Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. State names had to be abbreviated to make room for the ZIP code. With the passage of time, some words originally derived from proper nouns have taken on a life, and authority, of their own and no longer require capitalization. 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 . 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. I work in marketing, and I'm wondering if lowercasing the words "off" and "under" in these headlines is correct: "50% off Body Wash" and "Gift Sets under $40.". 9 Should north southeast and West be capitalized? However, if you are referring to a general region, such as the east coast of the United States then you should keep the words lowercase. However, some people also suggest capitalizing the names of: The uniting theme here is the idea of naming a well-known or well-defined region. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? 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. 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. Please note that my close-vote reason was 'lack of reasonable signs of research'; I believe that there are differences between the 'northern Europe' example and this one. Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. Drive south for five miles. When does a locational distinction change its suffix and capitialization in a proper name? The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." The administration's solution: Ease credit for riskier borrowers. So, noun will be always first capital letter. Capitalizing North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). Be consistent (e.g., dont use south England in one part of a document and South England in another if youre referring to the same place). 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. Here Carlotta is the name hence it needs to be in capital and I, Halloween should be capitalized. The main style guides all agree on this, although . What are some examples of how providers can receive incentives? You have entered an incorrect email address! 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. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? The problem is, there doesn't appear to be a consensus. The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. Seasons. Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. Are both letters capitalized in state abbreviations? It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. I is always capitalized, along with all its contractions. Hi, Michael. 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. The mines are located in the western part of the plateau. When referring to Greek, Roman, and other groups of gods and goddesses, only the name is capitalized. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 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). However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. 'CMOS recognizes that common usage and context determine conventional approaches to capitalization in connection with the treatment of certain terms related to regions.' Southern United States, for example, is appropriate because it is located in a specific region. Do you capitalize Southern in southern United States? To put it another way, capitalize words like Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis in place of the persons name. North Dakota; West Virginia; Also capitalize compass points when used in denoting widely known sections. Other assets have a wide range of liquidity. Why distinguishes money from other assets in the economy. The basic guidelines for using capital letters in English appear simple enough: Capitalize the first word in a sentence. Surely not one word Southeast? Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic, as are those lacking any signs of reasonable research. 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. Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. Capitalize such words as Northerner, Southerner, and Midwesterner. If it's a general noun such as a river, lake, ocean, etc., the region need not be capitalized. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '809ac5c4-ef90-4489-8311-03d2c90632ee', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Topics: Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. Currently, Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary capitalizes Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner, while Websters New World College Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language only capitalize Midwesterner and allow northerner, southerner, and westerner to be capitalized or lowercased.7. Here are directions capitalized in sentences: Words such as "southerner" and "northerner" are usually not capitalized if they denote people. As noted in the post, there's no need to capitalize generic directions (only when they're part of a proper noun). Did I miss the memo on this issue? To find out when to capitalize North, South, East, and West, read our guide to capitalizing directions below. Instead of using the frequently used double-space, only use one space after a period to properly follow AP style guidelines. What about capitalizing a Westerner or a Westerner? Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. Before capitalizing words like east, west, north, and south, check whether you are using them as part of a proper noun or merely to refer to direction or location.Don't capitalize directions (we sailed due east) and locations (western India), but do capitalize compass points when they occur in proper nouns (North Korea, South Sudan, East Dunbartonshire, the Great Western Plains). North, South, East and West as Proper Nouns You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). In general, midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. (Cap or no cap on east and west). The street is named Bolton Avenue. Capitalize proper nouns and most adjectives formed from proper nouns. 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. How to Export PDF Tables from Adobe Acrobat to Excel (PC & Mac), How to Insert Images into Shapes in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Align the Periods in Numbered Lists in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Password Protect Files in Microsoft Word, How to Password Protect PDFs in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac). That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. When possessive pronouns like her, his, my, our, and your are used, do not capitalize them. The United Kingdom, for instance, is a region that comprises four countries: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. editing, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. In short, it says to capitalize northern, southern, eastern, western and related words when they refer to the PEOPLE in a region or what they DO (i.e., their political, cultural or social activities) or are part of the place name. In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. Just make sure you are consistent with the letter case. That means that official names of departments and units should be capitalized and not when referring to just a type of department or unit. 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. Thus, here are 10 capitalization rules you should know for a well written write-up: According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. rev2023.3.3.43278. Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Many scholars now study the global South. Of all the various names or terms, direction names could be the trickiest to handle. Do you capitalize north? Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? Lorry Vs. Truck: Meaning And How To Use Each One, Turnip Vs. Radish: Meaning And Differences Of These Words. Should north southeast and West be capitalized? Is summer a good time? When And When Not To. AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. The direction word makes it a proper noun. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. Is Southern capitalized in southern states? As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. Words such as one, it, its, its, him, and own should all be capitalized no matter where they appear in a title. When combining with another common noun to form the name for a region . Popular usage sets the rules for standard practice especially in the case of region names. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. Use capital letters in the following ways: The first words of a sentence When he tells a joke, he sometimes forgets the punch line. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. . Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites owner is strictly prohibited. For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. 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. Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. Except for England, the other three countries have their own parliaments. Each morning, the sun rises in the east . The key factor here is that were using these words descriptively (i.e., to specify the direction or location of something), not to name something. 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? It's similar to why your name is always capitalized. The correct answer is option C. In option A, the word Chemistry is only capitalized leaving the other proper noun in lower case. MLA style followsThe Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. They live in the western part of the country. Besides the global continents, there are also atmospheric and hydrospheric regions that encompass the oceans, discrete climates, or environments above the water and landmasses of earth. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. 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. Words Which Should Not Be Capitalized in a Title. Is Southern California capitalized AP style? To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. Does Counterspell prevent from any further spells being cast on a given turn? If states is being referred to in a general manner, such as There are two senators for each state, then the word states would remain lower case. But you capitalize them when theyre specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. My friend is a southerner. The state abbreviations are always in the same format: two letter abbreviations where both letters are uppercase and no periods or spaces between each letter. 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. It was put into effect at first for big businesses, but was then gradually adopted by everyone as a standardized format. For example, Silicon Valley isn't a proprietary name or legally defined area, but it receives initial caps anyway. Check your style guide (if applicable) for advice on specific terms. 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.

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should southern be capitalized