Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. North, South, West, East Capitalizing Can Be a Beast - ProofreadNOW.com Names of racial and ethnic groups are treated as proper nouns, which means they are capitalized (e.g., African American, Asian American, Black, European American, First Nations, Hispanic, Native American, Latinx, White). 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. Note that exceptions based on specific regional, political, or historical contexts are inevitable and that an author's strong preference should usually be respected. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. 3. 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. MLA style followsThe Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. If as is used as a preposition, it is lowercase; if as is used as an adverb, conjunction or pronoun, it is uppercase. The main style guides all agree on this, although . Words such as one, it, its, its, him, and own should all be capitalized no matter where they appear in a title. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. AP Style Directions and Regions - Writing Explained Best Book Writing Software and Book Writing Apps, Cursive Text Generator , Buscador de palabras y descifrador de palabras. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 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. I is always capitalized, along with all its contractions. U.S. You should capitalize "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). The West Coast has beautiful scenery. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. Consult your dictionary if your preferred style guide doesnt address this issue. Here are a few more examples: When the directional terms are not proper names and are affixed to proper nouns simply to denote direction, they are written in lowercase for example, "southern France", "northern New York", etc. Home-buyers pay a 1.75% fee up . When referring to races, should 'black' and 'white' be capitalized? (MLA) 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. If a is used, go with prime minister.). 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). The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. A recognized geographical region. AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. So, option 2 is correct. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. The geographical areas "The North," "The East," "The South," and "The West" are treated like proper nouns. Should states and territories be Capitalised? Wotan is one of the gods in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Do you capitalize the S in Southern California? - TipsFolder.com When did they standardize state abbreviations? Capitalization For WebCT Users in Writing Classes: The "caps" icon (usually immediately before a word) indicates either that the following word ought to be capitalized (for one of the reasons listed here) or, if it is already capitalized, that it shouldn't be. However, to, not a dash, should be used when from introduces a range of dates (from 2012 to 2013, not from 2012-13). The first letter of someone's first, middle, and last name is always capitalized, as in John William Smith . Should compass directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) ever be capitalized? in the southwestern part an eastward direction These words usually do get capitalized when they describe a region of the world or of a country, but there are some exceptions. What does it mean that the Bible was divinely inspired? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 4 Is Southern California capitalized AP style? Are seasons capitalized or not? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the days of the week. Popular usage sets the rules for standard practice especially in the case of region names. It might be amusing to look for instances of "southern Southern California" or "northern Southern California". 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. 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). But because it has defined boundaries and administration, it's a "region". The other concern I have is that southern is a geographical term, that I feel shouldn't be usurped in this way. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. In "the eastern portion of Colorado", however, "eastern" is written in small letters since it doesn't denote people or specific culture or practice. 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.". The Department decided on the current two-letter abbreviations in October 1963. Canada, Western European nations and developed parts of Asia; Global Southern countries are those that are less economically developed such as nations in Africa and some parts of Asia [29 . 5 Should states and territories be Capitalised? Please include the research youve done. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. Capitalize a persons title when it precedes the name. It was first put into effect for large businesses, but it was gradually adopted as a standardized format by everyone. The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. 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. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Colorado is part of the Southwest. It's similar to why your name is always capitalized. More answers below There is room for variation here: if you live in Coventry and youre writing for other Coventry residents, then perhaps writing South Coventry would make sense. 'CMOS recognizes that common usage and context determine conventional approaches to capitalization in connection with the treatment of certain terms related to regions.' But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize "Southern" when referring to "the South" in the United States, regardless of whether you're discussing the Civil War. When combining with another common noun to form the name for a region . 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. But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places name. Is state capitalized when referring to a specific state? This seems a difficult case; as this discussion at. 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. The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. South-East Albania? Here are some rules to follow. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? seems less related to the usual descriptivist process, more opinion-based. Check your style guide (if applicable) for advice on specific terms. The AP Stylebook the guiding stylebook for many news outlets, including The Daily Tar Heel advises against using the Oxford comma in most simple series. Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as play with), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. However, be consistent and do not write: "Visitors to southern California climbed while visitors to northern California fell." Should south be capitalized? When it's an adjective ("bicentennial year"), I agree that no cap is needed . 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. We lowercase the terms when they refer to directions: The United States is located north of Mexico. I often have to write north, west in reference to an entrance or exit, for example, the patron exited through the north turnstile. The same rule applies for specific regions when you add -ern onto the end of a direction. Should north southeast and West be capitalized? Many scholars now study the global South. What about capitalizing a Southerner or a Southerner? Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? And Wisconsin is known as the Badger State (not "the badger state") even though its official name is Wisconsin. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. In all cases, though, you should: And if you need help, our expert proofreaders are ready! Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. In a June 11 statement, the National Association of Black Journalists issued a recommendation "that whenever a color is used to appropriately describe race then it should be capitalized . Capitalize these words when they designate regions. The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. Alternatively, some style guide suggest that all of the main words (i.e. Human settlements and their impact on the physical geography, and, The communication between the environment and humanity, The precipitation is the maximum in the interior, Cattle-breeding techniques or practices could vary across, Urundi and Ruanda are fertile, healthy, high-lying, and thickly populated, This text isn't a law but an abstract of the several special usages obtained in those, She passed the Lake Amadeus and the Reynolds range in that direction but had to turn, Many scholars are now studying the global. As an Amazon Associate, CapitalizeMyTitle.com earns from qualifying purchases. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You can also upload a document to get an instant quote. A region can be a city, town, village, country, continent, or any area that comes under the jurisdiction or administration of a state. They live in the western part of the country. Automatically capitalize your email subjects, essay, headline, and article titles. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. At the most basic level, the standard advice is to lowercase north, south, east and west when used as compass directions and to capitalize them when they are used as part of a proper noun or adjective or refer to regions or geographic areas. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. In other words, directions can be tricky! Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the southern food in Tennessee. English Capitalization Rules and Example Sentences - ThoughtCo The word states would remain lower case if states is referred to in a general way, such as There are two senators for each state.. Do you capitalize north? For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. To put it another way, capitalize words like Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis in place of the persons name. Is South Capitalized In South Florida - Beginners Travel Some authorities also capitalize titles if they immediately follow the name without the word "the.". Example: "War-weary ministers in London asked themselves why they fought a costly war in the [north] when they had friends in the Carolinas and Georgia.". Using Kolmogorov complexity to measure difficulty of problems? Note that it doesn't seem to be treated as a compound proper noun (e.g., searching for "Southeastern Albania" produces an error since Ngrams is case sensitive and there don't seem to be any instances of that capitalization in the Google Books database). How do I style geographic terms such as - MLA Style Center Some common examples of when you should capitalize south include: down South the Deep South Knowing whether to capitalize directional adjectives can be challenging. 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. 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. 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. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". If youre referring to a specific location, such as the southern winds, southern should be lowercase. Common nouns are the names of things. Is it "southern California" or "Southern California?". However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. However, there are a few exceptions you should learn about. With names of states The same rule applies as with names of nations. The word should only be capitalized if it appears in the body's name. In most forms of writings, not capitalizing direction names when they could have been capitalized doesn't bother the readers much. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. Southern California; West Texas; the Lower East Side of New York; If in doubt, use lowercase. Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet & so (FANBOYS). When Should You Capitalize Geographic Regions in the United States? northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts Northern Ireland, Western Australia Actually, you should capitalize federal only when it is part of a proper noun, that is, the official name of a particular or unique person, place, or thing. What about capitalizing western or Westerner? TimesMojo is a social question-and-answer website where you can get all the answers to your questions. In contrast, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends lowercasing specific U.S. geographic regions used as adjectives:3. 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. 17th ed., U of Chicago P, 2017,www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec047.html. Do You Capitalize "Real Estate"? In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The following formal names of specific degrees should always be capitalized in AP style: As you can see, master's degrees are capitalized when abbreviated. 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. The same rules apply to capitalizing western as capitalizing west. 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. So it would be best to check your style guide if you have one and to make sure whatever you choose is used consistently. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Is Southern California capitalized AP style? Capitalize locations in a country if the proper noun is given in other words, the name of a region or city, such as the Congo, the Mississippi River, etc. Certain regions of California (Bay Area, Southern California, Central Coast, etc.)