Upper case letters example
Upper-case letters Definition & Meaning
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- Quiz
- More About Upper Case Letters
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Capital letters. (Compare lower-case letters.)
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!
Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Words nearby upper-case letters
upper bound, Upper Canada, Upper Canadian, Upper Carboniferous, uppercase, upper-case letters, upper chamber, Upper Chinook, upper class, upperclassman, upper crust
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
MORE ABOUT UPPER CASE LETTERS
What are
uppercase letters?Uppercase letters are capital letters—the bigger, taller versions of letters (like W), as opposed to the smaller versions, which are called lowercase letters (like w).
Uppercase means the same thing as capital. Uppercase letters can also be called capitals.
Some uppercase letters are just larger, taller versions of their lowercase counterparts (like uppercase W and lowercase w or uppercase C and lowercase c), but in many cases the two versions of the letter take different forms altogether, such as uppercase A and lowercase a or uppercase B and lowercase b.
To capitalize a word is to make its first letter an uppercase letter. For example, to capitalize the word polish (which is here spelled with a lowercase p), you would write it with an uppercase P, as Polish.
The state of being capitalized or uppercase (or the process of making a letter an uppercase letter) is called capitalization, as in Please check your paper for proper punctuation and capitalization.
In English, uppercase letters are used at the beginning of words for a few different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to use an uppercase letter to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo. Using an uppercase letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company).
We also use an uppercase letter for the first letter of the first word in a sentence.
Sometimes, we use an uppercase letter for the first letter of each word in a title, as in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This is sometimes called title case.
Some acronyms and abbreviations are written using all uppercase letters, such as NASA and U.S. A word written entirely in uppercase letters (like WHAT) is said to be written in caps or all caps.
Example: A lot of people don’t bother using uppercase letters in text messages unless they want to emphasize something.
Where does
uppercase letter come from?The term uppercase letter has been used since at least the 1730s. The words uppercase and lowercase come from printing. The process of physically printing things with printing presses involved trays, called
cases, that were divided into compartments for holding different kinds of type (blocks with letters on them).
The upper case held capital letters and the lower case held what came to be known as lowercase letters.
It can be confusing to know whether or not to use an uppercase letter in certain situations, but a capitalization guide can help.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to uppercase letter?
- upper-case letter (alternate hyphenated spelling)
- upper case letter (alternate two-word spelling)
What are some synonyms for uppercase letter?
- capital letter
- capital
- uppercase (when uppercase is used as a noun)
What are some words that share a root or word element with uppercase letter?
- uppercase
- lowercase
- lowercase letter
- letter
What are some words that often get used in discussing uppercase letter?
- capitalize
- capitalization
- spelling
- first
- word
- sentence
- title
How are
uppercase letters used in real life?Uppercase letters are used in the beginning of names and other proper nouns, at the beginning of sentences, at the beginning of words in titles, and in some abbreviations.
In casual use, a word might be written in uppercase letters for emphasis.
She’s back with the classics and the riddles and the puzzles. The uppercase letters say APRIL NINTH. 👏🏻 @taylorswift13 You deserve this, so much. 💛 https://t.co/x7KsswdBPj
— anne⁰⁰ ఌ😺 (@ANNEtisocial) February 11, 2021
Identifying and matching uppercase and lowercase letters using these colorful underwater themed cards. Games make learning fun! 🐟 🐠 #IslipENL #LearningIsFun @WingElemIslip pic.twitter.com/QjUSLvuZ57
— Jaclyn Brady (@JaclynBrady17) February 5, 2021
i wonder if i’ll ever use uppercase letters for anything besides emphasis again
— h☼ (@hl_cutie) July 8, 2019
Try using
uppercase letters!Which of the following kinds of words is often spelled with an uppercase letter at the beginning?
A.
proper nouns
B. the first word in a sentence
C. the first word in a title
D. all of the above
How to use upper-case letters in a sentence
Certain features of its history suggest why this may be the case.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
And, in the case of fluoride, at least, that doubt might actually be justified.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Her latest book, Heretic: The Case for a Muslim Reformation, will be published in April by HarperCollins.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Their friendship began when Krauss, who was chairman of the physics department at Case Western in Cleveland, sought out Epstein.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A grand juror in the Ferguson case is suing to be able to explain exactly what went down in the courtroom.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Perhaps you do not speak my language,” she said in Urdu, the tongue most frequently heard in Upper India.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
The case was an assault and battery that came off between two men named Brown and Henderson.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
In this case, I suspect, there was co-operant a strongly marked childish characteristic, the love of producing an effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
On the upper part of the stem the whorls are very close together, but they are more widely separated at the lower portion.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Sometimes in the case of large plants, cones have been known to occur on the tips of the branches of the Marsh Horsetail.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Lowercase and Uppercase Letters: Definition and Meaning
The 26 letters in the English alphabet can take two forms: uppercase and lowercase.
Each form serves a different function. Most of the letters you see in writing are lowercase.
Definition of Lowercase Letters
Lowercase letters are smaller and sometimes take a slightly different form than their uppercase counterparts.
Notice the L that starts the word Lowercase in the previous sentence. It’s larger than the other letters and looks different than the l in the word letters.
Lowercase letters are used more often than uppercase letters. They follow the first letter of a sentence or the first letter of a proper noun.
English Alphabet Lowercase Letters
These are the lowercase forms of each of the 26 letters in the English alphabet.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
Definition of Uppercase Letters
Uppercase letters, also called capital letters, are used to start sentences and as the initial letter of a proper noun.
Uppercase letters are larger than their lowercase counterparts. Though most uppercase letters look similar to their lowercase partners, others take slightly different forms.
English Alphabet Uppercase (Capital) Letters
These are the uppercase or capital forms of the 26 letters in the English alphabet.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
When Should You Use Lowercase Letters?
It’s easier to explain the function of lowercase letters by saying what they don’t do. Lowercase letters do not start sentences and are not used as the initial letter of a proper noun.
They are used for all the remaining letters in sentences and following the first letter of proper nouns.
Most of the letters you write will be lowercase. A quick scan of this article shows that uppercase letters are used in specific circumstances and lowercase are used everywhere else!
In the first sentence of the paragraph above, Most of the letters you write will be lowercase., only the M in Most is an uppercase letter. All the others are lowercase.
Use Lowercase Letters with Common Nouns
Nouns are words that represent a person, place, thing, or idea. There are two types of nouns: common and proper.
Common nouns refer to a non-specific person, place, thing, or idea. They are generic terms. The chart below shows the common noun version of the proper nouns used above.
| Proper noun (capitalize first letter) | Common noun (lowercase letters) |
|---|---|
| Joanna | person |
| London | city |
| France | country |
| Tuesday | weekday |
| September | month |
Proper nouns refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea.
For example, the name of a particular person, city, country, day of the week, or month is a proper noun.
- Joanna
- London
- France
- Tuesday
- September
The initial letter of a proper noun is an uppercase letter. The rest are lowercase.
A grammar guru, style editor, and writing mentor in one package.
Try it for free!Sentence Examples with Proper and Common Nouns
These sentences contain both proper and common nouns (in bold). The proper nouns are capitalized, the common nouns contain only lowercase letters.
- After work, Sue met friends for dinner.
- The ancient poet Homer wrote The Odyssey and The Iliad.
- My favorite day of the week is Sunday, and my favorite month is July.
When Should You Use Uppercase Letters?
Most often, capital letters are used to start sentences and proper nouns, but those aren’t the only times.
This list explains other circumstances that require uppercase letters.
1. The first word of a quote that’s part of a complete sentence
When an embedded quote is also a complete sentence, the first word of that quote should be capitalized.
- Mary said, “We should go to the beach.”
2. Titles of literary or artistic works
Capitalize the first, last, and all other words in a title except conjunctions, articles, and prepositions of fewer than four letters. This is called “Title Case.” (Some style guides have even more specific guidelines, so always check!)
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Hunger Games
- The Fault in Our Stars
3. Professional titles preceding a person’s name
When a title such as “Dr.” or “President” precedes a specific person’s name, capitalize it.
- We will now hear from Dr. Jones, our keynote speaker.
- President Biden will give a speech later today.
Use lowercase letters if the title is used as a description or not followed by a specific name.
- The keynote speaker is Martin Jones, a doctor.
- I’m watching the president give a speech.
If you feel overwhelmed by the different rules of capitalization, remember that ProWritingAid is here to help!
It’s a thorough grammar checker (and more) that will detect errors in capitalization for you.
4. The pronoun “I”
You should always capitalize the pronoun “I.”
5. Acronyms and Initialisms
An acronym is a word formed by taking the first letter of each word of a compound term. Initialisms are similar abbreviations, except that the letters are pronounced individually rather than forming a new word.
- PIN is an acronym for personal identification number and is pronounced as the word “pin”
- FBI is an initialism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is pronounced as individual letters F-B-I
Some phrases are also abbreviated as initialisms:
- “Talk to you later” is TTYL
- “As soon as possible” is ASAP
Acronyms and initialisms should always appear in uppercase form.
6. When adding emphasis
Be careful with this use of uppercase letters!
When you put words or sentences in ALL CAPS, a practice often seen in texts or posts, you add emphasis to your words. Consider how that emphasis will be perceived.
ALL CAPS statements carry more aggression and intensity than lowercase words. That’s not always a bad thing.
For example, texting someone “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” instead of “Happy birthday” is a way to convey excitement and show you really mean those good wishes.
Other times, ALL CAPS can sound accusatory, demeaning, or rude.
Remember that ALL CAPS in writing makes it seem as though the speaker is yelling. Keep that in mind before you press “send” on your uppercase text or post!
A Summary of Lowercase and Uppercase Letters
Lowercase letters are used for common nouns and for every letter after the initial letter of the first word of a sentence.
Uppercase letters are most often used at the start of sentences and as the first letter of proper nouns, though there are other times to use the capital letter form too.
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CAPITAL LETTERS - what are they (large or small)? Example
Capital letters are uppercase letters that are larger than lowercase letters.
What are capital letters?
In Russian writing, letters differ in their graphic design: some are large, others are small or lower case. Large letters are often referred to as capital letters. As can be understood from this "speaking" name, they begin headings, that is, they indicate the beginning of
- sentences
- period
- paragraphs
- stanzas
- someone else's speech, etc.
- By everyone is born for some work, - objected E.
Hemingway and added:
- By everyone who walks the earth has his duties in life.In an old style heals me.
E There is charm in ancient speech.
About is not like your words
and are more modern and sharper.Bella Akhmadulina
Capital letters are a common name. In Russian, a special linguistic term is used - capital letters. Once upon a time, at the dawn of handwriting, they were really carefully written at the beginning of a line, and decorated in every possible way to distinguish them from other ordinary letters. Emphasizing the initial letter of the first word is the oldest writing technique that was used before the invention of printing. When typography appeared, the tradition of using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and to highlight proper names survived.
Let's consider in detail the cases in which uppercase or lowercase letters are used in modern Russian.
The use of capital letters
Capital letters are used not only in headings, at the beginning of sentences, but also to highlight certain words found anywhere in written speech. These special words include
- proper names;
- items.
In Russian orthography, proper names must be written with a capital letter:
1. names, patronymics, surnames, pseudonyms, nicknames of people, names of gods, mythical creatures, fairy-tale and literary heroes
- Tanya, Vasilek, Andryushka;
- Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin;
- Gaius Julius Caesar;
- Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko;
- O'Henry (William Sidney Porter)
- Curly, Chernysh, Beetle, Top;
- Zeus, Hera, Apollo;
- Vasilisa the Beautiful, Cinderella, The Nutcracker.
2. animal names
- Tortilla turtle;
- cat Marquis;
- dog Oliver;
3.
geographical names, except for generic words (krai, region, district, city, settlement, village, river, lake, mountain, sea, bay, etc.) - Krasnodar Territory;
- Saratov region;
- City of Mosty;
- Veliky Ustyug;
- Sokol settlement;
- Ponizovye village;
- Volga river;
- Lake Seliger;
- Red Sea;
- Everest.
4. astronomical names
- Cygnus constellation;
- Solar Galaxy;
- Alpha Centauri.
The words "Earth", "Moon" and "Sun" as the names of celestial bodies are written with a capital letter and with a lowercase letter if they are used as common nouns. Compare:
Recently, astronomers have difficulty distinguishing spots on the Sun.
Rosehip stood with large flowers turned towards the sun, covered with many buds (K.
G. Paustovsky). Note that in proper names all words , their components, are capitalized , except for nouns denoting generic concepts and service words, for example:
- city of Rostov-on-Don;
- Ludwig van Beethoven;
- Vicomte de Bragelonne;
- Vasco da Gamma.
In this way, proper names differ from the names of organizations, institutions, industrial associations, architectural monuments, etc.
In titles, capitalize only the first word , for example:
- Socio-Political Research Foundation;
- Research Institute of Road Engineering;
- Main Department of Internal Affairs;
- House of scientists;
- Bronze Horseman.
The name may contain more capital letters if it contains a proper name, for example:
- Kristall Association;
- Information Telegraph Agency of Russia;
- Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory;
- Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The capital letter is also used in pronouns you, you, your in documents, business letters when addressing one person politely.
What words are capitalized, the rule for the use of uppercase and lowercase letters, examples of words that are capitalized
The Russian language is one of the most difficult languages in the world, but the spelling section is especially difficult. What words are capitalized?
In order to avoid confusion in this matter, certain rules should be followed. Let's consider this issue in detail.
Contents
Upper and lower case letters - what are they?
Every schoolboy or student has come across the concepts of uppercase and lowercase letters. In everyday speech, they are usually called capital and small letters. Despite the permissible use in colloquial speech, the Russian language has a certain terminology and structure for writing alphabetic characters.
The main difference between an uppercase character and a lowercase character is the size.
The capital letter is the one with which a new sentence or thought begins. It is also called capital. Example. The day was overcast. The letter "D" capital, capital, large.
The lowercase character continues the sentence and is less than the capital character.
Example: it was overcast. The letter "b" lowercase, small.
Use of uppercase and lowercase letters
There are a number of rules when it is necessary to use one or another letter character. Knowing these rules of use will eliminate spelling errors. We will analyze specific cases when an uppercase or lowercase letter is written.
So, the capital letter is always used:
- at the beginning of a sentence, paragraph or specific semantic part,
- in direct speech. It is important that quotes are used,
- at the beginning of the quote,
- after the following punctuation marks: dot, exclamation and question mark, ellipsis (if the thought is complete),
- in each new line of the verse, regardless of punctuation marks,
- when writing nicknames, pseudonyms, first names, surnames and patronymics,
- in names of districts and regions (Moscow region, Moscow region),
- in the names of brands, brands,
- when describing historically important events, as well as territorial and administrative points (Europe, Siberia, North),
- in the names of planets, their satellites, rivers, seas, lakes and oceans (Moon, Sun, Earth),
- when using possessive proper names in the genitive case (Olin ball),
All concepts used only in the context of officiality , legislative acts and the composition of the state begin with a capital letter.
Examples: Ministry of Culture, Russian Federation, Federal Law, Presidential Administration, Moscow Kremlin, Constitution, Soviet Power, Presidential Charter, Civil War, Decree, Government, Administration.
Lowercase (or small) letters are written in the following cases:
- at the end of a sentence or after the first and subsequent words,
- after a comma and a semicolon,
- colons (if not followed by direct speech) and ellipsis (if the thought is not finished),
- in the names of various ranks,
- in the names of the months.
Words that characterize family affiliation, as well as those not related to matters of national importance, are used with a small letter.
Examples: kyzy, ogly, Russian cheese, Moscow, world, all-Russian, state, Russians, Muscovites, capital, university, land, etc.
Rules for writing capital letters in proper names
to the following group:
- Personal data: patronymics, surnames, first names.
- Names of animals.
- Nicknames, as well as heroes of fiction books.
- Astronomical and astrological symbols.
- Geographic names.
- Printing, automobile and tobacco brands.
Important: The main difference between proper nouns and common nouns is the absence of a plural when they are used. For example: Eugene Onegin, Vedomosti newspaper.
Often, proper names can become common nouns. For example: Mikhail Bulgakov is a proper name. The work is written in Bulgakov's style - a common noun. In this case, the adjective is written with a lowercase letter.
What else is capitalized
Compound nouns can contain capital letters in the middle of a word, for example: MosTorg.
All words denoting the highest religious officials are capitalized: Patriarch Kirill, Pope of Rome.
All abbreviations have the following spelling: KPSS, SGU, St. Petersburg State University.
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