U.S. However, if you use the word southern instead of a general location, such as the southern winds, the word should be lowercase. In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". We lowercase the terms when they refer to directions: The United States is located north of Mexico. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. I tried to describe the difference in my answer below. If a is used, go with prime minister.). Capitalize the Southern California region? Which Is More Stable Thiophene Or Pyridine. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. However, be consistent and do not write: "Visitors to southern California climbed while visitors to northern California fell." Should south be capitalized? 2 Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them. The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. Why do many companies reject expired SSL certificates as bugs in bug bounties? Should compass directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) ever be capitalized? Does the word federal need to be capitalized? When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? Therefore, use "Black" and "White" instead of "black" and "white" (do not use colors to refer to other human groups; doing so is considered pejorative). AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. Youd also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are. Does Counterspell prevent from any further spells being cast on a given turn? The other concern I have is that southern is a geographical term, that I feel shouldn't be usurped in this way. 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. When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. The street is named Bolton Avenue. And "north" in that sentence refers to a direction (i.e., where you turned), not the place (i.e., Bolton Avenue). Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. Capitalizing North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). West is directly opposite east. 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 Capitalization Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name. Hi, Michael. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. ), but I'd suggest not capitalizing it unless you're certain it is necessary. 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. These are not governed entities, but they are official designations. doesn't shout the need for "capitalization", it's safe to write it in lowercase. When writing or proofreading manuscripts, names of regions and their capitalization rules could be tricky to discern or ascertain. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In June 1963, the Department provided an initial list of abbreviations, but many had only three or four letters, which were still too long. capitalization, maps, writing tips. It also looks at when to capitalize those regions when they are used as adjectives and to describe U.S. geographic populations. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. Capitalizing "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). Explanation: Because Pisces is a verb. So, option 2 is correct. It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. Job seekers, Is Pepsi the owner of KFC? . Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? 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. To summarize the advice above, we suggest: However, capitalization may depend on the style guide youre using. As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. Wotan is one of the gods in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? In 1963, the state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations. Examples: southern France, northern Canada. Before capitalizing words like east, west, north, and south, check whether you are using them as part of a proper noun or merely to refer to direction or location.Don't capitalize directions (we sailed due east) and locations (western India), but do capitalize compass points when they occur in proper nouns (North Korea, South Sudan, East Dunbartonshire, the Great Western Plains). Filed Under: Here are a few sentences with the word "region" in them: If part of a title or headline, the word "region" can be capitalized to conform to title capitalization rules. Use a hyphen to show a range of dates and do not repeat 20 (2012-13, not 2012-2013). This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I work in marketing, and I'm wondering if lowercasing the words "off" and "under" in these headlines is correct: "50% off Body Wash" and "Gift Sets under $40.". Except for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah, the name of a city and state should be abbreviated when they are used together. Todays post explains when to capitalize geographic regions in the United States. During the Civil War, Northerners and Southerners battled in twenty-three states. Note that exceptions based on specific regional, political, or historical contexts are inevitable and that an author's strong preference should usually be respected. 1. Consult your dictionary if your preferred style guide doesnt address this issue. Except for England, the other three countries have their own parliaments. However, a co-author argues that southern should not be capitalized, because it is an adjective, not a noun. But things become tricky once we get down to the details. For example: The words are also not capitalized if they only indicate locations or the climate or geography of a region. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You can also upload a document to get an instant quote. 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. The state abbreviations are always in the same format: two letter abbreviations where both letters are uppercase and no periods or spaces between each letter. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) suggests capitalizing terms like Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner:5. When proofreading or editing documents, we often find that writers are confused about when to capitalize these terms. If you have a question about whether a specific word should be capitalized that doesn't fit under one of these rules, try checking a dictionary to see if the word is capitalized there. The official USPS postal abbreviation is this format. It was first put into effect for large businesses, but it was gradually adopted as a standardized format by everyone. This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation. Here are some rules to follow. Likewise, capitalize terms such as "Native American," "Hispanic," and so on. Capitalize a persons title when it precedes the name. However, if, like Northern Ireland and North Korea, the direction is part of the proper name, it should be capitalized. Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. In other words, capitalize words such as Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis when they are used in place of the persons name. The capitalization of as depends upon its function. Is South capitalized when talking about the Civil War? In most forms of writings, not capitalizing direction names when they could have been capitalized doesn't bother the readers much. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. Are seasons capitalized or not? 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. To Capitalize or not to Capitalize Independence? The following sentence is capitalized correctly : I learned that Thor is the god of thunder when I read a book about myths from Norway. Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? 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. Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Each state has its own shortened name codes, which are used in written documents and mailing addresses. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. To properly follow AP style guidelines, only use one space after a period, as opposed to the often used double-space. In all cases, though, you should: Check your style guide (if applicable) for advice on specific terms. 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. Are both letters capitalized in state abbreviations? Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. "The South" is capitalized because it designates a definite region, e.g., "I was born and raised in the South." More answers below Capitalizing southern and capitalizing south have the same rules. Capitalize such words as Northerner, Southerner, and Midwesterner. It was put into effect at first for big businesses, but was then gradually adopted by everyone as a standardized format. Rule 2. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. The same applies for related adjectives and other compass directions: We live in the eastern part of the country. , Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence. Besides the global continents, there are also atmospheric and hydrospheric regions that encompass the oceans, discrete climates, or environments above the water and landmasses of earth. What are some examples of how providers can receive incentives? In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. Hi, James. Human settlements and their impact on the physical geography, and, The communication between the environment and humanity, The precipitation is the maximum in the interior, Cattle-breeding techniques or practices could vary across, Urundi and Ruanda are fertile, healthy, high-lying, and thickly populated, This text isn't a law but an abstract of the several special usages obtained in those, She passed the Lake Amadeus and the Reynolds range in that direction but had to turn, Many scholars are now studying the global. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Best Book Writing Software and Book Writing Apps, Cursive Text Generator , Buscador de palabras y descifrador de palabras. You would capitalize "Southern" when referring to the people, or their culture, politics, or social activities, e.g., Southern hospitality, Southern cuisine, Southern accents. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the southern winds, southern should be lowercase. As an aside, when we toured through the San Francisco Peninsula earlier this year, our guide told us that the natives generally didn't like the name 'Silicon Valley'. To capitalize or not to capitalize "southern" California [duplicate]. For example, "Global is a proper noun." . A region can be a city, town, village, country, continent, or any area that comes under the jurisdiction or administration of a state. If a law is new but its interpretation is vague, can the courts directly ask the drafters the intent and official interpretation of their law? Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as play with), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, south, east, and west, when you are referring to the direction as a proper noun, such as in the South or up North. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as go south on I-90, then you should keep the direction lowercase. Southern United States, for example, is appropriate because it is located in a specific region. Pronouns that refer to any god or gods should be lowercased. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Along with the proper nouns listed in the table above, you should also always capitalize: the first word after a colon when what follows the colon is an independent clause, most nouns when they are followed by numerals or letters (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2, Panel A; see section 4.17), and. 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. The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. 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. However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. The periods are omitted in headlines. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. When did they standardize state abbreviations? North Dakota; West Virginia; Also capitalize compass points when used in denoting widely known sections. In case it's not obvious, I have a bachelor's in writing. Copyright 2022 - TheContentAuthority.com, Reindeer Vs. Moose: Main Differences, How To Tell Them Apart. 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'? Hi, Chris. Sallie Ward, a Southern belle. In what contexts would I capitalize "city" and "county"? What is the purpose of this D-shaped ring at the base of the tongue on my hiking boots? Do not drive, Five Below Job Opportunities Earning consideration for Five Below jobs begins with meeting the companys minimum employment age, which is 16 years old. Automatically capitalize your email subjects, essay, headline, and article titles. The word should only be capitalized if it appears in the body's name. Capitalize directions that are names; North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions. Everyone knows that Southern blot is written with a capital "S". Instead of using the frequently used double-space, only use one space after a period to properly follow AP style guidelines. 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. Hi, Victoria. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? The geographical areas "The North," "The East," "The South," and "The West" are treated like proper nouns. This suffix makes the direction an adjective, and when it describes a specific region, it should be capitalized. To find out when to capitalize North, South, East, and West, read our guide to capitalizing directions below. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: My friend is a southerner. 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. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. This confusion can also be attributed to the fact that certain region names have direction names in their official names, such as "the Middle East". Do you like West Asia? That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. When referring to Greek, Roman, and other groups of gods and goddesses, only the name is capitalized. Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. "The State Finance Department," for example, is a good example. In general, Midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. Related, but not duplicates (in my opinion): As definitive as it gets. Capitalize proper nounsand adjectives derived from proper nouns. In terms of "human geography", the regions and their subregions are elucidated by the ethnography discipline. Back East. The word 'southern' shouldn't be capitalized in a sentence unless it is a proper noun. My friend is a southerner. When there is no proper name, lowercase "mountain", "gorge", "valley", "beach", and other geographical features. When referring to regions, capitalize these words. For example: I live in The North. However, when the terms southerner and northerner refer to people on either side of the United States civil war, the civil war was fought between Southerners and Northerners. Is it Southern or Southern? If youre referring to a specific location, such as the western winds, western should be lowercase. 3. Am I a midwesterner or a Midwesterner? If the writer is referring to the United States and calling it just the States, then states needs to be capitalized. For example, you would write "the Southern United States," but "the southern way of . Also, if "region" is the first word in a sentence, it is 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. Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? Drive south for five miles. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Example: "War-weary ministers in London asked themselves why they fought a costly war in the [north] when they had friends in the Carolinas and Georgia.". AP Style holds to the general rule of lowercasing compass directions and capitalizing regions. 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. 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. Lorry Vs. Truck: Meaning And How To Use Each One, Turnip Vs. Radish: Meaning And Differences Of These Words. The pastor prayed that God should deliver us from our sins. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). 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 . Do you capitalize Pacific Northwest? Use lowercase when referring to directions on a compass. Is north capitalized there? 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 . And Wisconsin is known as the Badger State (not "the badger state") even though its official name is Wisconsin. When possessive pronouns like her, his, my, our, and your are used, do not capitalize them. 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. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. After all, it was named after its inventor, Edwin Southern, and therefore the use of the capital is justified. Thus, here are 10 capitalization rules you should know for a well written write-up: According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. Have you ever wondered when its okay to capitalize north, east, south, and west? However, there are a few exceptions you should learn about. The sentence which is capitalized correctly is My easiest classes are Chemistry and Spanish. Should "west coast" be capitalized if it is referring to the western region of the U.S.?
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