What are the upper and lowercase letters

Upper-case letters Definition & Meaning

• Top Definitions
• Quiz
• More About Upper Case Letters
• Examples

Save This Word!

Capital letters. (Compare lower-case letters.)

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is commonly used with other verbs to express intention?

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 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 

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 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 

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

What Are Lowercase, Uppercase Letters?

Lowercase letter definition: Lowercase letters are all other letters not in uppercase.

Uppercase letter definition: Uppercase letters are letters that represent the beginning of a sentence or a proper noun.

What are Lowercase Letters?

In writing, most letters are lowercase. Lowercase letters are all letters that do not begin a sentence or refer to a proper noun.

English alphabet lowercase letters: 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.

Examples of Lowercase Letters:

• word
• The word above uses only lowercase letters.
• The sentence above has lowercase letters after the first letter of the sentence.
• This sentence and the one directly above have all lowercase letters except for the “T.”

What are Uppercase Letters?

Uppercase letters are also known as capital letters. Uppercase letters signal to the reader that something is important or significant.

English alphabet uppercase letters: 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.

Examples of Uppercase Letters:

• Jones
  • This is a proper name, so the first letter of the title and the last name are capitalized

• Main Street
  • This is a proper noun so the first letter of each word is capitalized

When to Use Uppercase Letters

In English, the first letter of every sentence is capitalized. The uppercase letter signals to the reader that a new sentence is beginning.

Other uses of uppercase letters are detailed below.

All titles are considered proper nouns and require capitalization.

Examples:

• Miss Mabry
  • Incorrect: miss mabry
• Mathers
  • Incorrect: mr. mathers
• Madam Lockfield
  • Incorrect: madam lockfield
• Lady Grace
  • Incorrect: lady grace
• Janks
  • Incorect: mrs. janks

Acronyms are a type of abbreviation. Acronyms are words formed from other letters to make a new word. However, they require capital letters to signal to the reader that those letters stand for something and are not a word alone.

Examples:

• NATO
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• UNICEF
  • United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
• SCUBA
  • Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

All proper nouns need to be capitalized.

Examples:

• We visited the Bowers Museum on Saturday.
  • Incorrect: We visited the bowers museum on Saturday.
• I would like to tour the Eiffel Tower.
  • Incorrect: I would like to tour the eiffel tower.
• Their names are Jake and Suzy.
  • Incorrect: Their names are jake and suzy.

When to Use Lowercase Letters

Use lowercase letters for all letters other than the first in a sentence, provided that there is no required use for uppercase letters in the sentence.

Examples:

• Every word in this sentence other than the first word is written in lowercase.
• The only words in this sentence that require uppercase letters are the proper nouns, London and Paris.

All nouns that are not proper nouns are called common nouns. All common nouns use lowercase letters (unless a common noun begins a sentence).

Examples:

• tree
• dog
• bird
• water
• air
• star
• street
• girl
• baby

Summary

Define lowercase letters: lowercase letters are those letters used for common nouns and internal words.

Define uppercase letters: uppercase letters (also called capital letters) are those letters that signify the beginning of a sentence or a proper noun.

In summary,

• Uppercase and lowercase letters refer to all letters used to compose the English language.
• Uppercase letters are used to begin sentences and are also used for proper nouns.
• Lowercase letters are all letters that do not begin sentences.

Contents

• 1 What are Lowercase Letters?
• 2 What are Uppercase Letters?
• 3 When to Use Uppercase Letters
  • 3.1 Titles
  • 3.2 Acronyms
  • 3.3 All Proper Nouns
• 4 When to Use Lowercase Letters
• 5 Summary

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.

  Uppercase and lowercase letters / Sudo Null IT News

  I have gathered here some not so obvious facts about uppercase and lowercase letters that a programmer may encounter at work. Many of you have translated strings into “all uppercase” (uppercase), “all lowercase” (lowercase), “first capital, and the rest lowercase” (titlecase). Even more popular is the case-insensitive comparison operation. On a global scale, such operations can be quite non-trivial. The post is structured as a "collection of misconceptions" with counterexamples.

  1. If I convert the string to uppercase or lowercase, the number of Unicode characters does not change.

  No. The text may contain lowercase ligatures, which do not correspond to one character in upper case. For example, when translating to uppercase: fi (U+FB00) -> FI (U+0046, U+0049)

  2. Ligatures are a perversion, no one uses them. If they are not taken into account, then I'm right.

  No. Some letters with diacritics do not have an exact match in other case, so you have to use a combined character. Let's say the Afrikaans language has the letter ʼn (U+0149). In upper case, it corresponds to a combination of two characters: (U+02BC, U+004E). If you come across a transliteration of Arabic text, you may encounter (U+1E96), which also does not have a single-character match in upper case, so you will have to replace it with (U+0048, U+0331). The Wakhi language has a letter (U+01F0) with a similar problem. You may argue that this is exotic, but there are 23,000 articles in Afrikaans on Wikipedia.

  3. All right, but let's consider a combined character (involving modifying or combining code points) as one character. Then the length will still be preserved.

  No. There is, for example, the letter "escet" ß (U+00DF) in German. When converted to uppercase, it turns into two SS characters (U+0053, U+0053).

  4. Okay, okay, got it. We will assume that the number of Unicode characters can increase, but not more than twice.

  No. There are specific Greek letters, for example, (U+0390) that turn into three Unicode characters (U+0399, U+0308, U+0301)

  5. Let's talk about titlecase. Everything is simple here: I took the first character from the word, translated it into uppercase, took all the subsequent ones, translated it into lowercase.

  

  No. Let's remember the same ligatures. If a word in lowercase begins with fl (U+FB02), then in uppercase the ligature becomes FL (U+0046, U+004C), but in titlecase it becomes Fl (U+0046, U+006C). The same with ß, but, theoretically, words cannot begin with it.

  6. Those ligatures again! Well, we take the first character from the word, translate it into uppercase, if more than one character is obtained, then we leave the first one, and the rest back into lowercase. Then it will definitely work.

  Won't work. There is, for example, the digraph dz (U+01F3), which can be used in text in Polish, Slovak, Macedonian or Hungarian. In uppercase it corresponds to the digraph DZ (U+01F1), and in titlecase it corresponds to the digraph Dz (U+01F2). There are other digraphs. The Greek language, on the other hand, will please you with jokes with hypogegrammen and progegrammen (fortunately, this is rarely found in modern texts). In general, the uppercase and titlecase variants for a character can be different, and there are separate entries for them in the Unicode standard.

  7. Good, but at least the result of converting a character's case to uppercase or lowercase does not depend on its position in the word.

  No. For example, the Greek capital sigma Σ (U+03A3) becomes a lowercase ς (U+03C2) at the end of a word and σ (U+03C3) in the middle.

  8. Oh, okay, let's process the Greek sigma separately. But in any case, the same character in the same position in the text is converted in the same way.

  No. For example, in most Latin languages, the lower case for I (U+0049) is i (U+0069), but not in Turkish and Azeri. There, the lower case for I is ı (U+0131) and the capital case for i is İ (U+0130). In Turkey, because of this, enchanting bugs are sometimes observed in a variety of software. And if you come across a text in Lithuanian with accents, then, for example, a capital Ì (U + 00CC), which will turn not into ì (U + 00EC), but into (U + 0069, U + 0307, ​​U + 0300) . In general, the result of the conversion also depends on the language. Most of the complex cases are described here.

  9. What a horror! Well, let's now correctly convert to uppercase and lowercase. Comparing two words case-insensitively is not a problem: we translate both into lowercase and compare.

  There are also many pitfalls that follow from the above. For example, it will not work with German straße and STRASSE (the former will not change, the latter will turn into strasse). There will also be problems with many of the other letters described above.

  10. M-yes… Maybe then everything is in the uppercase?

  And it won't always work (although much more often). But, say, if you come across the notation STRAE (yes, there is a big escet in German and Unicode too), it will not match straße. For comparisons, letters are converted according to a special Unicode table - CaseFolding, according to which both ß and SS will turn into ss.

  ---

  Learn more

  • 
    Kanika chadda gupta
  • 
    Activities on colours for preschoolers
  • 
    Kindergarten letters games
  • 
    Patterns ideas for preschool
  • 
    What are adje
  • 
    Stories by kids
  • 
    Can you use self raising flour for salt dough
  • 
    Fun way to learn alphabet
  • 
    Child alphabet letters
  • 
    Websites to help kids read
  • 
    What does emergent literacy mean