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All notes and practice should be in the grammar section of your notebook.

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A proper noun names a specific person, place or

thing.Martha, March, English, Newell Hospital, Chevrolet, Greek, Clearview Middle School, President Washington,

New Jersey

PROPER NOUNS

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A proper adjective describes a specific

person, place or thing.English class, Newell Hospital, Chevrolet

cars, Greek myths, Clearview Middle School, President Washington, Reese’s

candy

PROPER ADJECTIVES

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RULE #1Capitalize the first

word of a sentence.

Pioneers pushed the American frontier westward.

Capitalizing sentences, quotations, and letter parts

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RULE #2Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation that is a complete sentence.

Tyrone said, “The pioneers acted very bravely.”

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RULE #3When a quoted sentence is interrupted by explanatory

words, such as “she said”, do not begin the second part of the sentence with a capital

letter.“They left their homes,” said Lee, “so they could improve their

lives.”

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RULE #3 continuedEven if the quotation has two

parts, anything that follows an end punctuation mark, like a

period, is capitalized.

“Many pioneers went west for the rich farmland,” said Maria.

“They also wanted to build new homes.”

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RULE #4Do not capitalize an indirect

quotation. An indirect quotation does not repeat a person’s exact

words and does not appear in quotation marks. It is often introduced by the word that.

Tanya read that many pioneers traveled in Conestoga wagons.

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RULE #5Exercise 7, pp. 374-375

Capitalize the first word in the salutation and closing of a letter. Capitalize the title and name of

the person addressed.

Dear Mrs. Johnson,

Dear friend,

Yours truly, Sincerely,

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Capitalizing people’s names and titles

Rule #1Capitalize the names of people and the initials that stand for

their names.Meriwether Lewis

Susan B. Anthony

J. F. Cooper

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Rule #2Capitalize a title or an

abbreviation of a title when it comes before a person’s name or

when it is used instead of a name.General Lee Sen. John Glenn

Mrs. Adams

Did Lieutenant Clark say, “Yes, Captain, I’ll go with you’?

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Rule #2 continuedDo not capitalize a title that follows a person’s name or is

used as a common noun.Clark himself was later promoted to

captain.

Thomas Jefferson, then president, planned the expedition.

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Rule #3Capitalize the names and abbreviations of academic

degrees that follow a person’s name. Capitalize Jr. and Sr.

Albert Schweitzer, M.D.

Stephen Hawking, Ph.D.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Rule #4Capitalize words that show family relationships when used as titles or as substitutes for a person’s

name.In 1960 Dad retraced the steps of

Lewis and Clark.

He was accompanied by Uncle Bill

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Rule #4 continuedExercise 9, p. 376

**Do not capitalize words that show family relationships when they follow a possessive noun or

pronoun.

Sharon’s (Her) aunt Janet wrote an article about the trip.

possessive noun

Possessive pronoun

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Rule #5

Always capitalize the pronoun I (I’d, I’ll, I’m).

Lunch is the subject I like best. Ha!

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Capitalize the names of cities, counties, states,

countries, and continents.

Capitalizing place names

rule #1

Houston Japan

Iowa Gloucester County

Eurpoe

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Capitalize the names of bodies of water and

geographical features.

Capitalizing place names

rule #2

Mediterranean Sea Gulf of Mexico

Niagara Falls Atlantic Ocean

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Capitalize the names of sections of the country.

Capitalizing place names

rule #3

Midwest New England

the Far West

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Capitalize compass points when they refer to a

specific section of the country.

Capitalizing place names

rule #4

the West Coast the North

the Southeast

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Do not capitalize compass points when they indicate direction.

Los Angeles is south of San Francisco.

Do not capitalize adjectives derived from words indicating direction.

easterly wind western Texas

Capitalizing place names

rule #4 continued

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Capitalize the names of streets and highways.

Monroe Street Route 66Mercury Boulevard

Candy Avenue

Capitalizing place names

rule #5 continued

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Capitalize the names of buildings, bridges, and monuments.

Chrysler Building Brooklyn BridgeWashington Monument

Capitalizing place names

rule #6 continued

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Capitalize the names of celestial bodies.

Pluto North Star

the Milky Way

Earth (earth=dirt=land= soil)

Capitalizing place names

rule #7 continuedExercise 15, p. 381-2

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Capitalizing other proper nouns and adjectives

Rule #1Capitalize the names of clubs, organizations, businesses, institutions, and political parties.

Data Corporation

Boy Scouts

Pepsi Bottling Corp.

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Rule #2Capitalize brand names but not the nouns following them.

Jiff peanut butter

Windex cleaning fluid

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Rule #3Exercise 5, p. 388

Capitalize the names of important historical events, periods of time, and documents.

Battle of Yorktown

Bronze Age

Bill of Rights

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Rule #4Capitalize names of days of the week, months of the year, and holidays. Do not capitalize names of the seasons. Thursday

April

Memorial Day

summer

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Rule #5Do exercise 17, p. 383Do exercise 18, p. 384

Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all important words all important words in the title of a book, play, short story, poem, essay, article, film television series, song, magazine, newspaper, and chapter of a book. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“The Raven”

The Help

The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Yes, Virginia, There IIss a Santa Claus”

SO, YOU

CAPITALIZE

IMPORTANT WORDS IMPORTANT WORDS IN TITLES?

What exactly does that mean? What makes one word more important than

another?

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Draw a house on your paper:

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Rule #6Capitalize the names of ethnic groups, nationalities, and languages.

Asian

Latino

German

Spanish

English

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Rule #7Do exercise 17, p. 383Do exercise 18, p. 384

Capitalize proper adjectives that are formed from the names of ethnic groups and nationalities. There are exceptions to the rule:

Asian languages

Italian food

English authors

french dressing china cabinet

african violet