Capitalization and Punctuation
Capitalization
Writing in English
General rules: Capitalize all proper names, trade names, government departments and agencies of government, names of associations, companies, clubs, religions, languages, nations, races, places, and addresses. Otherwise, lowercase is favored where a reasonable option exists.
Do not capitalize the names of laws, theories, models, statistical procedures, or hypotheses. When referring to the academic term or quarter, lowercase the season.
- fall term
- winter term
When referring to a student’s academic year, lowercase and hyphenate.
- first-year student
- fourth-year student
Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, people, races, and the like.
Do not capitalize the word university when it is not part of the school’s proper full name, even if it refers to the University of Washington.
- The university, founded in 1861, is often known casually as U-Dub.
Avoid using ALL CAPS. Use bolded or italicized words instead for emphasis.
Writing in Somali
In Somali writing, capitalization and punctuation rules share similarities with English. Capitalization primarily occurs at the start of sentences, for proper nouns (names of individuals, places, or specific objects), and for titles. For example:
“Garowe waa magaalo Soomaaliyeed.” (Garowe is a Somali city.)
In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal capitalization rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard capitalization is the norm.
Writing in Spanish
Spanish capitalization rules, following Standard Spanish Capitalization guidelines, are distinct from those of English. In general, Spanish uses much less capitalization than English. In Spanish, capitalization is predominantly applied to the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, titles, and the first word in headings.
Furthermore, unlike English, Spanish does not capitalize days of the week, months, nationalities, languages, or every word in titles of books, movies, and articles. Adhering to the principles of Standard Spanish Capitalization ensures a consistent and accurate representation of written Spanish.
However, there are some exceptions to the Standard Spanish Capitalization guidelines/rules that are used at Cultivate Learning but are commonly seen in other settings as well. For example, when referencing proper names or terms originating from English, such as names of people, places, trademarks (Circle Time Magazine- Revista de Tiempo en Círculo), programs, or organizations and institutions, it is acceptable to apply English capitalization rules to maintain accuracy and familiarity within the context of the English language. It is important to emphasize that choosing to use English capitalization tends to be requested by an organization or is project specific. This approach respects the language-specific conventions while adapting to cross-cultural references.
| Example in English | Translation in Spanish | Explanation of the Spanish Capitalization |
| She is an educator. She studies how language develops in babies. | Ella es una educadora. Estudia cómo se desarrolla el lenguaje en los bebés. | First word of sentences capitalized |
| Learning Objectives | Objetivos de aprendizaje | First word in headings capitalized |
| Sunday | domingo | Days of the week not capitalized |
| January | enero | Months not capitalized |
| Mexican | mexicano; mexicana | Nationalities not capitalized |
| Spanish | español | Languages not capitalized |
| How do Dinosaurs Go to School? | ¿Cómo van a la escuela los dinosauros? | First word of a book title capitalized |
| Star Wars | La guerra de las galaxias | First word of a movie title capitalized |
| Capitalization in English: Used for trademarks, names of programs, organizations, and in some cases to make sure that the name is obvious throughout the written content. | ||
| National Geographic in Spanish
The Nation
New Journal of Hispanic Philology |
National Geographic en Español
El País
Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica |
All words of a magazine, newspaper, or any other periodic publication’s title is capitalized (except to, and, a, the, etc.) |
| Cultivate Learning is a research institution within the University of Washington in the State of Washington. | Cultivate Learning es una institución de investigación dentro de la Universidad de Washington en el estado de Washington. | First word of a proper noun (people, places, entities) capitalized |
| Day of the Dead | Día de los Muertos; Día de Muertos | Holidays capitalized (except to, and, a, the etc.) |
Resources:
Head Start Style Guide for Translation into Spanish: Spanish |English
Real Academia Española – Mayúsculas: Spanish