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00:00So in this lesson we are going to discuss rules related to capitalization in English.
00:06This means I'll teach you when to use capital or uppercase letters in a word or sentence.
00:12So for example, A, B, and C, these are all capital letters or uppercase letters,
00:19as opposed to A, B, and C, which are lowercase letters.
00:27So rule number one, always capitalize the first word of a sentence.
00:33So whenever you start a new sentence, you always have to capitalize the first word.
00:39So for example, The man worked late last night.
00:44Why are you looking at me?
00:46Let's go to the cinema.
00:49Should we get a coffee?
00:50You'll notice that the first word is capitalized in each and every one of these sentences.
01:00So every time you end a sentence with whatever punctuation mark,
01:05whether it's a period or a question mark,
01:08when you begin a new sentence, you have to capitalize the first word.
01:12So if this sentence was, The man worked late last night,
01:16you would have a period, and the next sentence could be capital W,
01:20where was he, for example.
01:25The second rule is you always need to capitalize names and other proper nouns.
01:31So always capitalize proper nouns in English,
01:35and if you don't know what a proper noun is,
01:38a proper noun is a specific,
01:40so not a generic name for a particular person, place, or thing.
01:47Proper nouns are always capitalized in English,
01:50no matter where they fall in a sentence.
01:54The names of cities, countries, nationalities,
01:57companies, religions, and political parties
02:01are also proper nouns,
02:03so you should capitalize them too.
02:06So for example, a common noun would be girl.
02:10A proper noun would be a name of a girl.
02:13So for example, Jennifer.
02:15You would have to capitalize the J in Jennifer.
02:18A common noun would be a city.
02:21Proper noun, Toronto, which is the name of the city,
02:25so you have to capitalize the T.
02:27A day, Friday.
02:30Again, with a capital.
02:31A month, December.
02:35A nationality, Canadian.
02:38Indian.
02:39Religion.
02:40Christian.
02:42Okay?
02:42So for common nouns,
02:44you do not have to capitalize
02:46girl, city, day, month, nationality, religion.
02:50But a proper noun,
02:51you do have to capitalize
02:53when it is a specific name
02:56for a particular person, place, or thing.
03:01So here are some more examples.
03:04She lives in India.
03:06Again, the she is capitalized
03:08because it's the first word of the sentence,
03:10and India we have to capitalize
03:13because it's the name of a country.
03:16I saw Michael at this Chinese restaurant in London.
03:21Chinese is a nationality.
03:23Michael is a name.
03:25And this is the first letter of the sentence,
03:27and also it's the word I,
03:30which we always capitalize.
03:32Do you have to work on Friday?
03:34My meeting is in June.
03:39My meeting is in June.
03:42Lauren works at Amazon.
03:44Amazon is the name of a company,
03:46so you have to capitalize the name
03:48because it's a proper noun.
03:51So again, like we said before,
03:53you have to capitalize cities,
03:56countries, nationalities, and languages
03:58because they are all proper nouns.
04:01So you can see all of these examples of cities.
04:05Paris, Rome, New York, Vancouver, Dubai.
04:08We have to capitalize all of these
04:11because they're countries,
04:12Canada, China, India, Pakistan.
04:15We have to capitalize nationalities,
04:18Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Dutch.
04:22And we have to capitalize languages as well,
04:25English, French, Spanish.
04:29No, this one gets a little bit more complicated.
04:33We have to capitalize the first word of a quote.
04:38When the quote is a complete sentence.
04:41So for example,
04:43Joe asked,
04:44you have a comma and quotation marks,
04:48is Brian going to the meeting on Friday?
04:53So because this quote is a complete sentence,
04:58we have to capitalize the first word of the quote.
05:02Again,
05:03he can't go.
05:05He's busy that night,
05:07Mary replied.
05:08Again,
05:09we would capitalize this
05:11because it's the first word of the quote.
05:15And this is a full sentence.
05:20Okay, now this is what you should not capitalize.
05:24Do not capitalize seasons.
05:26A lot of people make a mistake
05:28and capitalize the seasons.
05:30And of course,
05:31the seasons are
05:34spring,
05:35summer,
05:39fall,
05:39or autumn,
05:40and winter.
05:43So the names of days,
05:44months,
05:45and holidays
05:46are proper nouns.
05:47So you should capitalize them.
05:49So for example,
05:50I don't like a Valentine's Day.
05:52You would capitalize
05:54the V in Valentine's
05:56and the D in day
05:57because that's the name of the holiday.
05:59It's Valentine's Day.
06:01My birthday is in March.
06:03Capitalize this
06:03because it's a month.
06:05I start work on Monday.
06:07We capitalize the M
06:08because it's
06:09a day of the week.
06:11However,
06:12we never capitalize seasons
06:14unless it was the start of a sentence.
06:17So I enjoy Christmas every winter.
06:20Winter,
06:20no capital letter,
06:21lowercase.
06:22My favorite thing about the fall
06:24is Halloween.
06:26Again,
06:27we'd capitalize the C in Christmas
06:29because it's a holiday.
06:31We capitalize the H
06:32in Halloween
06:33because it's a holiday.
06:35It's a proper noun.
06:37And I love spring.
06:39Again,
06:41lowercase letter
06:42because we do not capitalize seasons.
06:46Okay,
06:47rule number five.
06:48We capitalize most words in titles.
06:52The capitalization rules
06:54for titles of books,
06:55movies,
06:55and other works
06:56can change
06:58depending on style guides.
07:00Generally,
07:01you should capitalize
07:02the first word,
07:04all nouns,
07:05verbs,
07:06adjectives,
07:07and proper nouns.
07:09That means
07:10you should lowercase
07:11articles,
07:13conjunctions,
07:14and prepositions.
07:15But here's a note.
07:17Some style guides say
07:18to capitalize
07:19conjunctions
07:20and prepositions
07:21that are longer
07:22than five letters.
07:24Okay?
07:24So here's some examples.
07:27I love watching
07:28the Lord of the Rings.
07:30So we're going to capitalize
07:33this first T in the
07:35because it is
07:37the first word
07:38of the title.
07:40So we have to capitalize it
07:41if it's a title.
07:43We have to capitalize
07:44the first word.
07:46Then we capitalize
07:47Lord
07:47because it's a noun
07:49of the Rings.
07:52Also,
07:53we capitalize
07:53Rings
07:53because it's a noun.
07:55But we would not
07:55capitalize
07:56of and the.
07:58We do not
08:00capitalize
08:00articles,
08:02conjunctions,
08:03and prepositions.
08:04Okay?
08:06So look here.
08:08Harry Potter
08:08and the Goblet of Fire.
08:11We don't capitalize
08:13and.
08:14Again,
08:14it's a conjunction.
08:15The
08:15because it's an article.
08:17And then of
08:18because it's a preposition.
08:20So we only capitalize
08:22these names.
08:23Harry Potter
08:23and Goblet of Fire
08:25because they're nouns.
08:27My favorite show
08:29is Game of Thrones.
08:31Again,
08:32capitalize
08:32this and this
08:33because they are
08:35nouns
08:36and also
08:37this is the first
08:38word
08:39of the title.
08:41And we do not
08:41capitalize of
08:42because it's a preposition.
08:46Okay,
08:47number six.
08:47Always capitalize
08:49the pronoun
08:50I.
08:50A common mistake
08:51of English language learners
08:53is to forget
08:54to capitalize
08:54the pronoun I.
08:56Examples.
08:57Larry is going
08:58to order fish
08:59and I am going
09:00to order steak.
09:01You always,
09:02always have to
09:03capitalize I.
09:04You should never
09:06have a sentence
09:07with an I
09:07like this
09:08as a word.
09:09You cannot say
09:10I am tired.
09:13You always have
09:14to capitalize this
09:15and make this a capital.
09:16Always.
09:18Do you think
09:19I should talk to her?
09:20Again,
09:20capitalized.
09:21We should go
09:22but I'll call you
09:23later on.
09:24Again,
09:25this is capitalized.
09:27I'll
09:27if you
09:29say I'm
09:30I'll
09:32I'd
09:33all of these
09:35should be
09:35capital I.
09:37Okay?
09:37Always capitalize
09:38the pronoun I.
09:41Now,
09:42capitalize the official
09:43title of a person
09:45when used
09:46with that person's name.
09:47So,
09:48what that means,
09:49before we were
09:50talking about titles
09:51like titles of books
09:53or movies
09:54or articles.
09:55Now,
09:56we're talking about
09:57the official title
09:58of a person.
09:59So,
09:59for example,
10:00Doctor,
10:01Mr.,
10:02Professor.
10:03So,
10:04look at this
10:05first sentence.
10:06I think
10:07Dr. Smith
10:07is really friendly
10:09and professional.
10:10So,
10:11we would capitalize
10:12the doctor
10:13like this
10:14with a capital D
10:16because
10:17we're using
10:18the title
10:18right before his name.
10:19If we had
10:20the full version
10:21and wrote
10:21Dr. Smith
10:22like this,
10:23we would still
10:24capitalize the D
10:25because it's used
10:27with his name.
10:28We're specifying
10:29what doctor
10:31because that would
10:32be a proper noun.
10:33We're saying
10:33Dr. Smith,
10:34okay?
10:36But then,
10:36if someone responded
10:37and said,
10:38yes,
10:39she is a great doctor,
10:40we would not
10:41capitalize this D
10:42because this would
10:44just be
10:44a general,
10:45a common noun.
10:47She's a great doctor.
10:49We're not referring
10:50to her
10:51as her title
10:52as Dr. Smith.
10:54Okay,
10:55the next one.
10:55Many people miss
10:57President Obama.
10:58We're using
10:59the official title
11:00right before his name.
11:02Well,
11:03I guess now
11:03he's not
11:03President Obama
11:04but a lot of people
11:06will still call him that.
11:07So,
11:08we would capitalize
11:09the P
11:10because it's
11:11the official title
11:12of Obama,
11:14President Obama.
11:15And then,
11:16if you said,
11:16I don't like
11:17our current president,
11:18we would not
11:19capitalize the P here
11:20because this is
11:22a common noun.
11:23We're not using
11:24this word
11:25with the name
11:26of the president.
11:27Okay?
11:28Other titles
11:28you would always
11:29have to capitalize.
11:30You would see a lot
11:32Mr.
11:34For example,
11:35Mr. Thomas
11:36who would always
11:37capitalize
11:38the Mr. like this.
11:40Miss Smith,
11:43Mrs.,
11:44Ms.,
11:46and so forth.
11:48Okay,
11:49and now it's time
11:50for us to do
11:50some practice
11:51and see what
11:52you have learned.
11:53So,
11:53I have four
11:54different sentences
11:55here and I have
11:56put no capital letters
11:58in any of these sentences.
12:00What I would like
12:00you to do
12:01is take a piece
12:02of paper
12:02or just go
12:03to the YouTube
12:04comments section
12:05and try to
12:06write out
12:08the sentences
12:09capitalizing
12:10the proper letters
12:11or just on a piece
12:12of paper
12:13besides your computer
12:15or your phone
12:15jot down
12:17which letters
12:18you think
12:19should be capitalized
12:20or which words
12:21should be capitalized.
12:22Okay?
12:23So,
12:23I'm going to read
12:23you all the sentences
12:24and then I want you
12:26to try to capitalize
12:28them correctly.
12:29You can go back
12:30in the video
12:30and try to refresh
12:32your memory
12:32for certain things
12:33and then I'll tell
12:34you the answers
12:35at the end.
12:36Okay.
12:37Joe asked,
12:38what is everyone
12:39doing on Friday?
12:41His birthday
12:42is in October
12:43in the fall.
12:45My favorite book
12:46is Pride and Prejudice
12:47by Jane Austen.
12:49She is English
12:51but she speaks
12:52French perfectly.
12:54Okay.
12:55You can pause
12:56the video
12:57if you want to
12:58take some time
12:59to think
12:59which should be
13:00capitalized
13:01and I'm going
13:02to go ahead
13:02and show you
13:03right now
13:04what you should
13:04capitalize
13:05in these sentences.
13:07So,
13:08Joe
13:08should be capitalized.
13:11Joe,
13:12first of all,
13:12it's the first word
13:14in a sentence
13:15so it should
13:15always be capitalized
13:17but Joe
13:17is also a name,
13:19a proper noun
13:19so you always
13:20have to capitalize
13:21a name.
13:22The next one
13:24we should capitalize
13:24is what.
13:26That's because
13:27it's the first word
13:29in a quote
13:30in a quote
13:31that's a complete sentence
13:33so we have
13:34to capitalize
13:35the W.
13:36The last one
13:37is F
13:38for Friday
13:38because we capitalized
13:39the days
13:40of the week.
13:41The next one
13:43we capitalized
13:45his
13:45because it's
13:46the first word
13:47in a sentence
13:48capitalize the O
13:50in October
13:50because it's a month.
13:52We do not
13:53capitalize the F
13:55in fall
13:56because remember
13:57it's a season.
13:59The next one
14:00we capitalized M
14:01because it's the first
14:02word in a sentence
14:05and now
14:06here we have
14:06a title
14:07Pride and Prejudice
14:08so we're going
14:09to capitalize
14:10the P
14:10because it's
14:11the first word
14:12of the title
14:13we're going to
14:14capitalize this P
14:15because it is
14:16the last word
14:18of the title
14:18and also because
14:20it's a noun
14:20Pride and Prejudice
14:22by Jane Austen
14:25capitalize the J
14:26and the A
14:27because that is
14:28the author's name
14:29it's her name.
14:30The last sentence
14:32we capitalized
14:32the S in she
14:33again because
14:35it's the first
14:35word of the sentence
14:36and now we're
14:37going to capitalize
14:38the E in English
14:39because this is
14:40a nationality
14:41she is English
14:42but she speaks
14:44French perfectly.
14:46We're going to say
14:48capital F
14:49for French
14:49because that is
14:50a language.
14:52So there were
14:5313 words
14:55that we had
14:56to capitalize
14:56in this.
14:57Let me know
14:58how many you got
14:59out of 13
15:00and you can put
15:01that in the
15:01comment section
15:02and let me know
15:03which ones
15:04you didn't
15:04get right
15:04which ones
15:05you did
15:05get right
15:06and how
15:07successful
15:08you were
15:08with this
15:09practice.
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