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Guidelines for writing Poems, Stories and Tales

Capitalization of Open form Compound Words in Titles?

Asked by: Mark Alejo

Do you capitalize compound words in titles?

The first element of a compound word is always capitalised in a title; the second element is also capitalised unless it is an article, a preposition or a coordinating conjunction. Second elements that are hyphenated to prefixes are capitalised only if they are proper nouns.

What is the rule for capitalization in titles?

According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. You’d also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are.

Which words do you not capitalize in a title?

These are the title case rules according to this style: Capitalize the first and the last word. Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.

Do you capitalize the second word in a compound word?

For hyphenated compounds, it recommends: Always capitalize the first element. Capitalize any subsequent elements unless they are articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), or such modifiers as flat or sharp following musical key symbols.

How do you capitalize compounds?

Within a sentence, the names of chemical compounds are not capitalized, but the first letter of each elemental symbol should be capitalized (e.g., “We added sodium hydroxide” and “We added NaOH). Note that symbols and words should not be mixed (that is, avoid saying “K chloride”).

Why are compound nouns capitalized?

A compound noun is one that is built on two or more smaller words. For example, “playground” is a compound noun. Compound nouns are not, as a rule, capitalized. What are, as a rule, capitalized are proper nouns, which are nouns that are names of people, places and things like that.

When should words be capitalized?

English Capitalization Rules:

  1. Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence. …
  2. Capitalize Names and Other Proper Nouns. …
  3. Don’t Capitalize After a Colon (Usually) …
  4. Capitalize the First Word of a Quote (Sometimes) …
  5. Capitalize Days, Months, and Holidays, But Not Seasons. …
  6. Capitalize Most Words in Titles.

Do we capitalize prepositions in titles?

Capitalize the first word of the title, the last word of the title, and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, subordinating conjunctions, and a few conjunctions. Prepositions are only capitalized if they are used adjectivally or adverbially.

Should than be capitalized in a title?

Capitalize Than in a Title

So, you should capitalize the word “than” in a title. First, understand that “than” is either a preposition or conjunction depending on how you use this term. Therefore, you usually would not capitalize these terms because they are minor words.

Do you capitalize both words in a hyphenated word at start of sentence?

If a hyphenated word appears at the beginning of a sentence, however, capitalize only the first part. Mid-winter is not a great time for golfers. (The second hyphenated word is not capitalized.)



How do you capitalize dashed words?

The Chicago Manual of Style says that if the first element of a hyphenated word is a prefix or combining form, then the second element is not capitalized, unless it is a proper noun or proper adjective.

Do you capitalize the second word after a hyphen AP style?

Q: If you have a hyphen in a headline, is the word after the hyphen capitalized? A: In AP headline style, only the first word and proper nouns are capped.