The rule, as people use it

You can't hear a capital letter, but people see them in every text, email and chat message you send. Get them wrong and a clear message looks careless. The list is shorter than it seems.

Start every sentence with a capital. Write "I" as a capital, always, even in the middle of a sentence. Give a capital to names of people, cities, countries and streets: Grace, Nairobi, Brazil, Oak Street. Days of the week and months get one too: Monday, July. So do languages and nationalities, which is where many learners slip: English, Japanese, Indian, Mexican.

What doesn't get a capital? Seasons (summer, winter), ordinary jobs (a doctor, my manager), and the words for school subjects unless they're languages (math, but English). A title before a name does get one: Dr. Patel, Aunt Sara. And in American English, when you write a date, the month comes first: May 2, not 2 May.

Examples

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

Fill the gap

Type the missing words, then check. The full sentence plays when you get it.

  1. 1

    We're meeting on (friday).

  2. 2

    My friend is from (brazil).

  3. 3

    Can you speak (spanish)?

  4. 4

    Yesterday (i) missed the bus.

  5. 5

    We always go to the beach in the (Summer).

  6. 6

    Her birthday is in (january).

  7. 7

    My uncle is a (Doctor) in Delhi.

  8. 8

    I have an appointment with (dr.) Garcia.

Practice · 3 min

Write a short message to a friend, five or six sentences, about a trip you're planning. Include at least one city, one country, one day, one month, one language and the word "I" twice. Read it out loud, then go back and check every capital letter against the list in this lesson. Fix anything that's missing or extra.

Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.