Capital Letters and Nouns

'For I am of Opinion, that it is better a Language should not be wholly perfect, that it should be perpetually changing.'

Jonathan Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue, 1712.

Capitalising nouns (or naming words) was a feature of eighteenth-century writing, regardless whether they were common nouns (everyday words) or proper nouns (formal names and titles). Modern writing conventions dictate that we only capitalise proper nouns.

What is the difference between proper and common nouns and why does it matter? Using capitals correctly matters because they are useful for distinguishing special words. Compare the following:

For accurate spelling, you should use the latest edition of the Macquarie Dictionary. (Correct)

For accurate Spelling, you should use the latest Edition of the Macquarie Dictionary. (Over-capitalisation.)

For accurate spelling, you should use the latest edition of the macquarie dictionary. (Under-capitalisation).

The first sentence indicates formal titles. The second sentence is more difficult to read because every noun is capitalised. The third sentence’s lack of capitals makes every noun appear equally insignificant.

We do need to capitalise proper nouns. But, how do we distinguish them from common nouns?

A proper noun is a formal name or title of an individual or a specific organisation. A common noun is a noun that refers to a generic or group category.

To clarify this distinction, consider the following sentences:

I had dinner with Senator Mary Smith on Tuesday. She mentioned that the other senators had already returned to their home towns.

The name, ‘Senator Mary Smith’, has an initial capital for each word because it is the formal title of one individual. When the other senators are mentioned, however, no capital is applied. The word 'senators' is a generic job title not an official title.

To conclude, capital letters are useful to indicate names and official titles. Use them correctly for a professional and considered presentation of your work.

Bibliography

British Literature Wiki - Eighteenth-Century Grammars. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://britlitwiki.wikispaces.com/Eighteenth-Century+Grammars

Commonwealth of Australia. (2002). Style manual. 6th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Australia.

Fogarty, M. (2016). Capitalizing Job Titles. QuickAndDirtyTips.Com. Retrieved from http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/capitalizing-job-titles.

Trask, L. (1997). Capital Letters. University of Sussex: Guide to Punctuation. Retrieved from http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/capsandabbr/caps.