When NOT to Capitalize….Capitalization Rule Exceptions:

1.       Proper nouns and adjectives sometimes lose their capitals through frequent usage such as watt, titanic, and sandwich.

2.       Words such as north, west, and southeast are not capitalized when they indicate direction.

3.       The word party in the name of a political party may be capitalized or not; either way is correct.

4.       Do not capitalize the name of a season (summer, winter, spring, autumn, fall) unless it is personified: “Here is Spring in her green dress! OR used in the name of a special event: Winter Carnival, Spring Jubilee.

5.       The words black and white may or may not be capitalized when they refer to races.

6.       Do not capitalize a common noun that follows a brand name: Cheverolet van, Teflon pan.

7.       The word earth is not capitalized unless it is used along with the names of other heavenly bodies. The words sun and moon are not capitalized.

8.       Do not capitalize the name of a class (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) unless it is used as part of a proper noun.  Ex: All freshman should meet after school to discuss the Freshman-Sophomore Banquet.

9.       The words a, an, and the written before a title are capitalized only when they are the first word of a title.

10.   The word god is not used when it refers to the gods of ancient mythology.

11.   You may notice that pronouns referring to deities are capitalized. In other cases, writers capitalize such pronouns only to prevent confusion.

                Example: “The Lord called upon Moses to lead His people out of Egypt.”