LoginCapitalization For Intermediate learners
What is Capitalization?
Capitalization (uso de mayúsculas) involves using an uppercase letter at the beginning of a word. In Spanish, capitalization follows stricter and more limited rules than in English. It's used mainly for proper nouns, sentence beginnings, and abbreviations.
When to Capitalize Words
Here are the most important cases that require use of a capital letter:
At the beginning of a sentence:
El libro está sobre la mesa.
The book is on the table.
Mañana iremos al cine.
Tomorrow we'll go to the cinema.
In proper nouns: names of people, places, brands, etc., regardless of their placement in the sentence.
Se llama María González.
Her name is Maria Gonzalez.
Visitamos el río Amazonas el año pasado.
We visited the Amazon River last year.
Titles of literary and artistic works and headings: only the first word is capitalized, in addition to any proper nouns.
Leo Cien años de soledad.
I'm reading A Thousand Years of Solitude.
note that although English capitalizes every word, Spanish only capitalizes the first word
La casa de Bernarda Alba es una obra teatral muy famoso.
The House of Bernarda Alba is a very famous theatrical work.
Historical periods and events: the name is capitalized, but the articles are not.
la Edad Media
the Middle Ages
la Revolución Francesa
the French Revolution
el Renacimiento
the Renaissance
Religious and national holidays: all words are capitalized except articles.
La Navidad se celebra el 25 de diciembre.
Christmas is celebrated on 25th of December.
El Día de los Muertos es muy importante en México.
The Day of the Dead is very important in Mexico.
Initialisms: all letters are uppercase; if written in full form, all words are capitalized except articles and prepositions.
ONU → Organización de las Naciones Unidas
UN → United Nations
UE → Unión Europea
EU → European Union
Abbreviations: including titles and honorifics in their abbreviated form, only the first letter is capitalized and the full form is not capitalized.
El Sr. Rodríguez escribió un libro.
Mr. Rodriguez wrote a book.
El Prof. Martinez es el director de mi tesis.
Prof. Martinez is my thesis sueprvisor.
When Not to Capitalize Words
Capitalization rules in Spanish differ from English in some cases, including:
Languages, nationalities, and religions are not capitalized
Habla español y francés.
He/she speaks Spanish and French.
Los japoneses son muy puntuales.
The Japanese are very punctual.
El islam es una religión monoteísta.
Islam is a monotheistic religion.
Days of the weeks and months are not capitalized
Nos vemos en septiembre.
See you in September.
Llegó el lunes.
He/she arrived on Monday.
Titles, ranks, and forms of address are not capitalized even when used before names, unless they are in their abbreviated form (see above).
Mañana se reunirá con el papa Francisco.
Tomorrow he/she will meet Pope Francis.
El general López fue ascendido a comandante.
General López was promoted to commander.
El señor Rodríguez escribió un libro.
Mr. Rodriguez wrote a book.
Generic words in place names: although the name of the place is capitalized, the word that specifies its nature is not.
el monte Everest
Mount Everest
el océano Pacífico
Pacific Ocean
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