Rules for Capitalization in Titles

by Carla Lowe

I used to think there were only two ways to use capitalization in a title: (1) Capitalize only the first word in the title (except for proper nouns), which I learned working for a local newspaper; and (2) Capitalize the principal and longer words and lowercase the minor, shorter words, which I learned was wrong.

I also came to learn that the rules for capitalization in titles—like the rules for other areas of English grammar—are not set in stone; style guides and grammarians disagree on which words to capitalize in a title.

In fact, there are really only two rules that are consistent across the board:

• Capitalize the first word of the title

• Capitalize all proper nouns

Sentence case, or down style, is one method, preferred by many print and online publications and recommended by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The only two rules are the two rules mentioned above: Capitalize the first word and all proper nouns. Everything else is in lowercase. For example:

Why it’s never too late to learn grammar (all words lowercased except “Why”—first word in title)

Another method is to capitalize all words in a title. This one is considered simple because there’s no struggle trying to remember which words to capitalize and which ones to lowercase; they’re all capitalized. However, one could argue it’s the lazy man’s method or that it’s not very aesthetic. For example:

Why It’s Never Too Late To Learn Grammar (all words capitalized)

Title case, or up style, is another method. Whether or not you capitalize a word in a title depends on its part of speech. According to most style guides that use title case, the basic rules are as follows:

• Capitalize the first and last word in a title, regardless of part of speech

• Capitalize all nouns (baby, country, picture), pronouns (you, she, it), verbs (walk, think, dream), adjectives (sweet, large, perfect), adverbs (immediately, quietly), and subordinating conjunctions (as, because, although)

• Lowercase “to” as part of an infinitive

• Lowercase all articles (a, the), prepositions (to, at, in, with), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or)

For example:

Why It’s Never Too Late to Learn Grammar (all words capitalized except “to,” a preposition)

That last rule for title case is upheld by some style guides, but not all. The Chicago Manual of Style follows that rule (except in cases in which an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction is the first or last word in a title). However, The Associated Press would have you capitalize prepositions and conjunctions if they are four or more letters long. For others, the magic number is five rather than four. So, according to some guides, you have to worry not only about the part of speech, but also about the length of the words.

There is another common—but incorrect—“method” of using capitalization in titles. I used to follow it myself (see my first paragraph). Many writers mistakenly believe that in a title, you should capitalize the principal and longer words and lowercase the minor, shorter words.

For example, writers often lowercase all two- or three-letter words in a title because they’re short, and many articles, prepositions, and conjunctions—most of which should be lowercased—are short, as well. However, short words can be nouns, pronouns, and verbs, etc., which should be capitalized. Part of speech is more important than length when it comes to determining capitalization in titles. For example:

Why it’s Never too Late to Learn Grammar (wrong)

“It’s” is a contraction of “it,” a pronoun, and “is,” a verb, both of which should be capitalized; “too” is an adverb, which should also be capitalized.

Regardless of which convention you’d prefer to follow (except for the last example), you need to be consistent. Pick one (or follow the style guide of your employer, school, or clients) and stick with it.

Stop making those embarrassing mistakes! Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips today!

You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed!

Each newsletter contains a writing tip, word of the day, and exercise!

You’ll also get three bonus ebooks completely free!

TRY IT FREE NOW

Axios

Feb 18, 2025 –Business

Exclusive: MAGA’s list of AP grievances

• Marc Caputo

Republican grievances against the AP Stylebook’s influential guidance on topics like race, gender and immigration have incubated for more than a decade — culminating last week with President Trump’s expulsion of Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office.

The big picture: The White House blamed the restriction on AP’s recent “Gulf of Mexico” decision. But it’s part of a broader escalation against what conservatives see as the AP’s tight control over the news media’s word choices, as Axios’ Marc Caputo reported.

• At a Mar-a-Lago press conference on Tuesday, Trump said that “some of the phrases that they want to use are ridiculous.”

The backstory: The first notable conservative complaint surfaced in 2013, when AP discontinued “illegal immigrant” following a pressure campaign from immigrant-rights advocates. Congress was debating a major immigration overhaul at the time.

• Then and now, AP disputes the accusation that its Stylebook favors a political party, movement or ideology. Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president of corporate communications, told Axios the news service “doesn’t align with any particular agenda.” AP provides style guidance to members and customers “and it is up to them what they choose to use,” she said.

How it works: For most of its 179 years, AP has been viewed as non-controversial — known for just-the-facts neutrality. The AP Stylebook, first published in 1953, is a basic text in journalism schools — and the first grammar and style guide most U.S. news outlets (including Axios) consult when setting their own rules. The guide is constantly evolving.

• The style rules that rankle conservatives are nested among thousands of Stylebook directives about punctuation and grammar, most of them time-tested and innocuous — capitalization, commas and company names.

Zoom in: Below are some of the AP style guidelines that have stuck in the craws of conservative critics. Axios compiled the list by checking common complaints from MAGA influencers against specific wording in AP guidance.

• Warning against “all views” in transgender coverage: AP’s “Transgender Coverage Topical Guide” says to avoid “false balance — giving a platform to unqualified claims or sources in the guise of balancing a story by including all views.”

• Using “gender-affirming care”: AP says the term, commonly used by advocates and physicians, refers to “a swath of mental and medical treatments (such as counseling, hormones or surgery) that help bring a person’s gender expression (such as voice, appearance or anatomy) in line with their gender identity.”

• Using “sex assigned at birth”: That’s recommended “instead of biological sex, birth gender, was identified at birth as, born a girl and the like,” the style guide says. “Avoid references to a transgender person being born a boy or girl, or phrasing like birth gender. Sex assigned at birth is the accurate terminology.”

• The concept of “non-binary” language: “Experts,” the guide says, “say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females.”

• Excluding binary terms concerning sex or gender: “Since not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender — as in the cases of nonbinary and intersex people — avoid references to both, either or opposite sexes or genders,” the guide says.

• Opposing language of transgender critics: “Do not use the term transgenderism, which frames transgender identity as an ideology,” AP says.

• Using trans activists’ language: The Stylebook discusses “deadnaming,” a transgender advocates’ term that refers to a person’s original name that “can be akin to using a slur and can cause feelings of gender dysphoria to resurface.”

• Calling out transgender critics: The guide notes that “opponents of youth transgender medical treatment say there’s no solid proof of purported benefits, cite widely discredited research and say children shouldn’t make life-altering decisions they might regret.”

• Capitalizing Black but not white for race: The Stylebook advises that “Black” should be used for racial descriptions while the lowercase “black” is considered just a color. AP says “white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs.” AP notes that white people “generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.”

• Limiting use of the word “riot”: AP says that “focusing on rioting and property destruction rather than underlying grievance has been used in the past to stigmatize broad swaths of people protesting against lynching or police brutality or for racial justice, going back at least to the urban uprisings of the 1960s in the U.S.”

• Alternatives to “Hispanic”: The Stylebook says that “Latino, Latina or Latinx are sometimes preferred” over Hispanic. Poll after poll shows Hispanic is preferred, and support for using Latinx is minuscule.

• Describing immigrants: The Stylebook frowns on the term “illegal immigrant” and says to “use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.” AP doesn’t recommend “undocumented immigrant,” and says acceptable “variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission. For people: immigrants lacking permanent legal status.”

• Disfavoring the term “anchor babies”: The Stylebook says it’s “a pejorative term in the U.S. for children who are born to noncitizen parents wanting to take advantage of birthright citizenship.”

• Disfavoring “catch and release”: The Stylebook notes it’s “a term favored by advocates of immigration restriction” for those caught illegally in the country who are then released in the U.S. But the guide calls it a “misleading and dehumanizing term.”

• Avoiding “chain migration”: AP notes it’s a term used by immigration restrictionists, and says to avoid it in referring “to what the U.S. government calls family-based immigration.” The guide says the term is “vague and may imply unfettered immigration.”

• Cautioning against “terrorism and terrorist” because they’ve become “politicized”: The Stylebook says that instead of “labeling an attack or attacker as terrorism or terrorist, AP describes the specific atrocity, massacre, bombing, or assassination, and so on. We do not use the terms terrorism or terrorist for specific actions or groups, other than when attributed to authorities or others.”

• Changing the spelling of Ukraine’s capital: In 2019, AP announced a style change to spell the city “Kyiv” to align with the government’s spelling, and not “Kiev,” which is more associated with Russia. (Chicken Kiev, however, remains unchanged in the style guide).

Criticisms from liberal circles are harder to find — or were resolved, like some concerning coverage of racism or race and ethnicity. But there are some:

• Use of “Palestine”: Supporters of Palestinian rights, who tend to be left-adjacent, have for years complained that AP style says the West Bank and Gaza should not be referred to as “Palestine … since it is not a fully independent, unified state.”

• President Trump’s conviction: The organization was also criticized by those on the left for not routinely describing Trump as a “convicted felon” during the campaign.

The other side: Easton says that only does the AP Stylebook not align with any one agenda, it “is used as a writing and editing reference worldwide. It contains thousands of entries. It offers guidance on spelling, language, punctuation and journalistic style and is regularly updated as usage evolves. In doing so, we consider a wide range of input.”

• “Updates are made with an eye to making the news report clear, accurate and easily understood by a global audience. Like AP journalism, guidance offered in the Stylebook is used by organizations that span the political spectrum.”

AP defenders say that objections to Stylebook prescriptions are no justification for punishing journalists. Several news organizations and press groups have issued statements condemning the White House actions.

• An AP statement says: “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”