestial Bodies

Mars, Saturn, the Milky Way

10. Days of the week, months but not

seasons

Monday, Tuesday, May, March, spring, winter, fall

11. Holidays

Valentines Day, Fathers Day

12. Names of Courses

Economics 203, Finance 101, (but we say I took an

economics course last summer.)

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13. Institutions

The University of Toronto (but I go to university)

The Department of Engineering (but Ill be at the
department today)

14. Capitalize a person's title when it

precedes the name. Do not capitalize
when the title is acting as a description
following the name.

Chairperson Petrov

15. Capitalize when the person's title

follows the name on the address or
signature line.

Kind regards,
Ms. Haines,
Chairperson

16. Capitalize the titles of high-ranking

government officials when used with or
before their names. Do not capitalize
the civil title if it is used instead of the
name.

Prime Minister Harper spoke to media.

The prime minister will address the news media.
All councillors are expected to attend.

17. Capitalize any title when used as a

direct address.

Will you take my temperature, Doctor?

18. Capitalize points of the compass only

when they refer to specific regions, not
as directions.

We have had three relatives visit from the South.

Go south three blocks and then turn left.
We live in the southeast section of town.
Southeast is just an adjective here describing
section, so it should not be capitalized.
She is from the East; he is from the West.
Dear Ms. Mohamed:
My dear Mr. Sanchez:
Very truly yours,
Fond regards.

19. Capitalize the first word of a salutation

and the first word of a complimentary
close.

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Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of the company, will

address us at noon.

Business Writing - Capitalization Exercise

Correctthecapitalsinthememo:

Memorandum
to:

all staff

cc:

board of directors

from: ana duceppe

date: monday january 19th, 2006
re:

conference on ethics

i wish to remind all staff of the conference on ethics in finance and banking on tuesday, february 14th,
2006. the official title of the conference is ethics in the 21st century: global issues regarding banking and
finance.
the conference will take place at the stickler building at the university of toronto which is located near the
corner of university avenue and college streets in downtown toronto. it begins at 9 am and continues until
5 pm. the keynote speaker is professor john hunter who wrote a book called applied ethics in the banking
and finance sectors: global issues. he will be available at the university to answer any of your questions
after he speaks at 9am. professor hunter is a specialist in philosophy and religion in the department of
philosophy. his main interest is buddhist and muslim philosophy in the modern world, he has been
teaching at the university for over 20 years. he has also been a business and ethics advisor to former prime
minister paul martin.

since the conference falls on valentines day we will have a special themed lunch. please bring your
favourite romantic poetry so that we may share and discuss its validity in the current world of business
ethics. my personal favourite is the lovesong of j. alfred prufrock.

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