Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sabrinak]

Hello,

I've learned that we have to capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence which is followed by a colon. Am I right or not?



ex.

It won't hurt to hear it one more time: Beauty is but skin deep.

Here is the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated.



and small letters followed by a semicolorn:

ex.
A fool babbles continuously; a wise man holds his tongue.



Thank you for your confirmation.

[alper]

yes you are right...

here are some rules, too : )

Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence.
Examples He said, "Treat her as you would your own daughter."
"Look out!" she screamed. "You almost ran into my child."

Capitalize a proper noun.
Example Golden Gate Bridge

Capitalize a person's title when it precedes the name. Do not capitalize when the title is acting as a description following the name.
Examples Chairperson Petrov
Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of the company, will address us at noon.

Capitalize when the person's title follows the name on the address or signature line.
Examples Sincerely,
Ms. Haines, Chairperson

Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used with or before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.
Examples The president will address Congress.
All senators are expected to attend.
The governors and lieutenant governors called for a special task force.
Governor Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins, Attorney General Dalloway, and Senators James and Twain will attend.

Capitalize any title when used as a direct address.
Example Will you take my temperature, Doctor?

Capitalize points of the compass only when they refer to specific regions.
Examples We have had three relatives visit from the South.
Go south three blocks and then turn left.
We live in the southeast section of town.
Southeast is just an adjective here describing section, so it should not be capitalized.

Always capitalize the first and last words of titles of publications regardless of their parts of speech. Capitalize other words within titles, including the short verb forms Is, Are, and Be.

Exception Do not capitalize little words within titles such as a, an, the, but, as, if, and, or, nor, or prepositions, regardless of their length.
Examples The Day of the Jackal
What Color Is Your Parachute?
A Tale of Two Cities

Capitalize federal or state when used as part of an official agency name or in government documents where these terms represent an official name. If they are being used as general terms, you may use lower-case letters.
Examples The state has evidence to the contrary.
That is a federal offense.
The State Board of Equalization collects sales taxes.
We will visit three states during our summer vacation.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been subject to much scrutiny and criticism lately.
Her business must comply with all county, state, and federal laws.


You may capitalize words such as department, bureau, and office if you have prepared your text in the following way:
Example The Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) has some jurisdiction over Indian lands. The Bureau is finding its administrative role to be challenging.


Do not capitalize names of seasons.
Example I love autumn colors and spring flowers.


Capitalize the first word of a salutation and the first word of a complimentary close.
Examples Dear Ms. Mohamed:
My dear Mr. Sanchez:
Very truly yours,


Capitalize words derived from proper nouns.
Example I must take English and math.
English is capitalized because it comes from the proper noun England, but math does not come from mathland.

Capitalize the names of specific course titles.
Example I must take history and Algebra 2.
_________________
Universal Peace...

[CP]

Nice set of rules, Alper!

I must disagree on one point, though. I was taught that, after a colon, use a capital letter if what follows is a complete sentence; otherwise, use lower case.

"There was only one thing left to do: Find a gun."

"There was only one thing left on the table: the gun."
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[sabrinak]

All those colons and semicolons and capitalization is quite confusing for me. And I find your reply very useful. I'll keep that in mind.

Thank you again.