Posted on Mar 03, 2023
Title Capitalization Rules: Learn Which Words To Capitalize
Like many aspects of the English language, title capitalization rules can seem confusing and unintuitive. While the words that are (and are not) capitalized in a title arenât always consistent, itâs really not as complicated as you might think.
Whether youâre titling a book, writing a headline for a blog post or article, or referring to a movie, song, or other published work, youâll need to follow standard title capitalization rules. To help you along, letâs break down the basic rules and explain some exceptions.Â
These are the three title capitalization rules youâll need to remember:
- Capitalize the first and last words of a title
- Capitalize verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
- Donât capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, or prepositions
1. Capitalize the first and last words of a title
The simplest rule you can follow with complete certainty is this: the first and last words of a title are always capitalized. It doesnât matter what length the title is or what grammatical role the word plays. From the humble article âtheâ to longer nouns like âtyrannosaurus,â youâre 100% safe capitalizing the first and last word.
Example: Andy Williamsâs 1966 hit single, âMusic to Watch Girls Byâ
All style guides agree on this rule, and itâs because it just makes sense. By capitalizing the first and last words, you create a visual mark that shows the reader where the title begins and ends. Even if itâs used within a longer sentence, it canât be confused with the text surrounding it.
đĄ Note: When words are capitalized to form a title, their format is called âtitle caseâ or âheadline case.â This is in contrast to âsentence case,â which is what youâll see in this very paragraph.

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Capitalize the first word of subtitles, too
The rule for subtitles is very simple: the subtitleâs first word is also always capitalized, no exceptions. Subtitles, written after a colon, are especially common in nonfiction books and academic works.Â
Example: Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubarâs classic work of feminist literary criticism, âThe Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination.âÂ
If this title was written in sentence case, the first word after the colon would not normally be capitalized. And if we were following rule number 3 (spoiler alert), the word âtheâ would be in lowercase.
If youâre worried about your institutionâs style guide of choice, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Capitalizing the first word of a subtitle is one of those rules where APA, MLA, Chicago, and AP style guides are in beautiful, unanimous agreement.
This is not the only rule they agree on â the next one is also universal.
2. Capitalize verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
There are many common parts of speech that are always capitalized in a title. Letâs take a quick look at them, one by one.
Verbs
The âaction wordsâ of language, verbs are capitalized in every style guide. This also applies to phrasal verbs, where a verb and a preposition are used together, like âGet Up,â âStand Up,â âLet Go,â and âCarry Out.â
A commonly asked question is whether the word âisâ needs to be capitalized. âIsâ and its cousins (âI am,â âyou are,â etc.) are all conjugated forms of the verb âto be,â so the answer is yes. The same applies to the verb âdoâ and its variations âdidâ and âdoes.â

Here are a few examples of book titles that include verbs:
- âThis Is How You Lose the Time Warâ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- âWhere'd You Go, Bernadetteâ by Maria Semple
- âDonât Cry for Meâ by Daniel Black
- âI'll Tell You in Personâ by Chloe Caldwell
- âDo You Want to Start a Scandalâ by Tessa Dare
- Â âHistory Is All You Left Meâ by Adam Silvera
Pronouns
All style guides agree on capitalizing pronouns in titles. If youâre a native speaker, itâs possible you assume the term simply refers to âhe,â âshe,â âthey,â and âhis,â âhers,â and âtheirs.â These are pronouns indeed, but there are many more types.
Subject pronouns | Object pronouns | Possessive pronouns | Reflexive pronouns |
I | Me | Mine | Myself |
You | You | Yours | Yourself |
She/he/it | Her/him/it | Hers/his/not used | Herself/himself/itself |
We | Us | Ours | Ourselves |
You | You | Yours | Yourselves |
They | Them | Theirs | Themselves |
We wonât dwell (no one likes a grammar lesson), but to learn more about further types of pronouns, like relative, indefinite, demonstrative, or interrogative pronouns, you can check out Thesaurus.comâs entry on pronoun types. Fun fact: words like âsomeone,â âwhenever,â âwhose,â and âwhomâ are pronouns, too. Hopefully, this knowledge will come in handy when you next capitalize a tricky title.

Here are a few examples of book titles with pronouns:
- âRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cryâ by Mildred D. Taylor
- âGuess How Much I Love Youâ by Sam McBratney
- âFor Whom the Bell Tollsâ by Ernest Hemingway
- âTheir Eyes Were Watching Godâ by Zora Neale HurstonÂ
- âGo Tell It on the Mountainâ by James BaldwinÂ
- âSomewhere Safe with Somebody Goodâ by Jan Karon
If you do happen to like grammar lessons, however, check out this article about the Oxford comma to learn more about when and how to use it like a pro.
Nouns and adjectives
You already know these ones, so we wonât patronize you. Theyâre also straightforward when it comes to capitalization: nouns and adjectives are capitalized in all style guides. Wonderful, right?
Letâs look at a few title examples that feature nouns:
- âI Know Why the Caged Bird Singsâ by Maya Angelou
- âHow the GarcĂa Girls Lost Their Accentsâ by Julia Alvarez
- âIf on a Winterâs Night a Travelerâ by Italo Calvino
- âDiary of a Young Naturalistâ by Dara McAnulty
And some book titles that capitalize adjectives:
- âIn Cold Bloodâ by Truman Capote
- âA Cavern of Black Iceâ by J. V. Jones
- âUnderstanding Comics: The Invisible Artâ by Scott McCloud
- âThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeâ by Mark Haddon
AdverbsÂ
You may know adverbs as the words that end in -ly. They describe the way or manner in which something is done or happens. Just donât forget that adverbs of manner arenât the only type of adverb.Â
If your title includes any of the words below, youâre dealing with adverbs of frequency, time, place, or degree:
Adverbs of time | Adverbs of frequency | Adverbs of place | Adverbs of degree |
|
|
|
|
You donât need to remember what category each adverb falls under â you just need to be able to recognize them as an adverb, since all adverbs are capitalized across all style guides.
Here are a few titles that feature adverbs, whether they end in -ly or not:
- âIsla and the Happily Ever Afterâ by Stephanie Perkins
- âA Fairly Honourable Defeatâ by Iris Murdoch
- âTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrowâ by Gabrielle Zevin
- âA Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New Yorkâ by Anjelica Huston
So far, weâve looked at the two major rules where all style guides agree: capitalizing the first and final words of a title, as well as any âprincipalâ or important words, like nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. The next rule is where it gets a little bit more complicated.
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3. Donât capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, or prepositions
Unless youâre working with a style guide that says otherwise (or if theyâre the first or final word in a title), the following types of words are not capitalized:
- Articles â the tiny words that come before nouns to indicate whether itâs a general concept or a particular, specific thing, e.g., âthe gardenâ vs. âa gardenâ
- Prepositions â words that precede nouns to show direction or place, or to establish a relationship between two things, e.g., âopposite the library,â ânext to the catâÂ
- Coordinating conjunctions â words that link two parts of a sentence that can stand on their own, e.g., âI was tired. Alice went to bedâ vs. âI was tired and Alice went to bed.â
Here are the words that fall under these categories:
Articles | Coordinating conjunctions | Prespositions (list not exhaustive) |
a, an, the | for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so | above, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with, within, etc. |
đFor more examples and information on prepositions, head to this page by the University of Ottawa.
Here are a few book titles that do not capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (unless they are the first or last words of the title):
- âIn Search of Lost Timeâ by Marcel Proust
- âCrime and Punishmentâ by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- âThe Catcher in the Ryeâ by J. D. Salinger
- âThe Portrait of a Ladyâ by Henry James
- âAgain, but Betterâ by Christine Riccio
Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions, on the other hand, are capitalized. These are words that introduce a new part to the sentence that is dependent on the main sentence, or clause. Subordinating conjunctions include: if, since, as, when, although, while, after, before, until, because.
Because titles are not typically multi-clause sentences, itâs harder to intuit which group a conjunction belongs to. The simplest way to know when to capitalize conjunctions is to just remember which are coordinating and which subordinating.Â
Subordinating conjunctions do get capitalized, as in these title examples:
- âThings Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spokeâ by Eric LaRocca
- âAs Good As Deadâ by Holly Jackson
- âWhat If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questionsâ by Randall Munroe
- âLive Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer Is Much Faster): Life Lessons and Other Ravingsâ by Dave Barry
4. When in doubt, refer to your style guide
If you're writing for a specific institution, keep their style guide bookmarked. For your convenience, here's what the four most commonly used style guides in North America require when it comes to capitalizing titles correctly:
Chicago Manual of Style
Capitalize:
- The first and last words of a title
- Verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
- Subordinating conjunctions
Donât capitalize:
- Articles, prepositions of any length, and coordinating conjunctions
- âTo,â if used in an infinitive (e.g., âFailure to Launchâ)
Modern Languages Association (MLA) Handbook
Capitalize:
- The first and last words of a title
- Verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
- Subordinating conjunctions
Donât capitalize:
- Articles, prepositions of any length, and coordinating conjunctions
- âTo,â if used in an infinitive (e.g., âFailure to Launchâ)
American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual
Capitalize:
- The first and last words of a title
- Verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
- Words that consist of more than four letters, even conjunctions and prepositions
Donât capitalize:
- Words shorter than four letters
- âTo,â if used in an infinitive (e.g., âFailure to Launchâ)
The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook
Capitalize:
- The first and last words of a title
- Verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
- Subordinating conjunctions
- Words that consist of more than four letters, even conjunctions and prepositions
- âTo,â if used in an infinitive (e.g., âFailure To Launchâ)
Donât capitalize:
- Articles and prepositions shorter than four letters
- Coordinating conjunctions
Youâll notice that the first two, Chicago and MLA, are the same â whereas AP and APA share an enthusiasm for capitalizing words longer than four letters.
Now compare these book titles:
AP and APA | Chicago and MLA |
|
|
See the difference?Â
- Chicago and MLA donât capitalize âalongâ because itâs a preposition.Â
- AP and APA do capitalize it because itâs longer than four letters long.Â
- âForâ is a coordinating conjunction (so lowercase for Chicago and MLA) and not long enough to be capitalized in AP and APA.
- All four style guides capitalize the first and last words of the title, as well as the first word of the subtitle.

đŻ Want to test yourself? Head over to our book title generator and give it a whirl. Write down what titles youâre given and then ask yourself how theyâd be formatted for each style guide.Â
Those are all the rules, so you can go ahead and capitalize your title. Beyond your title, if youâve got a whole manuscript in need of polishing, consider hiring a copy editor to take care of the finer details.
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If you want to expand your knowledge of niche linguistic matters even further, head over to the world of punctuation with our post on using hyphens and dashes correctly. Just donât forget your linguist geek hat.