Our primary dictionaries, Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Websters New World College Dictionary, and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language all capitalize U.S. geographic regions when used as adjectives or indicate that these adjectives are typically capitalized.4, Like adjectives, the decision to capitalize or lowercase geographic populations in the United States will depend on your style guide. only if it's a proper name. 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. Some authorities also capitalize titles if they immediately follow the name without the word "the.". Use a hyphen to show a range of dates and do not repeat 20 (2012-13, not 2012-2013). For example, "western Massachusetts", "northern New Jersey". In short, it says to capitalize northern, southern, eastern, western and related words when they refer to the PEOPLE in a region or what they DO (i.e., their political, cultural or social activities) or are part of the place name. Is that an argument? Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? The direction word makes it a proper noun. Words Which Should Not Be Capitalized in a Title. Unless they are actually part of the place name, directions dont need to be capitalized, but this depends on personal preference (e.g., if it might make this clearer to the reader) and whether its specified by a style guide. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. It's not a continent, nor is it a country. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) suggests capitalizing terms like Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner:5. The Content Authority is where you will find great content, written by amazing writers, around topics like grammar, writing, publishing, and marketing. When referring to regions, capitalize these words. Which sentence is capitalized correctly on a cloudless night? The United Kingdom, for instance, is a region that comprises four countries: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Capitalize the pronoun. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. 1 The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. How to tell which packages are held back due to phased updates. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location. Whichever version you use, then, we'd suggest not capitalizing the direction, just the country name. For example, you would write "the Southern United States," but "the southern way of . It is also a great option for general business writing. 6 Does the word federal need to be capitalized? The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. By prevailing usage, roughly the most southerly one-third or two-fifths of California is referred to as Southern California, in initial caps. So, if a person is from South Africa, south would be capitalized since it's the proper name of the country. But when the term is used in a formal name, it's capitalized, as in "the Hudson River". When youre talking about Americas West Coast or the Middle East, the directional word is also part of a proper name, and it gets a capital letter. The Starved Rock Lodge offers world-famous Midwestern hospitality in a scenic environment. Capitalize proper nouns and most adjectives formed from proper nouns. For example, we capitalizenorth,south,east, andwest when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. 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. When used to refer to direction and location, dont capitalize the names of directions like north, south, east, or west; however, when they appear in the names of places and regions, do capitalize these words. . Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. Names of regions should be capitalized if those are proper nouns or denote a country, city, continent, etc. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. Unless you are referring to the Four Seasons, there is no reason for seasons to . You should read both Western and Eastern philosophy. Which Is More Stable Thiophene Or Pyridine. Am I a midwesterner or a Midwesterner? Please include the research youve done. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. Here are a few more examples: When the directional terms are not proper names and are affixed to proper nouns simply to denote direction, they are written in lowercase for example, "southern France", "northern New York", etc. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". 10 Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? The capitalization of as depends upon its function. For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. Capitalizing North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. Proper nouns should always be capitalized. Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. If the designation is widely known, the "direction" terms are capitalized for instance, "Southern California". You should capitalize "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them. What about capitalizing a Westerner or a Westerner? Which sentence is capitalized correctly Carlotta? Hi, Victoria. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. Should "west coast" be capitalized if it is referring to the western region of the U.S.? The mines are located in the western part of the plateau. Each morning, the sun rises in the east . Should southern be capitalized? You should only capitalize "east" when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the East" or "in the Middle East". 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. Despite that, knowing how to capitalize names of places, regions, geographical features, directions, etc. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. Surely not one word Southeast? When it's an adjective ("bicentennial year"), I agree that no cap is needed . The correct answer is option C. In option A, the word Chemistry is only capitalized leaving the other proper noun in lower case. And Wisconsin is known as the Badger State (not "the badger state") even though its official name is Wisconsin. 'I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker.' Capitalize common nouns such as party, river and street when they are part of a proper name. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the western winds, western should be lowercase. "The South" is capitalized because it designates a definite region, e.g., "I was born and raised in the South." More answers below I work in marketing, and I'm wondering if lowercasing the words "off" and "under" in these headlines is correct: "50% off Body Wash" and "Gift Sets under $40.". Hello! As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) . Do You Capitalize the Word "Queen" in a Sentence? Example: "War-weary ministers in London asked themselves why they fought a costly war in the [north] when they had friends in the Carolinas and Georgia.". Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. 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. As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. However, they should be capitalized only in such contexts; names of compass points in sentences such as "I drove southeast for several hours" or "Have you been to any of the southwestern states?" are not capitalized. 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. But things become tricky once we get down to the details. Examples: southern France, northern Canada. 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). Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. This seems a difficult case; as this discussion at. Here are the types of words that should be capitalized: Proper nouns. Capitalize the Southern California region? Is "Southern California" considered a proper noun? when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. The concept of a "region" is significant and used widely among the several geography branches, each of which could describe the areas or zones in region-based terms. Pronouns that refer to any god or gods should be lowercased. Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? ANS: Demand, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous. Regardless of what side of the debate table you are on, the different thoughts clearly illustrate how differing opinions could be on the matter, causing people to use capitalization rules the way they deem appropriate. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts Northern Ireland, Western Australia The main style guides all agree on this, although . The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube. 3. (Cap or no cap on east and west). The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For example, The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends capitalization:2. If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Southern States. However, if youre referring to a general location, such as the southern winds then southern should be lowercase. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. Alternatively, some style guide suggest that all of the main words (i.e. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. At the most basic level, the standard advice is to lowercase north, south, east and west when used as compass directions and to capitalize them when they are used as part of a proper noun or adjective or refer to regions or geographic areas. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? However, if, like Northern Ireland and North Korea, the direction is part of the proper name, it should be capitalized. In domains such as ecology, physical geography, environmental geography, and zoogeography, regions are typically based on ecosystems, biomes, natural regions, drainage basins, soil types, mountain ranges, and other natural features. In other words, when the word "region" is a part of a name or is being specific in its meaning, the word is capitalized. So: North Carolina is north of South Carolina and east of West Virginia. It's similar to why your name is always capitalized. If the writer is referring to the United States and calling it just the States, then states needs to be capitalized.
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