Capitalizing Titles
Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all important words in titles and subtitles of book, magazines, newspapers, poems, short stories, plays, movies, television programs, works of art, and musical works.
The rule is simple enough, but how do you know which words are considered important? You know what is important by knowing what is unimportant.
Unimportant words in a title are not capitalized and include the following:
- The articles (a, an, the)
- Coordinating conjuctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet)
- Prepositions with fewer than five letters (at, by, down, for, from, in, into, like, of , off, on, over, past, up, upon, to, with).
Examples of Capitalization of Titles
| Books | The Horse and His Boy Dust Tracks on a Road |
| Magazines | Reader’s Digest Sports Illustrated for Kids |
| Newspaper | Detroit Free Press Pittsburgh Post Gazette |
| Poems | “The Sky Is So Big” “For a Poet” |
| Short Stories | “The Six Rows of Pompons” “The Day the Sun Came Out” |
| Plays | Once on This Island A Chorus Line |
| Movies | Night at the Museum Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
| Television Programs | Raising Hope Extreme Home Makeover |
| Works of Art | Delfina and Dimas Forever Free |
| Musical Works | Peter and the Wolf “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” |
Formatting Titles
These conventions make titles stand out from other words and give readers information about the work mentioned.
Capitals
- Capitals set titles apart
- The first and last words of a title are capitalized
- All other important words should also be capitalized
- Do not capitalize small words, however, “to” is capitalized when it is used before a verb.
- In a title IS is capitalized since it is a verb
- Titles of students’ papers are capitalized by the same guidelines. Underlining, bolding, special fonts, italics, and quotation marks are not used.
Examples
A student’s title on the paper - - Hotel by the Railroad
Fiction book - - To Kill a Mockingbird
Poem - - “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Play - - Romeo and Juliet
Short story - - “The Ransom of Red Chief”
Nonfiction book - - A Night To Remember
Italics and Underlining
- Using italics or underlining shows readers that a work is full-length and complete in itself
- Italics and underlining mean the same thing. Therefore, if using a computer, italicize the title. If not, underline the title. Do not use both.
- Works whose titles should be italicized include books, newspapers, magazines, poetry collection, plays, movies, and television series.
Examples
Magazines - - Time
Television series - - American Idol
Novel - - Sense and Sensibility
Nonfiction book - - The Life of a Cell
Book of poems - - Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson
Movie - - The Birds
Book, movie – The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers
Quotation Marks
- Quotation marks indicate a short work or part of a larger work.
- Use quotation marks for short stories, poems, essays, articles in newspapers and magazines, chapter titles, and individual television episodes.
Examples
Articles in a magazine - - “Treat Titles Right!”
Episode of Glee - - “Silly Love Songs”
Poem - - “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass”
Short story - - “Flowers for Algernon”
Essay - - “Self-Reliance”
More Title Tips
- Titles are always singular. Even a title that seems plural takes a plural verb.
Examples
The Birds is a terrifying movie.
The Merry Wives of Windsor may be Shakespeare’s silliest play.
- A possessive can sound awkward in front of titles that begin with the, a, or an. In those situations, eliminate the first word of the title.
Examples
Millions have read Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Study in Scarlet introduced the character Sherlock Holmes.
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