Lorna Izoma
In learning you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn - Phil Collins.
If you watched cartoons growing up, you know exactly where that quote is from😅
It came to mind when I was teaching my PPA students.
I am currently serving (N.Y.S.C.), and a recent topic I had to teach was, ‘when to use capital letters in a sentence.’
I looked at the topic and scoffed.
I have used capital letters all my life. This should be a breeze, right?
But then, I realized that yes, I have used capital letters, but never consciously.
Even as a writer, I never really took note of when and how I used them.
So, I went to my trusty friend, Google, and learnt what I will share with you now.
When to use capital letters.
The importance of proper capital letter placement cannot be overemphasized.
Capital letters are used when:
1. You want to start a sentence.
This is the first and one of the most important times to use a capital letter.
Example:
My baby brother threw my notebook, into a bowl of water.
2. After a full stop, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.
These are the only punctuation marks in the English language, where capital letters come after.
Example:
“Ronald Weasley! How dare you steal that car? I am absolutely disgusted.”
3. When using the pronoun ‘I’.
Wherever in a sentence you are using the ‘I’ pronoun, it must be the capital letter 'I'.
4. When writing a proper noun.
Now, this where we get technical. What is even a proper noun?🤔
A proper noun is a name that refers to a specific person, place, or thing.
Example:
My cat’s name is Cupcake Rudolph.
Note: ‘cat’ is not a proper noun because it is not specific.
There are millions of cats in the world. But there is only one cat whose name is, Cupcake Rudolph.
Another example:
Tega and I will be going to the beach.
Tega and I will be going to Landmark Beach.
Note: in the first statement, ‘beach’ is not a proper noun, because which beach are you referring to?
But in the second statement, ‘Landmark’ and ‘Beach’ start with capital letters.
This is because ‘Landmark Beach’ refers to a specific beach.
This also applies to:
I am going to the bank.
I am going to Unity Bank.
Here, ‘bank’ is not a proper noun, but ‘Unity Bank’ is a proper noun because it refers to a particular bank.
5. When writing a month, day of the week or holiday.
Let me not lie, I did not know this one.
Example:
Yoma and I will be going to Chicken Republic, the first Friday after Christmas.
This February has been a hot month.
Note: here, Chicken republic, Friday and Christmas are proper nouns, so is February.
6. When writing an abbreviation.
Here, after each letter, there is full stop, to indicate that there is more to that letter.
Example:
I will soon be done with this N.Y.S.C. program.
7. When addressing a person with their title.
Example:
The court will rise for Judge Hope.
Have you seen Doctor Samuel today?
Note: if you had said, ‘have you seen a doctor today?’
Or
'Which judge is taking this case?'
The ‘doctor’ and ‘judge’ there are not specific because, they do not refer to a particular doctor or judge.
And yes, this is also under proper nouns.
See, I told you proper nouns were a bit technical.
An easy way to remember though, is that proper nouns are nouns that refer to a specific person, place, or thing.
So, I guess Phil Collins was right, in teaching the children, I learnt to improve my writing.
I hope you learnt something from me too😄
I am loving this platform by the way. Thanks to Creaitz and Wazoplus.
#creaitzxwazoplus #contentwritingpprogram