The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. Capitalization Rules | A Simple Guide For Better Grammar - Thesaurus.com It's all directional | Grammar Party These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. What is, In a front-wheel drive setup, theyre what transfers power to the wheels via the transmission or differential (in a rear-wheel drive setup). 5 Should states and territories be Capitalised? With states, lowercase in most uses: northern New York. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. Capitalization For WebCT Users in Writing Classes: The "caps" icon (usually immediately before a word) indicates either that the following word ought to be capitalized (for one of the reasons listed here) or, if it is already capitalized, that it shouldn't be. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. 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. 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. Currently, Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary capitalizes Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner, while Websters New World College Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language only capitalize Midwesterner and allow northerner, southerner, and westerner to be capitalized or lowercased.7. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. 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. It does not store any personal data. The street is named Bolton Avenue. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. The other concern I have is that southern is a geographical term, that I feel shouldn't be usurped in this way. Terms that denote regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized, as are a few of the adjectives and nouns derived from such terms. Dont capitalize names of directions like north, south, east, and west when used to refer to direction and location, but do capitalize these words when they appear in the names of places and regions. Actually, you should capitalize federal only when it is part of a proper noun, that is, the official name of a particular or unique person, place, or thing. This seems a difficult case; as this discussion at. Likewise, capitalize terms such as "Native American," "Hispanic," and so on. 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. Yes, Southern is capitalized because it refers to the South (= the southern US). The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. doesn't shout the need for "capitalization", it's safe to write it in lowercase. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. 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 the designation is widely known, the "direction" terms are capitalized for instance, "Southern California". By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: Butsouthernerandnorthernerarecapitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: The civil war was fought between Southerners and Northerners. South Pacific. is considered basic and should be known by people who claim to have a good command of the language. Each morning, the sun rises in the east . 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. Canada, Western European nations and developed parts of Asia; Global Southern countries are those that are less economically developed such as nations in Africa and some parts of Asia [29 . Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. 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". However, a co-author argues that southern should not be capitalized, because it is an adjective, not a noun. The water and land global areas are further divided into subregions bounded by huge geographical features influencing large-scale ecologies. 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. Here are the types of words that should be capitalized: Proper nouns. As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) You should always capitalize Westerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. By attaching itself to a common object, the language or country name takes on a new meaning. The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. Capitalize the traditional geographic regions in the United States: the Midwest, the North, the South, the West, and the combined regions (i.e., the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Southwest). Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them. Related, but not duplicates (in my opinion): As definitive as it gets. Should states and territories be Capitalised? In case it's not obvious, I have a bachelor's in writing. Geographic Regions and States Editorial Style Guide Purchase College Hi, Victoria. capitalization - To capitalize or not to capitalize "southern Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? Just make sure you are consistent with the letter case. The seasons are not proper nouns and are therefore not normally capitalized. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? To Capitalise or Not To Capitalise: A Useful Guide - Proofed The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. 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. ), but I'd suggest not capitalizing it unless you're certain it is necessary. North, South, East, West: Are Directions Capitalized? It's similar to why your name is always capitalized. To properly follow AP style guidelines, only use one space after a period, as opposed to the often used double-space. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. In other words, directions can be tricky! And if so, when? Which sentence is capitalized correctly I learned that Thor? You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Posted by Do you capitalize the S in Southern California? - TipsFolder.com I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. Are Seasons Capitalized Or Not? | Thesaurus.com U.S. Lorry Vs. Truck: Meaning And How To Use Each One, Turnip Vs. Radish: Meaning And Differences Of These Words. You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the South.". However, if you are referring to a general region, such as the east coast of the United States then you should keep the words lowercase. For instance, the term "ecoregion" is used commonly in environmental geography, "bioregion" in biogeography, etc. In all cases, though, you should: And if you need help, our expert proofreaders are ready! Everyone knows that Southern blot is written with a capital "S". Capitalize such words as Northerner, Southerner, and Midwesterner. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." 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 problem is, there doesn't appear to be a consensus. southern Atlanta; But capitalize compass points when part of a proper name. To put it another way, capitalize words like Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis in place of the persons name. - thanks! Do you capitalize Pacific Northwest? Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Use lowercase when referring to directions on a compass. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. Drive south for five miles. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. 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. For example: When words such as "northern", "southern", "western", and "eastern" precede a region or place's name, do not capitalize them as they are only indicating a general location in a region. The word god is generally not capitalized if it is used to refer to the generic idea of a deity, nor is it capitalized when it refers to multiple gods. You have entered an incorrect email address! Geographic Regions Used as Adjectives You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. I live to the west of Detroit Michigan. The Starved Rock Lodge offers world-famous Midwestern hospitality in a scenic environment. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Is South Capitalized? - Capitalize My Title NOTE: Within certain regions it is not uncommon for many who live there to capitalize the adjective because of the special importance they attach to the regional designation. But things become tricky once we get down to the details. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". Use the US Postal Services symbol system, which is a two-letter abbreviation that consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are capitalized and no periods are used when giving an address or in tables or other uses where space is limited. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) suggests lowercasing terms like midwesterner, northerner, southerner, and westerner, except when referencing the Civil War, in which case Northerner and Southerner should be capitalized:6. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. In other words, when the word "region" is a part of a name or is being specific in its meaning, the word is capitalized. Similarly, the European Union is an assortment of multiple countries. Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. Instead, I have compiled a partial list of things people shouldn't capitalize but commonly do anyway. 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.