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. U.S. Only capitalize state when it follows the states name, such as New York State is also known as the Empire State, or when it is part of a traditional state name, such as Empire State or Lone Star State, can be capitalized. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Should California coast be capitalized? - Sage-Advices For example: But when the terms are used to indicate a region, they are capitalized for example, the "West Coast". South-East Albania? North, East, South or West - Capitalize or Not? - ProofreadNOW.com But southerner and northerner are capitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Did I miss the memo on this issue? She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. A title like this would appear as: A Guide to English: Perfecting Grammar in an Academic Paper. One exception to this rule: common objects with a country or nationality as part of the name ( french fries, scotch whiskey, venetian blinds, and so forth). Should Pisces be capitalized? [Fact Checked!] The storm is heading east. Should the word northwest be capitalized? Explained by Sharing Culture 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). States and territories Use initial capitals for words in the formal name. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. 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. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. But if someone prefers "African American," use that term rather than a more generic "black." The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". . However, be consistent and do not write: "Visitors to southern California climbed while visitors to northern California fell." Should south be capitalized? When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names - Daily Writing Tips Southern United States, for example, is appropriate because it is located in a specific region. Colorado is part of the Southwest. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. 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. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. The Starved Rock Lodge offers world-famous Midwestern hospitality in a scenic environment. Words such as one, it, its, its, him, and own should all be capitalized no matter where they appear in a title. Strength Vs. Strong: Differences, How To Tell Them Apart? When the word state forms the full name of a specific body, you must also capitalize it. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN. Similarly, the European Union is an assortment of multiple countries. What is the rule for state abbreviations? Hi there! 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 1 Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? If you think southern California has properties which one ordinarily associates with countries or states, or at least you want to convey that this is so, then you should use the capitalization ordinarily used for names of countries or states. Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. Racial and ethnic identity - American Psychological Association Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! When to capitalize North East south west? Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous. During the Civil War, Northerners and Southerners battled in twenty-three states. But you capitalize them when theyre specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. The Department decided on the current two-letter abbreviations in October 1963. Our primary dictionaries, Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Websters New World College Dictionary, and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language all capitalize U.S. geographic regions when used as adjectives or indicate that these adjectives are typically capitalized.4, Like adjectives, the decision to capitalize or lowercase geographic populations in the United States will depend on your style guide. In general, midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet & so (FANBOYS). It also looks at when to capitalize those regions when they are used as adjectives and to describe U.S. geographic populations. 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. If these geographic areas are part of a name, however, such as "River Thames", capitalize the term. Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. The North, The East, The South, and The West. EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. A region could also be a group of nations. ANS: Demand, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. Updated on December 22, 2018. There may be disagreement about where the border of Southern California begins, just as there was and is about the border of the Wild West, but the fact that the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange County, and San Diego are all located in Southern California is beyond debate. 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. To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. Whether youre writing an essay, email, or cover letter, youll likely use parentheses. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube. 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. If the writer is referring to the United States and calling it just the States, then states needs to be capitalized. Circling back to the "title" rule, if the headline is in sentence case and the word "region" is not the starting word of the title, "region" should be written in lowercase. The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites owner is strictly prohibited. In headlines, the periods are omitted. In the case of prime minister, either both words begin with a capital letter or neither, except, obviously, when it starts a sentence. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". MLA style follows The Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. The AP Stylebook, which is the guiding stylebook for a number of news organizations, including The Daily Tar Heel, advises against using the Oxford comma in most basic series. 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. Don't capitalize these words when they refer to the general location, geography or climate of a region. 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. "southern California" is not the same as "Southern California". Capitalize the first word of every sentence. The problem is, there doesn't appear to be a consensus. However, to, not a dash, should be used when from introduces a range of dates (from 2012 to 2013, not from 2012-13). The United Kingdom, for instance, is a region that comprises four countries: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. AP Style holds to the general rule of lowercasing compass directions and capitalizing regions. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. 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). "I" is always capitalized, along with all its . When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. September 18, 2013, at 9:56 pm. Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. The question as to whether something should be considered a name or not is one of style, and as such you should adhere to the discipline of your editor, publication, or organization, or in the absence of a house style, you should adopt a suitable. If youre referring to the Western States, for example, youre referring to a group of proper nouns. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Rule 2. 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. Dont capitalize the word when it precedes the states name unless its included in a states title. And "north" in that sentence refers to a direction (i.e., where you turned), not the place (i.e., Bolton Avenue). For example, "Global is a proper noun." . Most style guides recommend capitalizing "West Coast" when referring to the western seaboard of the U.S. hi, should i capitalize 'west' in 'west Africa' or 'north' in north Africa'? when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. But southerner and northerner are capitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: Though a direction is a general noun, it could at times be not that straightforward to ascertain whether it's a common noun or a proper noun. Hi, Mary. You should capitalize "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). As noted in the post, there's no need to capitalize generic directions (only when they're part of a proper noun). This suffix makes the direction an adjective, and when it describes a specific region, it should be capitalized. Are Seasons Capitalized Or Not? | Thesaurus.com 3. APA Style 6th Edition Blog: Do I Capitalize This Word? By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: Butsouthernerandnorthernerarecapitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: The civil war was fought between Southerners and Northerners. Federal or federal? To summarize the advice above, we suggest: However, capitalization may depend on the style guide youre using. So capitalize The Pacific Northwest and Central Texas, but not We drove west for two hours., The States that make up The South are usually considered to be: Virginia Tennessee Arkansas Louisiana North Carolina South Carolina Mississippi Alabama Georgia Florida Texas. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. 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. The capitalization of as depends upon its function. @SvenYargs This is a very useful answer; I'm processing it. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? 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. Is south and Southern capitalized? - TimesMojo 5 Should states and territories be Capitalised? The following sentence is capitalized correctly : I learned that Thor is the god of thunder when I read a book about myths from Norway. If the designation is widely known, the "direction" terms are capitalized for instance, "Southern California". Should southern Florida be capitalized? - Answers editing, For example: When words such as "northern", "southern", "western", and "eastern" precede a region or place's name, do not capitalize them as they are only indicating a general location in a region. Broadly speaking, a region is an area that's divided by: Geographic regions are usually depicted by their not-so-clearly defined, and at times transitory boundaries. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. Capitalizing western and capitalizing west have the same rules. Capitalize proper nounsand adjectives derived from proper nouns. As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. Likewise, the rules for sentences apply: capitalize the common name at the . Some could argue the word "Southerner" in the sentence denotes someone who belongs to a specific region, and the letter "S" should therefore be capitalized. Capitalization in APA, Chicago, MLA, and AP - ProofreadingPal In June 1963, the Department provided an initial list of abbreviations, but many had only three or four letters, which were still too long. Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic, as are those lacking any signs of reasonable research. Is it Southern or Southern? Capitalize the Southern California region? 'CMOS recognizes that common usage and context determine conventional approaches to capitalization in connection with the treatment of certain terms related to regions.' 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. Is that an argument? Black and white: Why capitalization matters - Columbia Journalism Review The West Coast has beautiful scenery. Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. It only takes a minute to sign up. We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: My friend is a southerner. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. Hi, Chris. Capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the western winds, western should be lowercase. Yes, Southern is capitalized because it refers to the South (= the southern US). 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). So, noun will be always first capital letter. The Starved Rock Lodge offers world-famous midwestern hospitality in a scenic environment. They are written with capital letters. More answers below States should also be abbreviated when used as part of a short-form political affiliation. Have you ever visited the Western United States? In 1963, the state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations. We always use a capital letter when we write the days of the week. Should southern states be capitalized? - TipsFolder.com Some could argue the word "Southerner" in the sentence denotes someone who belongs to a specific region, and the letter "S" should therefore be capitalized. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Capitalization: Guidelines for Using Capital Letters - ThoughtCo
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