Rules for Capitalization in Titles英文标题中的大写规则

The rules for capitalizing titles can vary according to a particular style guide, such as Associated Press Stylebook (AP), Chicago Manual of Style, and MLA style. They all have different rules for how to capitalize titles. So which one should you choose? Well, it all depends if a certain style is required by your teacher, course, or subject/field. For example, MLA style is commonly used in the liberal arts or humanities, while AP style is popularly used in journalism. One suggestion is to choose one style, or check the style required by your teacher, and stick to it.

General Rule: Title Case

As discussed there are some exceptions to the rule; however, here is one general rule that you can apply for capitalizing titles. Capitalize the first, last and any important words in a title, which is known as Title Case or Headline Style.

In Titles: Do Capitalize

Generally, these parts of speech are capitalized in titles.

• Nouns (man, bus, book)
• Adjectives (angry, lovely, small)
• Verbs (run, eat, sleep)
• Adverbs (slowly, quickly, quietly)
• Pronouns (he, she, it)
• Subordinating conjunctions (as, because, that)

In Titles: Do Not Capitalize

As you have probably noticed “small’ words are generally lowercase in titles, unless they are the first or last words in a title. However, some title styles that do capitalize these words.

Generally, we do not capitalize:

• Articles: a, an, the

• Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor, etc.

• Prepositions (fewer than five letters): on, at, to, from, by, etc.

When in doubt and you do not have a reference guide in front of you, here is one general rule to remember recommended by The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual: "Capitalize all words in titles of publications and documents, except a, an, the, at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up, and, as, but, it, or, and nor."

I. Sentence Case

Some writers and publications choose to use sentence case for titles. Basically the title is written as if it is a sentence, with only the first letter capitalized (however, proper nouns within the title are capitalized).

For example:

• Budget wedding invitations
• Top 10 things to do in Paris
• Best technology blogs

II. Advanced Rules

Here are some advanced rules for title capitalization:

•  Hyphenated compound words (High-Quality Web Services, First-Rate U.S. Lawyers, ) and open compounds (salad dressing, science fiction)

• Thefirst word following a colon (Feminine Poetry: Ten Women Writers from Around the Word)
• Prepositions that belong to a phrasal verb (How to Back Up a Computer)

If you are writing titles (or headings) for a school paper, it is recommended to choose one style for capitalizing titles and be consistent throughout.

Further, no matter your personal preference make sure that you write the exact titles of books, newspapers, journals, etc. as they are written (even if they do not follow common capitalization rules).