I often have to write north, west in reference to an entrance or exit, for example, the patron exited through the north turnstile. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. However, a co-author argues that southern should not be capitalized, because it is an adjective, not a noun. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. But you capitalize them when theyre specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. 5 Should states and territories be Capitalised? (There is a lot of leniency on whether to capitalize "The." Few would argue that the region is called "The North" as . 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. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. Southern United States, for example, is appropriate because it is located in a specific region. The term "region" is a general noun, and it's usually not capitalized, as a result. North, east, south, and west are the four cardinal directions, often marked by the initials N, E, S, and W. East and west are at right angles to north and south. Rule 1. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. 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 . The same rule applies for specific regions when you add -ern onto the end of a direction. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. 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. 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. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Are seasons capitalized or not? When you're talking about America's West Coast or the Middle East, the directional word is also part of a proper name, and it gets a capital letter. By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. Which sentence is capitalized correctly Carlotta? When referring to Greek, Roman, and other groups of gods and goddesses, only the name is capitalized. If youre referring to the Western States, for example, youre referring to a group of proper nouns. 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. As noted in the post, there's no need to capitalize generic directions (only when they're part of a proper noun). By attaching itself to a common object, the language or country name takes on a new meaning. South-Eastern Albania? 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. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. However, widely known designations are capitalized: the Upper East Side, Southern California. But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places name. In your first paragraph after the caption you make a good comparison between Wild West and Southern California, but I'm still troubled by a couple of issues. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '809ac5c4-ef90-4489-8311-03d2c90632ee', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Topics: Is Colorado in the west or the West? South Pacific. Whether youre writing an essay, email, or cover letter, youll likely use parentheses. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. Note that it doesn't seem to be treated as a compound proper noun (e.g., searching for "Southeastern Albania" produces an error since Ngrams is case sensitive and there don't seem to be any instances of that capitalization in the Google Books database). is considered basic and should be known by people who claim to have a good command of the language. This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation. 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. Strength Vs. Strong: Differences, How To Tell Them Apart? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Meaning of Western world and alternative terms, Specifying geography with cardinal directions, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup, Meaning of " Western world" and alternative terms. Dates. Capitalize such words as northern, southern, eastern, and western when they refer to the people in a region or to their political, social, or cultural activities. When we write the days of the week, we always use a capital letter. Proper nouns should always be capitalized. In "the eastern portion of Colorado", however, "eastern" is written in small letters since it doesn't denote people or specific culture or practice. My name is Erin. The concept of a "region" is significant and used widely among the several geography branches, each of which could describe the areas or zones in region-based terms. As a compass direction, south and southern are not capitalized: Capitalize each term when it is used as a proper name or as part of a proper name, and if the region is widely known: The Civil War pitted the South against the North. If you are merely referring to a . The West Coast has beautiful scenery. The word god is generally not capitalized if it is used to refer to the generic idea of a deity, nor is it capitalized when it refers to multiple gods. The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. 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. are not capitalized when they merely denote compass direction. rev2023.3.3.43278. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. In case it's not obvious, I have a bachelor's in writing. Dont capitalize the word when it precedes the states name unless its included in a states title. In other words, when the word "region" is a part of a name or is being specific in its meaning, the word is capitalized. CMOS looks at what a large relevant tranche of people do; this ultimately defines what is acceptable. Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. For example: When words such as "northern", "southern", "western", and "eastern" precede a region or place's name, do not capitalize them as they are only indicating a general location in a region. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic, as are those lacking any signs of reasonable research. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. Capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, all of which have 29,000 locations, Money differs from other economic assets in that it is the most liquid asset available. Canada, Western European nations and developed parts of Asia; Global Southern countries are those that are less economically developed such as nations in Africa and some parts of Asia [29 . Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. capitalization, maps, writing tips. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Just make sure you are consistent with the letter case. are widely recognized as popular names and are thus capitalized. In most forms of writings, not capitalizing direction names when they could have been capitalized doesn't bother the readers much. Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? One exception to this rule: common objects with a country or nationality as part of the name ( french fries, scotch whiskey, venetian blinds, and so forth). There's not enough context in your example to offer any solid advice (e.g., the "north" of where? Please include the research youve done. Capitalize the first word of a document and the first word after a period. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. Otherwise, not. For example, Silicon Valley isn't a proprietary name or legally defined area, but it receives initial caps anyway. 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. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Did the Allman Brothers Band play southern rock or Southern rock? Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. If you think southern California has properties which one ordinarily associates with countries or states, or at least you want to convey that this is so, then you should use the capitalization ordinarily used for names of countries or states. Each state has its own shortened name codes, which are used in written documents and mailing addresses. As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. A recognized geographical region. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. Is Southern California capitalized AP style? 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. To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. Less democratic. Settlers moved into the West. Should north southeast and West be capitalized? Capitalization Unless the word is part of a formal name, do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, or other similar words. However, the Associated Press Stylebook does not recommend capitals in that case. He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. Should I capitalize "the north" and "the south" in my work on the southern campaign of the Revolutionary war? But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize "Southern" when referring to "the South" in the United States, regardless of whether you're discussing the Civil War. Names of people People's names are proper nouns, and therefore should be capitalized. Thus people who live in southern California may prefer to write Southern California. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the South." If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. Characteristics. Capitalize a persons title when it precedes the name. When referring to a specific region, you should capitalize the words East Coast such as Im traveling to the East Coast since East Coast is a proper noun in this case. It's not a continent, nor is it a country. So, if a person is from South Africa, south would be capitalized since it's the proper name of the country. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. Thank you. 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. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. South-East Albania? In all cases, though, you should: And if you need help, our expert proofreaders are ready! 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? Capitalize locations in a country if the proper noun is given in other words, the name of a region or city, such as the Congo, the Mississippi River, etc. When did they standardize state abbreviations? ANS: Demand, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. The word 'southern' shouldn't be capitalized in a sentence unless it is a proper noun. Filed Under: ), but I'd suggest not capitalizing it unless you're certain it is necessary. 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). Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, Doubling the cube, field extensions and minimal polynoms. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. Also, if "region" is the first word in a sentence, it is capitalized. Hi, James. Binomial nomenclature is, of course, also used for animals, including the singularly curious one designated as Homo sapiens. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. However, it is accepted that these are capitalized when discussing the American Civil War, for example, and, as mentioned in this article in the final Summary section, some style guides prefer north and south to always be capitalized when referring generally to these areas of the United States. Circling back to the "title" rule, if the headline is in sentence case and the word "region" is not the starting word of the title, "region" should be written in lowercase. I don't think there's an established norm for identifying regions of Albania in English (although you might get a different answer if you asked an Albanian, I suppose), but looking at Google Ngrams, "southeastern Albania" seems to be the most common option: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=southeast+Albania%2Csoutheastern+Albania%2Csouth-east+Albania%2Csouth-eastern+Albania&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csoutheast%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csoutheastern%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csouth%20-%20east%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csouth%20-%20eastern%20Albania%3B%2Cc0 The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. You wouldnt normally unless north and south are part of a proper noun (e.g., South Africa). When the word state forms the full name of a specific body, you must also capitalize it. Capitalize the pronoun. Capitalize names of organizations, institutions, stores, businesses, teams, political parties, and government bodies. 17th ed., U of Chicago P, 2017,www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec047.html. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. 4 Is Southern California capitalized AP style? Here are directions capitalized in sentences: Words such as "southerner" and "northerner" are usually not capitalized if they denote people. (Cap or no cap on east and west). Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? Which sentence is capitalized correctly on a cloudless night? Is this correct. 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. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) suggests capitalizing terms like Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner:5. For example, capitalizing "Southerner" in the sentence "As a Southerner, she had a distinct drawl" can be up for debate. Some common examples of when you should capitalize north include: down North. The official USPS postal abbreviation is this format. Surely not one word Southeast? Here is part of that discussion: 8.46 Regions of the world and national regions. How to tell which packages are held back due to phased updates. When used to refer to direction and location, dont capitalize the names of directions like north, south, east, or west; however, when they appear in the names of places and regions, do capitalize these words. And Wisconsin is known as the Badger State (not "the badger state") even though its official name is Wisconsin. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. Erin Wright, 20122023. Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. To Capitalize or not to Capitalize Independence? For example, Southern France is capitalized because it is a proper noun and . How to Export PDF Tables from Adobe Acrobat to Excel (PC & Mac), How to Insert Images into Shapes in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Align the Periods in Numbered Lists in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Password Protect Files in Microsoft Word, How to Password Protect PDFs in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac). Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 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. Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet & so (FANBOYS). 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). Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). Is summer a good time? Examples: southern France, northern Canada. NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. 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 . September 18, 2013, at 9:56 pm. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. A region could also be a group of nations. Rule 2. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Most style guides recommend capitalizing "West Coast" when referring to the western seaboard of the U.S. hi, should i capitalize 'west' in 'west Africa' or 'north' in north Africa'? But if someone prefers "African American," use that term rather than a more generic "black." Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. However, to, not a dash, should be used when from introduces a range of dates (from 2012 to 2013, not from 2012-13). AP Style states that when referring to the names of a nation, directions should . You don't even want to know what he calls pancakes. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Don't capitalize these words when they refer to the general location, geography or climate of a region. When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? Capitalize these words when they designate regions. They live in the western part of the country. Does the word federal need to be capitalized? When words like northern, southern, eastern, and western precede a place name, they are not ordinarily capitalized, because they merely indicate general location within a region. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. The periods are omitted in headlines. U.S. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Am I a midwesterner or a Midwesterner? On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. The street is named Bolton Avenue. MLA style followsThe Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. I assume CMOS have done reasonable research before arguing against a rigid insistence on 'the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS]' and have thought carefully before arguing against ignoring authors' strong preferences. 1. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(42679, '499cbd76-cfa5-4fea-836f-ead06058d874', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); North, East, South or West - Capitalize or Not? Hello! Clearly, LA, OC, and SD are part of Southern California, but there are a lot of other places that are located in southern California that are not located in Southern California, such as Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Joshua Tree, Blythe, etc. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. The following examples illustrate not only the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS] but also variations based on context and usage. The key factor here is that were using these words descriptively (i.e., to specify the direction or location of something), not to name something. In a June 11 statement, the National Association of Black Journalists issued a recommendation "that whenever a color is used to appropriately describe race then it should be capitalized . As an Amazon Associate, CapitalizeMyTitle.com earns from qualifying purchases. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. States should also be abbreviated when used as part of a short-form political affiliation. It only takes a minute to sign up. You should capitalize "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. @SvenYargs This is a very useful answer; I'm processing it. Did I miss the memo on this issue? States and territories Use initial capitals for words in the formal name. By prevailing usage, roughly the most southerly one-third or two-fifths of California is referred to as Southern California, in initial caps. When writing or proofreading manuscripts, names of regions and their capitalization rules could be tricky to discern or ascertain. North Dakota; West Virginia; Also capitalize compass points when used in denoting widely known sections. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. Is north capitalized there? The following formal names of specific degrees should always be capitalized in AP style: As you can see, master's degrees are capitalized when abbreviated. Capitalize directions that are names; North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions. Hi there! Are you supposed to capitalize north south east and west? Hi, Lynne. Keep reading to learn everything there is to regions and their capitalization, rules for related terms and phrases, what a region is, etc. (I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker. However, the forms bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree and master's are acceptable as general terms.