As explained in the post, there is no need to capitalize these words when used generically (only when they're part of a proper noun). Each state has its own shortened name codes, which are used in written documents and mailing addresses. Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. "The South" is capitalized because it designates a definite region, e.g., "I was born and raised in the South." More answers below The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. Certain public figures get capitalized, but others dont. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. But because it has defined boundaries and administration, it's a "region". September 18, 2013, at 9:56 pm. When referring to regions, capitalize these words. In 1963, the state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations. The example you give is a generic direction used as an adjective (like the "east wing of the mansion" example in the post), so no capitalization is required. ANS: Demand, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. However, in certain pairings, the common noun appears after a name or proper noun for instance, "the Highlands Region". For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. The same rule applies for specific regions when you add -ern onto the end of a direction. Is Southern capitalized in southern states? Related, but not duplicates (in my opinion): As definitive as it gets. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '809ac5c4-ef90-4489-8311-03d2c90632ee', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Topics: 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. are widely recognized as popular names and are thus capitalized. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Be consistent (e.g., dont use south England in one part of a document and South England in another if youre referring to the same place). Some common examples of when you should capitalize south include: down South the Deep South The following sentence is capitalized correctly : I learned that Thor is the god of thunder when I read a book about myths from Norway. So: North Carolina is north of South Carolina and east of West Virginia. However, when giving an address, or in tables or other uses in which space is limited, use the US Postal Services symbol system, which consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are always capitalized and no periods are used (for example, NY for New York). CMOS looks at what a large relevant tranche of people do; this ultimately defines what is acceptable. When referring to races, should 'black' and 'white' be capitalized? (MLA) Likewise, the rules for sentences apply: capitalize the common name at the . 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. As an Amazon Associate, CapitalizeMyTitle.com earns from qualifying purchases. Use the US Postal Services symbol system, which is a two-letter abbreviation that consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are capitalized and no periods are used when giving an address or in tables or other uses where space is limited. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? Capitalize these words when they designate regions. Which sentence is capitalized correctly I learned that Thor? Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. The West Coast has beautiful scenery. Should Southeast be capitalized? - Wise-Answer Biden administration should avoid subsidies for risky mortgages . Capitalization: Guidelines for Using Capital Letters - ThoughtCo Should California coast be capitalized? - Sage-Advices You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". If you have a question about whether a specific word should be capitalized that doesn't fit under one of these rules, try checking a dictionary to see if the word is capitalized there. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the southern winds, southern should be lowercase. As an aside, when we toured through the San Francisco Peninsula earlier this year, our guide told us that the natives generally didn't like the name 'Silicon Valley'. Job seekers, Is Pepsi the owner of KFC? AP Style Directions and Regions - Writing Explained In case it's not obvious, I have a bachelor's in writing. Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. Should southern hemisphere be capitalized? Explained by Sharing Culture In other words, when the word "region" is a part of a name or is being specific in its meaning, the word is capitalized. 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. Does the word federal need to be capitalized? Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? "The State Finance Department," for example, is a good example. Thank you. For example, The hurricane move north towards the Gulf Coast. So the upshot of my answer is that you didn't miss the memo (or perhaps I should say The Memo) on this issue, but at the same time you didn't notice a larger phenomenon in accordance with which initial-capping Southern California is by no means a unique, inexplicable, or indefensible treatment of a regional name. With the passage of time, some words originally derived from proper nouns have taken on a life, and authority, of their own and no longer require capitalization. Here are the types of words that should be capitalized: Proper nouns. Should global south be capitalized? Do I Capitalize Western Blot? - Advansta Inc. What about capitalizing a Westerner or a Westerner? If the is used, use Prime Minister. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. TimesMojo is a social question-and-answer website where you can get all the answers to your questions. It was first put into effect for large businesses, but it was gradually adopted as a standardized format by everyone. 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. So, noun will be always first capital letter. Dont capitalize the word when it precedes the states name unless its included in a states title. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts Northern Ireland, Western Australia This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation. What about capitalizing western or Westerner? any that aren't articles, conjunctions or prepositions) should be capitalised. Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. Have you ever wondered when its okay to capitalize north, east, south, and west? Rules for Capitalizing Academic Degrees in AP Style 1 Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. I studied Pisces, a constellation of the North sky, on a cloudless night. Should states and territories be Capitalised? The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. The following examples illustrate not only the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS] but also variations based on context and usage. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. 5 Free French-to-English Translation Services, Broad geographical regions (e.g., the North or the Far East), People from a specific region (e.g., Northerners, Southerners), Cultures or movements related to a region (e.g., Western philosophy). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Lowercase to when it functions in an infinitive. In general, you should capitalize the names of countries and languages. Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous. You capitalize state only when it follows the name of the state, as in New York State is also called the Empire State, or when its part of a traditional name for a state, like Empire State or Lone Star State. When it precedes the name of the state, dont capitalize the word unless its part of a title of . But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Some authorities also capitalize titles if they immediately follow the name without the word "the.". The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. I often have to write north, west in reference to an entrance or exit, for example, the patron exited through the north turnstile. Once again, refer to your dictionary if your preferred style guide doesnt address this issue. Should southern Florida be capitalized? - Answers For example: But when the terms are used to indicate a region, they are capitalized for example, the "West Coast". Capitalize directions that are names; North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions. The capitalization of as depends upon its function. The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. The main style guides all agree on this, although . In short, it says to capitalize northern, southern, eastern, western and related words when they refer to the PEOPLE in a region or what they DO (i.e., their political, cultural or social activities) or are part of the place name. Hi there! I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube. Similar is the case with the following set of words: Here are a couple of sentences for further clarity on the matter: When terms such as "southern district" and "western region" are used as names for specific units within an organization, capitalize them. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. Botany Rules 1: Writing Plant Common Names and English Names - Blogger 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). Dont capitalize names of directions like north, south, east, and west when used to refer to direction and location, but do capitalize these words when they appear in the names of places and regions. Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. Capitalizing the Word States If a writer refers to the United States and refers to it only as the States, states must be capitalized. Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. Though a direction is a general noun, it could at times be not that straightforward to ascertain whether it's a common noun or a proper noun. West is directly opposite east. However, as in the case of plant names, animal names are not capitalized ("I spotted a red-tailed hawk," not "I spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk"), except when an element of the name is a proper noun, as in "Steller . The question as to whether something should be considered a name or not is one of style, and as such you should adhere to the discipline of your editor, publication, or organization, or in the absence of a house style, you should adopt a suitable. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the western winds, western should be lowercase. When referring to Greek, Roman, and other groups of gods and goddesses, only the name is capitalized. This is known as 'title case'. Is Southern California capitalized AP style? 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. ), Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Is it Southern or Southern? Here are some rules to follow. Should the word northwest be capitalized? Explained by Sharing Culture The mines are in the plateaus western region. "I" is always capitalized, along with all its . Hi, Kelly. You should capitalize the words East Coast when referring to a specific region, such as Im traveling to the East Coast, because East Coast is a proper noun in this case. Did I miss the memo on this issue? When Do You Capitalize Geographic Terms? - dummies 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. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Terms that denote regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized, as are a few of the adjectives and nouns derived from such terms. When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. For example, we capitalize north, south, east, and west when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. Capitalize common nouns such as party, river and street when they are part of a proper name. Capitalizing western and capitalizing west have the same rules. For example: The words are also not capitalized if they only indicate locations or the climate or geography of a region. When there is no proper name, lowercase "mountain", "gorge", "valley", "beach", and other geographical features. Capital Letters with North, East, South, and West - Grammar Monster For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. Here are directions capitalized in sentences: Words such as "southerner" and "northerner" are usually not capitalized if they denote people. Common nouns are the names of things. I guess you're saying that it's always okay to break any principle if you really want to, because CMOS says so. Proper nouns include the specific names of people, places, and things. Dates. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. The correct sentence is Carlotta and I love Halloween. Thus, here are 10 capitalization rules you should know for a well written write-up: According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. To put it another way, capitalize words like Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis in place of the persons name. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Are both letters capitalized in state abbreviations? Do You Capitalize Regions When Writing? When & When Not To In what contexts would I capitalize "city" and "county"? Prepositions, such as at, around, by, after, along, for, from, of, on, to, with & without. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go north on I-90," then you should keep north lowercase. The plant common name has to conform to the rules of English, however, so if there's a proper noun in the common name, it must be capitalized. Please note that my close-vote reason was 'lack of reasonable signs of research'; I believe that there are differences between the 'northern Europe' example and this one. North, South, East, West: Are Directions Capitalized? 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. This confusion can also be attributed to the fact that certain region names have direction names in their official names, such as "the Middle East". We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. So capitalize The Pacific Northwest and Central Texas, but not We drove west for two hours., The States that make up The South are usually considered to be: Virginia Tennessee Arkansas Louisiana North Carolina South Carolina Mississippi Alabama Georgia Florida Texas. . What is thought to influence the overproduction and pruning of synapses in the brain quizlet? However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. As noted in the post, there's no need to capitalize generic directions (only when they're part of a proper noun). So, should you capitalize regions when writing? If a law is new but its interpretation is vague, can the courts directly ask the drafters the intent and official interpretation of their law? These should not be capitalized unless they are the first or last word of the title. South-Eastern Albania? Capitalize the Southern California region? The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. 17th ed., U of Chicago P, 2017,www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec047.html. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Do you capitalize north? Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. However, there are a few exceptions you should learn about. Characteristics. If these geographic areas are part of a name, however, such as "River Thames", capitalize the term. When the word state forms the full name of a specific body, you must also capitalize it. rev2023.3.3.43278. Broadly speaking, a region is an area that's divided by: Geographic regions are usually depicted by their not-so-clearly defined, and at times transitory boundaries. You have entered an incorrect email address! Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? However, if, like Northern Ireland and North Korea, the direction is part of the proper name, it should be capitalized. When And When Not To. 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. So, option 2 is correct. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Capital offenses - The Daily Californian 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. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. However, some people also suggest capitalizing the names of: The uniting theme here is the idea of naming a well-known or well-defined region. The storm is heading east. States and territories Use initial capitals for words in the formal name. North, South, East and West as Proper Nouns You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). They are written with capital letters. I am living in Western Downtown. University Editorial Style Guidelines - Santa Clara University You capitalize state only when it follows the name of the state, as in New York State is also called the Empire State, or when its part of a traditional name for a state, like Empire State or Lone Star State. When it precedes the name of the state, dont capitalize the word unless its part of a title of .