Be Consistent
Using consistent capitalization builds trust. Inconsistent use of capital letters can confuse readers and make your writing look less professional.
General Rules
- Capitalize proper nouns (names of people, places, agencies)
- Don’t capitalize words like agile, open source, federal, or government (unless they start a sentence)
Use title case (capitalizing most words) only when referring to something official, like a specific form or office.
Examples:
- Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (official title)
- Income tax forms (general term—don’t capitalize)
Personal Titles
- Capitalize titles only when they come before a name
Example: Director Lopez - Don’t capitalize when the title comes after the name or stands alone
Example: The director approved the request
Use gender-neutral titles when possible:
- Firefighter instead of fireman
- Chairperson instead of chairman
Headings and Titles
Use title case for:
- Page titles
- Headlines
- Subheadings
Don’t add a colon at the end of headings.
Examples:
- Making Sense of Washington’s Tech Landscape
- Privileges and Responsibilities
Types of Text Case
| Case Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence case | Only the first word is capitalized (plus proper nouns) | This is sentence case. |
| Title case | Most words are capitalized | This Is Title Case. |
| Uppercase | ALL LETTERS ARE CAPITALIZED | THIS IS UPPERCASE. |
| Lowercase | all letters are lowercase | this is lowercase. |
| CamelCase | First word lowercase, next words capitalized (used in code) | thisIsCamelCase |
| PascalCase | All words capitalized (used in programming) | ThisIsPascalCase |
| Snake_case | Words separated by underscores | this_is_snake_case |
| Kebab-case | Words separated by hyphens | this-is-kebab-case |
Common Title Case Mistakes
- Mixing sentence case and title case in headings
- Capitalizing words that shouldn’t be capitalized
- Words usually not capitalized in title case:
- Articles: a, an, the
- Conjunctions: and, but, or, so
- Short prepositions: in, on, at, to, by, with
Always capitalize the first and last word of a title, no matter what part of speech it is.
Correct Title Case Capitalization
Normally Not Capitalized
In Title Case, certain types of words are typically not capitalized.
These include:
- Articles: a, an, the
- Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet
- Prepositions: in, on, at, to, by, with, from
(usually shorter prepositions; longer ones might be capitalized depending on the style guide)
Exception
- The first and last words of the title are always capitalized, regardless of their part of speech.
- Impact: Maintains readability and good emphasis on just key words in titles.
