Practise using capital letters for names, places and people and to begin direct speech. Proper nouns are always capitalised in English. People's names, including first names and surnames, titles, such as Her Majesty, Mrs, or Mr, place names, such as Northern Ireland, Manchester, or Piccadilly Circus, are all capitalised. Book, film and song titles are capitalised. Even the names of some of your classes, like English Literature, are probably capitalised!
When you are adding dialogue to a sentence, you will also need to use a capital letter for the first word in the dialogue, even though that is not the first word of your sentence. It can help to remember that it is the first word of your character's sentence, however! This, for example, would be correct: Susan was fed up after looking everywhere and groaned, "Has anyone seen my glasses?"
Remember that the word "I" is also capitalised in English, in contrast to many other languages, such as French, German and Spanish, which do not capitalise the first person singular pronoun. It's also useful to know that rules change over time. Several hundred years ago, "I" was not capitalised, and a couple of hundred years ago, many ordinary nouns were, as in modern-day German!
Have a go at our second Capital Letter quiz.
1.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
"Sit down quickly!" shouted John. |
[ ] |
"sit down quickly!" Shouted john. |
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sit down quickly shouted john |
[ ] |
Sit down quickly! shouted John. |
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2.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
The teacher said your progress is satisfactory Jane |
[ ] |
The teacher said Your progress is satisfactory Jane |
[ ] |
The teacher said, "Your progress is satisfactory Jane." |
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The teacher said, "your progress is satisfactory jane." |
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3.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
mr and mrs jones live in birmingham |
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mr and mrs jones live in Birmingham. |
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Mr and Mrs Jones live in birmingham |
[ ] |
Mr and Mrs Jones live in Birmingham. |
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4.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
When will I have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
when will I have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
when will i have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
When will i have time to go shopping? |
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5.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
Her address is 4 white park Truro Cornwall. |
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her address is 4 White Park truro cornwall. |
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her address is 4 white park Truro cornwall. |
[ ] |
Her address is: 4 White Park, Truro, Cornwall. |
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6.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
"It is getting late" said David "im going home now" |
[ ] |
"It is getting late," said David. "I'm going home now." |
[ ] |
It is getting late said David "Im going home now" |
[ ] |
It is getting late said David im going home now |
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7.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
London is Englands capital paris is Frances capital. |
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London is englands capital Paris is frances capital. |
[ ] |
London is Englands capital. Paris is france's capital. |
[ ] |
London is England's capital. Paris is France's capital. |
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8.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
mark said it is my birthday i am thirteen |
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mark said it is my birthday. i am thirteen |
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Mark said, "it is my birthday I am thirteen." |
[ ] |
Mark said, "It is my birthday. I am thirteen." |
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9.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
Andrew mended the computer. He wanted to go home soon. |
[ ] |
Andrew mended the computer. he wanted to go home soon. |
[ ] |
andrew mended the computer. He wanted to go Home soon. |
[ ] |
andrew mended the computer. he wanted to go Home soon. |
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10.
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Which one is correct? |
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[ ] |
Do I have to do homework It is the holidays. |
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework. it is the holidays |
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework? it is the holidays |
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework? It is the holidays. |
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1.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[x] |
"Sit down quickly!" shouted John. |
[ ] |
"sit down quickly!" Shouted john. |
[ ] |
sit down quickly shouted john |
[ ] |
Sit down quickly! shouted John. |
|
|
2.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
The teacher said your progress is satisfactory Jane |
[ ] |
The teacher said Your progress is satisfactory Jane |
[x] |
The teacher said, "Your progress is satisfactory Jane." |
[ ] |
The teacher said, "your progress is satisfactory jane." |
|
|
3.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
mr and mrs jones live in birmingham |
[ ] |
mr and mrs jones live in Birmingham. |
[ ] |
Mr and Mrs Jones live in birmingham |
[x] |
Mr and Mrs Jones live in Birmingham. |
|
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4.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[x] |
When will I have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
when will I have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
when will i have time to go shopping? |
[ ] |
When will i have time to go shopping? |
|
|
5.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
Her address is 4 white park Truro Cornwall. |
[ ] |
her address is 4 White Park truro cornwall. |
[ ] |
her address is 4 white park Truro cornwall. |
[x] |
Her address is: 4 White Park, Truro, Cornwall. |
|
|
6.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
"It is getting late" said David "im going home now" |
[x] |
"It is getting late," said David. "I'm going home now." |
[ ] |
It is getting late said David "Im going home now" |
[ ] |
It is getting late said David im going home now |
|
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7.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
London is Englands capital paris is Frances capital. |
[ ] |
London is englands capital Paris is frances capital. |
[ ] |
London is Englands capital. Paris is france's capital. |
[x] |
London is England's capital. Paris is France's capital. |
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8.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
mark said it is my birthday i am thirteen |
[ ] |
mark said it is my birthday. i am thirteen |
[ ] |
Mark said, "it is my birthday I am thirteen." |
[x] |
Mark said, "It is my birthday. I am thirteen." |
|
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9.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[x] |
Andrew mended the computer. He wanted to go home soon. |
[ ] |
Andrew mended the computer. he wanted to go home soon. |
[ ] |
andrew mended the computer. He wanted to go Home soon. |
[ ] |
andrew mended the computer. he wanted to go Home soon. |
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10.
|
Which one is correct? |
|
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework It is the holidays. |
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework. it is the holidays |
[ ] |
Do I have to do homework? it is the holidays |
[x] |
Do I have to do homework? It is the holidays. |
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