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Title Capitalization Rules

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Knowing which words to capitalize in a title can be hard. There are several different style guides in English that all have slightly different rules for title capitalization. Understanding what to capitalize in a title is important to make sure that your titles and headlines look correct. In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between the major styles and what words you should and shouldn’t capitalize.

Table of Contents

The Four Major Title Capitalization Style Guides

First, it is important to note that there are four main title capitalization styles:

• Chicago style

Our title capitalization tool also supports Bluebook and AMA style capitalization.

Each of these capitalization styles has slightly different rules for which words are capitalized and each of these styles can be written using title case capitalization or sentence case capitalization. We’ll get to the nuances of each below.

The Easiest Way to Capitalize Your Titles With the Correct Rules

Before we get into the details of each type of title capitalization style, we highly recommend that you check out our free title capitalization tool . All you have to do is select whether you want title case or sentence case, and then select which style guide you want. It automatically capitalizes your title with the right rules according to style guide you selected. Watch the video below to learn more.

Title Case Capitalization vs. Sentence Case Capitalization

There are two main types of title capitalization methods that are common between all the title capitalization styles. Title case capitalization is the most commonly used title capitalization style used in titles. Sentence case capitalization is commonly used for sub-headings when writing long-form content as well as in many journalism headlines.

Title Case Capitalization

In general, the following capitalization rules apply across the four styles in title case:

• Capitalize the first word in the title
• Capitalize the last word in the title
• Capitalize the important words in the title

Important words  in that last bullet generally refer to:

• Adjectives (tiny, large, etc.)
• Adverbs (quietly, smoothly, etc.)
• Nouns (tablet, kitchen, book)
• Pronouns (they, she, he)
• Subordinating conjunctions (when fewer than 5 letters)
• Verbs (write, type, create)

Title case is the most common title capitalization for book titles, headlines, articles titles, etc. When multiple letters in a title need to be capitalized, use title case capitalization.

Our title capitalization tool will automatically capitalize your titles according to these rules.

Words Not Capitalized in Title Case

While the above words are generally capitalized in titles regardless of style, there are some words that are generally not capitalized when using title case. These include short words and conjunctions:

• Articles (a, an, the)
• Coordinating Conjunctions (and, but, for)
• Short (fewer than 5 letters)
• Prepositions (at, by, from, etc.)

What Is Sentence Case?

The other major type of title capitalization standard is sentence case . Sentence case simply means you capitalize the first letter of a sentence, proper nouns , and nothing else as opposed to capitalizing almost every first letter in title case. It is the same across all of the four styles.

For more specific title capitalization rules, you can see the following sections which cover each style of title capitalization rules or check out our FAQs for common capitalization questions.

Are Proper Nouns Capitalized?

Yes, proper nouns are capitalized in titles and sentences. A proper noun refers to a definite name for a specific person, place, object, book, movie, or event. In English, proper nouns are always capitalized regardless of whether you are writing a sentence or title.

• N ew Y ork C ity is the best place to live.
• I drove home from W almart.
• He high five Bob for winning the game.

Title Capitalization Rules by Style

Chicago manual of style capitalization rules.

Chicago Style is one of the most used and respected headline capitalization methods used in journalism. The rules are fairly standard for title case:

• Capitalize the first and the last word.
• Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions.
• Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
• Lowercase the ‘to’ in an infinitive (I want to play guitar).

APA Style Capitalization Rules

Making sure you have the right capitalization for APA headings is crucial for scholarly articles. The following rules apply to APA headline capitalization and title capitalization:

• Capitalize the first word of the title/heading and of any subtitle/subheading
• Capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., Self-Report not Self-report)
• Capitalize all words of four letters or more.

MLA Style Capitalization Rules

Making sure you have the right capitalization for MLA headings is crucial for scholarly articles. The following rules apply to MLA headings:

• Capitalize the first word of the title/heading and of any subtitle/subheading.
• Capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., Self-Report not Self-report).
• Do not capitalize articles, prepositions (regardless of length), and coordinating conjunctions.
• Do not capitalize  to  in infinitives.

AP Style Capitalization Rules

AP style capitalization is mainly used by writers for the Associated Press but is also used widely throughout journalism. The capitalization rules are as follow:

• Capitalize words with four or more letters (including conjunctions and prepositions).
• Capitalize the ‘to’ in an infinitive (e.g., I Want To Play Guitar).

NY Times Style Capitalization Rules

NY Times style capitalization is mainly used by writers for the NY Times but is also used widely throughout journalism. The capitalization rules are as follow:

• Capitalize major words, e.g. nouns, pronouns, verbs.

Wikipedia Style Capitalization Rules

Wikipedia editors must follow certain capitalization rules for any posts to Wikipedia. The capitalization rules are as follow:

• Lowercase indefinite and definite articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
• Prepositions that contain five letters or more.
• The word “to” in infinitives.

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• Capitalization

Title Case: Capitalization of Titles, Headings, and Headlines

Capitalize the first, last, and all major words in a book title, headline, or first-level heading. Major words are all words except articles ( a , an , the ), prepositions ( on , in , of , etc.), coordinating conjunctions ( and , or , but , etc.), and the word to . This capitalization style is called title case .

• Title case: T he C urious I ncident of the D og in the N ight- T ime
• Title case: T he S trange C ase of D r. J ekyll and M r. H yde

Capitalize lower-level headings using sentence case , in which you capitalize only the words you would normally capitalize in a sentence.

• Sentence case: T he curious incident of the dog in the night-time
• Sentence case: T he strange case of D r. J ekyll and M r. H yde

Style guides like the AP Stylebook , Chicago Manual of Style , APA Publication Manual , and MLA Handbook prescribe additional rules, discussed in this article.

Title case is also called headline style or up style: you see it used in headings and titles of books, movies, TV shows, articles, and other works. Sentence case, also called sentence style or down style, is used for second-level headings and lower. News headlines have traditionally been capitalized using title case, although these days, sentence case is often used, especially online.

Title case: General rules

Here are the general rules for capitalizing titles and headings:

• Capitalize the first word and last word of a title.
• Capitalize all major words, which are all words except articles ( a , an , the ), prepositions (e.g., on , in , of , at ), and coordinating conjunctions ( and , or , but , and nor ; also for , yet , and so when used as conjunctions).
• Always lowercase the word to .
• Capitalize the first element of a hyphenated term. Capitalize any subsequent elements only if they are major words.
• Capitalize the first word of a subheading that appears after a colon.
• Break a rule if you need to—for example, if a preposition is emphasized in a title, capitalize it.

Major words are all words except articles , prepositions , and coordinating conjunctions .

• L ove in the T ime of C holera
• T hree M en in a B oat
• P ride and P rejudice
• R equiem for a D ream
• C atch M e I f Y ou C an
• The P ortrait of a L ady
• The W ay W e L ive N ow
• The G irl W ho P layed with F ire
• M en without W omen
• The G round beneath H er F eet
• E verything I s I lluminated

The first and last words of a title are always capitalized, no matter what they are.

• A Clockwork Orange
• T he Mill on the Floss
• I n Search of Lost Time
• T hrough a Glass Darkly
• F rom Blood and Ash
• B ut What If There’s No Chimney?
• A nd Then There Were None
• Something to Answer F or
• Something to Believe I n
• All We Dream O f
• Where We Come F rom

It may not always be clear at first glance whether a word should be capitalized. Check what function it serves in the title.

• Capitalize over as an adverb , but lowercase it as a preposition. Adverb: The Soup Boiled O ver Preposition: The Light o ver London

The word to is lowercased, regardless of what function it serves in the sentence (unless it is the first or last word).

• Train t o Busan
• Zero t o One: Notes on Startups, or How t o Build the Future
• A Good Man Is Hard t o Find

In a hyphenated term, the first prefix or word is always capitalized, but the following words are capitalized only if they are major words.

• The M an- E ater of Malgudi Eater is a noun and should be capitalized.
• The Academy’s O ut- o f- U niform Procedure Lowercase of , which is a preposition, but capitalize uniform , a noun.
• The S tep- b y- S tep Guide to Finding Fairies
• The T hirty- N ine Steps
• The A nti- I nflammatory Diet Cookbook
• Originals: How N on- C onformists Move the World
• The F ire- B reathing Dragon

Any subtitle or subheading that follows a colon is always capitalized.

• Computer: A History of the Information Machine
• The Lord of the Rings: T he Return of the King
• The View from the Cheap Seats: S elected Nonfiction
• A Memoir: O f Mermaids and Waterfalls

Break a rule if you must. If a word is emphasized in a title, capitalize it, even if it is not a major word.

• How to Be the Go- T o Person in Your Organization
• A Run- I n with Religion and Other True Stories

Capitalize all the words that make up a phrasal verb , even a word that is a preposition.

• What to Do When You R un I nto Someone You Don’t Like
• How to S et U p Your Spaceship’s AI
• Don’t P ut O ff Being Happy

Be and is in a title

Verbs are major words and should be capitalized, including the be verb in all its forms: be , is , are , was , were .

• There Will B e Blood
• Tender I s the Night
• Where the Wild Things A re
• Then She W as Gone
• Their Eyes W ere Watching God

Also capitalize the have and do verbs in all their forms: have , has , had , do , does , did .

• The Heart H as Its Reasons
• Owls D o Cry
• What Katy Did
• Inequality: What Can Be Done ?

That in a title

The word that is always a major word and should be capitalized.

• Companies T hat Fleece Their Customers
• The House T hat Jack Built

It and me in a title

Capitalize all pronouns , including it , my , me , we , our, you , he , his , she , her , they , them , and who .

• How I t All Began
• Some of M y Favorite Things
• The Best W e Can Do
• The General in H is Labyrinth
• The Woman W ho Did

No and not in a title

Capitalize the words no and not (a determiner and an adverb) whenever these words appear in titles.

• Beasts of N o Nation
• Oranges Are N ot the Only Fruit

AP and APA style

The APA Publication Manual (used in academic editing, especially the social sciences) and the AP Stylebook (preferred in journalism, media, and corporate communication) both specify one major exception to the general rules :

Capitalize all words of four letters or more, even if they are prepositions.

• One Flew O ver the Cuckoo’s Nest
• The Girl Who Played W ith Fire
• Men W ithout Women
• The Ground B eneath Her Feet
• So Far F rom God
• Once U pon a Time in the West
• Much Ado A bout Nothing
• The Light B etween Oceans
• The Cat Who Walks T hrough Walls
• A Woman U nder the Influence
• Three Billboards O utside Ebbing, Missouri
• The World U ntil Yesterday
• The Man i n the Brown Suit
• The Wizard o f Oz
• A Home f or Lunatics
• The Woman o n the Beach

Thus, in APA and AP style, words four letters or longer are always capitalized, regardless of function. Note that the other general rules apply as usual. Capitalize any major words, even if they are three letters or shorter: be , has , had , do , did , me , who , my , etc.

• We Should All B e Feminists
• If I H ad Your Face
• Marley and M e
• The Man W ho Sold H is Ferrari

Another exception is that all conjunctions three letters or shorter are lowercased. Thus, in APA and AP style, lowercase not only the seven coordinating conjunctions ( and , or , but , nor , for , yet , so ) but also subordinating conjunctions up to three letters long (which pretty much boils down to the word if ).

• Pride a nd Prejudice
• I’d Tell You I Love You, b ut Then I’d Have to Kill You
• Catch Me i f You Can

Also, do lowercase articles and any prepositions up to three letters long: a , an , the , for , in , of , to , etc.

• The Bridge o n t he River Kwai
• Stranger i n a Strange Land
• The Catcher i n t he Rye
• A House f or Mr. Biswas

Finally, in AP Style, the first and last words are capitalized as usual, regardless of length.

• A n American Tragedy
• T he Invisible Man
• A s I Lay Dying
• O f Human Bondage
• O n the Waterfront
• F or the Green Planet
• These Times We Live I n

However, in APA style, the last word is capitalized only if it is a major word or longer than three letters.

• Something to Answer f or
• These Times We Live i n In APA style, lowercase prepositions, unless they are four letters or longer.

Chicago style

According to the Chicago Manual of Style , the conjunctions to be lowercased are and , or , nor , but , and for . All others are capitalized. Thus, the words yet and so are capitalized regardless of function. The word if is also always capitalized.

• Sense a nd Sensibility
• The Hobbit, o r There a nd Back Again
• Though We Be Dead, Y et Our Day Will Come
• Even I f We Break

In a hyphenated phrase, if the first element is merely a prefix that could not stand by itself (e.g., anti- , pre- , non- ), don’t capitalize the second part.

• The A nti- i nflammatory Diet Cookbook
• The Thirty- N ine Steps The word thirty can stand by itself, so capitalize nine as well.

Remember to capitalize not just the first but also the last word of a title or heading, even if it is not a major word.

• The Things We Believe I n Capitalize the last word, even a preposition.
• Only One Way T hrough
• It’s You I’m Dreaming O f

The MLA Handbook (used in academic writing for the humanities) specifies no exceptions to the general rules .

• T hese T imes W e L ive I n
• A H eartbreaking W ork of S taggering G enius
• T he M oon I s a H arsh M istress

Differences in AP, APA, Chicago, MLA rules

As you can see, style manuals differ in their guidelines on what qualifies as a “major” word worthy of capitalization in title case. Here’s a quick summary of the key differences between the popular styles.

In both AP and APA styles, capitalize prepositions four letters or longer. In Chicago and MLA , lowercase all prepositions, regardless of length.

• APA, AP: The Girl F rom Mars Chicago, MLA: The Girl f rom Mars
• APA, AP, Chicago, MLA: The Woman i n Red

Lowercase not just coordinating but also subordinating conjunctions shorter than four letters in AP and APA styles; capitalize all subordinating conjunctions in Chicago and MLA.

• APA, AP: Isolate i f You Are Sick Chicago, MLA: Isolate I f You Are Sick

Capitalize the words yet and so in Chicago style. In the other styles, lowercase them when they are used as conjunctions, but capitalize when they are adverbs.

• Chicago: Broke Y et Happy APA, AP, MLA: Broke y et Happy
• Chicago, APA, AP, MLA: Am I Normal Y et?

Capitalize the last word of the title in AP, Chicago, and MLA styles even if it is not a major word; in APA, capitalize the last word only if it is a major word. (But remember that the APA Publication Manual considers all words four letters or longer major words.)

• Chicago, MLA, AP: Something to Answer F or APA: Something to Answer f or
• Chicago, MLA, APA, AP: The Places We Come F rom

In all four styles, capitalize the first word (whatever it may be), and lowercase articles.

• APA, AP, Chicago, MLA: T he Girl Who Found a Dragon Egg

Sentence case

In sentence case, a title is written as a sentence would be: the first word and all proper nouns are capitalized. This capitalization style is generally used for headings that are second level or lower. These days, it is also increasingly being used for online news headlines.

• C lear light of day
• W e need to talk about K evin
• T he quiet A merican

The first word of a subtitle or subheading that follows a colon is also capitalized.

• Traveling with ghosts: A memoir
• Understanding comics: T he invisible art

If a title begins with a numeral, lowercase the next word.

• 27 b ooks to read before you die
• P ractice guidelines for the pickling of pineapples: 2019 u pdate

Professional and social titles that precede a name are capitalized as well.

• The island of D octor Moreau
• The strange life of P resident Farley
• The story of F ather Femy and his music

For more on which words to capitalize in a sentence, see this article on the rules of capitalization .

Share this article

In title case, all major words are capitalized.

In sentence case, only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.

The word it , which is a pronoun, is capitalized in title case.

The words we (a pronoun) and be (a verb) are capitalized in title case.

The word a , which is an article, is lowercased unless it is the first word of the title.

The words let (a verb) and me (a pronoun) are capitalized in title case.

The first word of a subtitle following a colon is capitalized in both title case and sentence case.

What to Capitalize in a Title

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Written by  Scribendi

Confused about what to capitalize in a title?

Do you ever encounter titles in which every word is capitalized? It's understandable why some authors and publications do this. The advice that is commonly given in terms of capitalization in titles is very vague, and rules vary based on the style guide being used.

A common rule that is thrown around is to capitalize all major words in a title. But what constitutes a major word? All of the words in a title are major, right? Well, not quite. 

Although capitalizing your title correctly can be difficult, there are several concrete rules that you can rely on when it comes to capitalization in titles. Title case is used for titles, headings, subheadings, and headlines. Here, we'll be describing the rules for writing in title case, as outlined in The Chicago Manual of Style , which is a very common style guide. However, we'll also offer some resources at the end of this article that discuss some of the variations in title case, based on the rules of other style guides.

Download our capitalization rules guide

If you're curious to learn more, download our guide to capitalization rules. Using helpful examples, it explains all kinds of capitalization rules from book titles to job titles and more.

What to capitalize in a title

1. always capitalize the first word as well as all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs..

Let's go back to that rule about major words that we referred to earlier. Though the word major may seem a little bit vague, this essentially refers to all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In addition, all major style guides indicate that the first word of the title should be capitalized regardless of the word's role as a part of speech. So, yes, even if the first word of the title is not a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, or adverb, it must be capitalized.

As long as you know your parts of speech , you should have no problem identifying the words that require capitalization. Here are some examples:

In this example, both Grapes and Wrath are nouns, so they should be capitalized. The is capitalized because it is the first word in the title.

2. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should not be capitalized.

Though it is sometimes said that small words in a title do not require capitalization, let's be a bit more specific. After all, many nouns and verbs are small (e.g., dog , go ), but these words must still be capitalized. The small words we are referring to in this case essentially include articles, conjunctions, and prepositions, which should not be capitalized (again, unless they are the first word of a title). There are only three articles in the English language ( a, an , and the ), so pinpointing these words in a title should be a cinch. Conjunctions like and, nor, but, for, and or should also be written in lowercase.

Let's break down this example from William Faulkner. Sound and Fury are nouns and must be capitalized. Though the is used twice in this title, only the first appearance of this article needs to be capitalized, because it is at the beginning of the title. Finally, and is a conjunction and should be written in lowercase.

Prepositions are a different story, as they can be tricky to identify. Prepositions link nouns or other phrases (the objects of the prepositions) to the rest of the sentence. Simple prepositions indicate temporal, spatial, or logical relationships between the object of the preposition and the rest of the sentence; these include above, below, after, around, outside, toward, through, into , etc. Participial prepositions are not linked to nouns and include terms like concerning, considering, regarding, and during. Neither simple prepositions nor participial prepositions should be capitalized in a title. Though some prepositions can be quite lengthy, they should still be written in lowercase. (There are some exceptions to this rule, but we'll get to that a bit later.)

In this example, at is a preposition that adds spatial information to the sentence and should be written in lowercase. Bury (verb), My (possessive pronoun), Heart (noun), and Wounded Knee (proper noun) are all capitalized.

Okay, things get more complicated here. When prepositions function as adverbs, they should be capitalized. ( Near and beneath can act as either prepositions or adverbs.) When does a preposition function as an adverb, you ask? A good way to determine this is to identify the part of speech of the term following the word that you are unsure about. If the word that follows is a noun, then the term you are unsure about is probably functioning as a preposition. If a noun does not follow the term, then the word is an adverb and should be capitalized.

3. Capitalize the first element in a hyphenated compound.

If a title contains a hyphenated compound, then the first element must always be capitalized. The other elements of the compound are generally capitalized, unless they are parts of speech that are not capitalized (articles, conjunctions, or prepositions) .

In this example, Half-Blood is a hyphenated compound. Blood is capitalized because it is a noun.

If you come across a title that contains a hyphenated compound with a prefix that cannot stand as a word on its own, the second element of the compound should be written in lowercase (unless it is a proper noun or proper adjective). Examples of this include such words as "Co-owner" and "Re-elect."

4. Capitalize both elements of spelled-out numbers or simple fractions.

When a spelled-out number or simple fraction is used in a title, both components require capitalization.

You're getting to be an expert with title case capitalization, so instead of rehashing what we have already learned, let's move on, shall we?

5. If the scientific name of a species is mentioned, the second portion of the name must be written in lowercase.

This is one of those picky rules that is easy to overlook. This rule will most often apply to the titles of academic works in the medical or scientific fields. If you are working with a title that contains the scientific name of a species, then the second portion of the name must be lowercased.

6. Pay attention to the specific requirements of the style guide.

The rules outlined above are the usual conventions when it comes to title case capitalization rules, but make sure that you check the specific style guide that you are using. In addition to formatting, many style guides have established their own rules for the proper use of title case. And though many of these style guides follow the basic rules outlined in this article, there are some variations that you definitely must consider.

For example, remember the previous point about prepositions always being written in lowercase? Well, let's compare two style guides to clarify some of the differences that exist.

According to The Chicago Manual of Style (8.157), a long preposition, such as between , should be written in lowercase. However, some style guides allow words that are longer than five letters to be capitalized (such as the style guide of the Associated Press).

Here are some useful links that provide more information on the rules for title case capitalization according to various style guides:

• Modern Language Association (MLA)
• American Psychological Association (APA)
• Associated Press

Though properly capitalizing a title of your own might be difficult, we hope that this guide has eliminated some of the confusion regarding what to capitalize in a title. The majority of the rules are pretty straightforward, but others (such as the capitalization of prepositions) vary among style guides. Make sure you know which style guide you want to use and that you stick to it.

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A Simple Guide to Capitalization in Titles

• 3-minute read
• 1st July 2023

Deciding how to capitalize words in titles can be more complicated than you’d think. Do you capitalize every word? Just the first? What about in subheadings? While the rules and preferences on this vary among style guides, we’ve put together a simple guide to help you out.

Sentence Case

When a title is capitalized using sentence case , it means you capitalize it exactly as you would for a normal sentence. The only words that should be capitalized are the first word and any proper nouns . For example:

Sentence case is arguably easier to follow than title case – which we’ll get into next.

Title case means that you capitalize the first word and all major words in the title. What defines a major word, though, varies between style guides, so check your style guide or your institution’s requirements. Generally, though, title case follows these rules:

●  Capitalize the first word.

●  Capitalize all proper nouns.

●  Capitalize pronouns.

●  Capitalize all principal words and longer words (usually four letters or more).

●  Keep short articles, prepositions , and conjunctions lowercase.

Here are a couple of examples of title case:

Let’s look at a few of the common style guides and their rules for title case.

●  Capitalize principal words.

●  Capitalize all words with four letters or more (including prepositions and conjunctions).

●  Keep articles, prepositions, and conjunctions with three letters or less lowercase.

●  Capitalize the first and last words of the title (even if it breaks the above rules).

●  Capitalize To for infinitives.

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●  Capitalize all nouns, verbs and verb phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.

●  Keep articles, conjunctions, and prepositions with three letters or less lowercase.

●  Capitalize all words with four letters or more.

●  Capitalize the first and last words.

●  Capitalize nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions .

●  Keep all articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions lowercase.

These are just a few, and most styles have even further peculiarities. So, if you’re using a guide, make sure you check it carefully. For a more thorough breakdown of the major style guides and their rules on capitalization, check out this page .

Summary: Capitalization in Titles

To sum up, sentence case means you only capitalize the first word and any proper nouns. Title case means you capitalize every word except for short or minor words.

Unless you’re following a guide or an institution’s requirements, you can choose to capitalize your titles based on your preference. Just remember to keep things consistent.

If you’re unsure about your capitalization, why not have one of our editors take a look at your work? We’ll also check your work for grammar, spelling, consistency, and more. Try it out for free today.

What is sentence case?

Sentence case means that you capitalize a title like a normal sentence, with everything lowercase except for the first word and any proper nouns.

What is title case?

Title case means that all words in a title are capitalized except for short or minor words, such as articles (e.g., a , an , the ).

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Title Capitalization Rules – Ultimate Guide

| Danielle McLeod

Danielle McLeod

Danielle McLeod is a highly qualified secondary English Language Arts Instructor who brings a diverse educational background to her classroom. With degrees in science, English, and literacy, she has worked to create cross-curricular materials to bridge learning gaps and help students focus on effective writing and speech techniques. Currently working as a dual credit technical writing instructor at a Career and Technical Education Center, her curriculum development surrounds student focus on effective communication for future career choices.

There are many rules surrounding what to capitalize in a sentence, but specific rules apply to titles in general — and often cause confusion with new writers and English language learners.

Titles include formal titles concerning the names of people or places, as well as the titles of books, speeches, albums, art, and other formally named creations. Knowing what words should be capitalized in a title is important for proper grammar and presentation of your writing.

Let’s review the basics of capitalization and then focus specifically on capitalization rules for titles.

General Rules of Capitalization

Capitalization is a lesson taught to beginning English writers, and there are three common rules to remember:

• The first word of every sentence is capitalized
• The initial letters of all proper nouns are capitalized
• The pronoun I is capitalized

Titles fall under the rule of proper nouns, but titles can be lengthy, leading to the question of which words are NOT capitalized in a title.

We are first going to learn how to recognize the titles used with people. Then we delve deeper into titles of works to help you discern which words require capitalization and which do not.

When to Use Capitalization for the Titles of People

The names of people are considered a proper noun, but did you also know that any title associated with the name is also considered an extension of their name?

Rule 1: A Person’s Title

When a title precedes a person’s name, you must capitalize the title. You also must capitalize it when used alone as a direct address.

For example:

• Make sure to ask Mister Smith if he will be available for tutoring.
• We decided to ask Principal Kaney for help with the petition since he always gave good advice.
• The Principal’s approval was needed in order to appear at the next community meeting.
• Our questions were directed towards State Representative Michael Jones, who voted for a House Bill we didn’t agree with.
• The State Representative decided to hold a public forum to address concerns.

Do not capitalize titles if they are used as a general reference and are not related to a specific person.

• We will be holding interviews to fill the vacant principal’s position.
• The next elections will contain options for a new state representative.

Rule #2: A Government Title

High government official titles are considered a proper noun whether they are tied to a specific person or not. These are capitalized even when they are not used in a direct address.

• There are only two years until we vote for a new President.
• It will be many years before there is a new Queen of England.
• Supreme Court Justices must be nominated and voted upon.

Rule #3: Compound Titles

All words in a compound title should be capitalized unless a prefix or suffix is added.

• ex-Governor Johnson
• Vice Principal Byers

Rule #4: Familial Relationship Titles

Familial relationships should be capitalized if they refer to a specific person. If they are preceded by a possessive noun or pronoun, leave them lowercase.

• I’m excited to visit my Uncle Ken this summer on the lake!
• My children’s uncle always takes them for boat rides.

Rule #5: Abbreviated Titles

Always capitalize abbreviations of titles before and after names.

• Senator Smith = Sen. Smith
• Governor Jones = Gov. Jones
• Mister Johnson = Mr. Johnson
• Mister Argyle Senior = Mr. Argyle Sr.

With Formal Titles of Creations or Labels

Formal titles include written works, speeches, art, and courses or classes being taught. There are some basic, yet important rules to follow concerning which words should be capitalized.

Rule #1: Course or Class Titles

Classes must be capitalized if the course is a language course or if the course is followed by a number. Courses that contain proper nouns should also be capitalized. Otherwise, leave it lowercase.

• Creative Writing 101
• New Mexico History

Rule #2: Written, Spoken, and Creative Titles

According to most English-style guides, book titles,  article titles, publications, and works of art should always be capitalized. Use up-style capitalization in these cases; that is, capitalize the first letter of the first and last words and of all words besides short (fewer than five or so letters) articles , conjunctions , and prepositions . Short verbs , nouns , adverbs, and adjectives should be capitalized.

Let’s look at examples of this:

The First and Last Word of Titles, Headings, and Subtitles are Capitalized

• The Count of Monte Cristo
• A Separate Piece
• Wuthering Heights
• History 101: The Complete First Edition

Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, and Adjectives are Capitalized

• The Incident at Owl Creek
• Mouse Goes to School
• Her Beautifully Bright Life
• The Running Man

Prepositions Four or More Letters Long are Capitalized

Although the Chicago Manual of Style usage guide says to keep all prepositions lowercase, the AP Style Guide prefers all prepositions four or more letters long should be capitalized. This is the better style guide variation option.

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• The Bridge Beneath the Ridge

The First Word After a Colon, Dash, or End Marks are Capitalized

• The Guide: Referencing New Citations – Lesson 1

The Second Part of Hyphenated Words are Capitalized

• The Two-Fold Heist
• Seventy-Two Red Balloons

Subordinating Conjunctions Like, As, or Because are Capitalized

• Love Like Me
• The Word As it Turns

When Not to Use Capitalization

As you’ve seen above, not all words in a formal title are capitalized. Make sure you know which word to leave lowercase.

Do Not Capitalize Coordinating Conjunctions

Unless they are the first or last word in a title, the coordinating conjunctions but, and, nor, or, for, so, as, if, and yet should be lowercase

Do Not Capitalize Articles

Unless they are the first or last word in a title, the articles a, an, and the should be lowercase.

Do Not Capitalize Short Prepositions

Unless they are the first or last word in a title, all prepositions shorter than four letters should be lowercase. These include as, at, by, for, of, off, in, per, to, on, up, and via.

Let’s Review

The titles of people, works, and labels should be correctly capitalized to provide the proper emphasis to your reader. It is important to know that what you are writing is referring to a proper noun or formal description.

People’s names and creations are important, and properly capitalizing provides your reader insight to what you are referring to. Hopefully, these sets of rules are exactly what you needed to double-check your own work and ensure you are using the common capitalization rules of titles correctly. 

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Title Case Converter

A smart title capitalization tool, what is title case, title capitalization rules, what is sentence case, using the converter, tips and tricks.

Daily Writing Tips

Rules for capitalization in titles.

I used to think there were only two ways to use capitalization in a title: (1) Capitalize only the first word in the title (except for proper nouns), which I learned working for a local newspaper; and (2) Capitalize the principal and longer words and lowercase the minor, shorter words, which I learned was wrong.

I also came to learn that the rules for capitalization in titles—like the rules for other areas of English grammar—are not set in stone; style guides and grammarians disagree on which words to capitalize in a title.

In fact, there are really only two rules that are consistent across the board:

• Capitalize the first word of the title
• Capitalize all proper nouns

Sentence case, or down style, is one method, preferred by many print and online publications and recommended by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . The only two rules are the two rules mentioned above: Capitalize the first word and all proper nouns. Everything else is in lowercase. For example:

Why it’s never too late to learn grammar (all words lowercased except “Why”—first word in title)

Another method is to capitalize all words in a title. This one is considered simple because there’s no struggle trying to remember which words to capitalize and which ones to lowercase; they’re all capitalized. However, one could argue it’s the lazy man’s method or that it’s not very aesthetic. For example:

Why It’s Never Too Late To Learn Grammar (all words capitalized)

Title case, or up style, is another method. Whether or not you capitalize a word in a title depends on its part of speech. According to most style guides that use title case, the basic rules are as follows:

• Capitalize the first and last word in a title, regardless of part of speech
• Capitalize all nouns (baby, country, picture), pronouns (you, she, it), verbs (walk, think, dream), adjectives (sweet, large, perfect), adverbs (immediately, quietly), and subordinating conjunctions (as, because, although)
• Lowercase “to” as part of an infinitive
• Lowercase all articles (a, the), prepositions (to, at, in, with), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or)

For example:

Why It’s Never Too Late to Learn Grammar (all words capitalized except “to,” a preposition)

That last rule for title case is upheld by some style guides, but not all. The Chicago Manual of Style follows that rule (except in cases in which an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction is the first or last word in a title). However, The Associated Press would have you capitalize prepositions and conjunctions if they are four or more letters long. For others, the magic number is five rather than four. So, according to some guides, you have to worry not only about the part of speech, but also about the length of the words.

There is another common—but incorrect—“method” of using capitalization in titles. I used to follow it myself (see my first paragraph). Many writers mistakenly believe that in a title, you should capitalize the principal and longer words and lowercase the minor, shorter words.

For example, writers often lowercase all two- or three-letter words in a title because they’re short, and many articles, prepositions, and conjunctions—most of which should be lowercased—are short, as well. However, short words can be nouns, pronouns, and verbs, etc., which should be capitalized. Part of speech is more important than length when it comes to determining capitalization in titles. For example:

Why it’s Never too Late to Learn Grammar (wrong)

“It’s” is a contraction of “it,” a pronoun, and “is,” a verb, both of which should be capitalized; “too” is an adverb, which should also be capitalized.

Regardless of which convention you’d prefer to follow (except for the last example), you need to be consistent. Pick one (or follow the style guide of your employer, school, or clients) and stick with it.

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21 thoughts on “Rules for Capitalization in Titles”

Great advice! It can be tricky to know which words to capitalize. When it doubt, look it up!

I love this post! I’ve been bouncing all over the map on this one and appreciate the clear presentation. I normally make an attempt at the 3rd method (Title case) but wasn’t familiar with the rules. For such a seemingly small item for a blog post, it was stressing me out!

I don’t really see any hard and fast rules being delivered in this post, which is fine. I have no problem finding my comfort zone and sticking to it. My personal preference apparently has a name (Title Case).

However, I must comment on the statement that “Sentence case, or down style, is one method, preferred by many print and online publications and recommended by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.”

If they espouse Sentence Case, why are the words “Manual,” “Psychological” and “Association” capitalized?! (OK, maybe “Psychological” and “Association” are considered proper nouns in the sense that they are the part of the title of this particular association. But “manual”?)

Thanks for these tips. I wonder if the title-case method is older than the sentence-case method, since that’s the way we were taught about 100 years ago, right along with two spaces after a period.

Maybe it’s time to update my thinking on that. One thing’s for sure, it would save me time trying to figure out what to capitalize and what not to.

Great tips.. I might have to focus on which style I would stick to.

Interesting article on the complexities of capitalization! Thanks. As a writer and editor, I’ve discovered that one almost never gets to “pick” the style one likes best — the goal is to determine the house style required and stick with that religiously.

With APA, a mix of capitalization styles is called for. For reference lists in citing an article in a journal, the article title itself is done in sentence-case while the name of the journal is in title-case. Same for magazines and newspapers. Oddly enough, book titles are to be given in sentence-case, except for proper nouns, of course. So in a reference list, the title of the APA manual would be the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association! For titles in the body of a paper, one uses title-case, but without capitalizing conjunctions, articles, or prepositions shorter than four letters. So in the text itself, the APA manual would be Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Logical? No. But to play in their ballpark, one must follow their rules. Does the MLA (Modern Language Association) style match with APA for capitalization? Of course not. That would be too easy. Try teaching an English composition course which is supposed to prepare students to enter both the social sciences and the humanites — keeping APA and MLA straight is really quite the challenge these days and capitalization is just a piece of it. And then the history faculty complain that they get students who don’t know how to footnote properly. Sigh.

“Learn” is a verb in my dictionary, so that would make the “to” in “to learn” part of the infinitive.

Great explanation. I was wondering about this for a long time.

Fortunately, most nonacademic writers don’t need to concern themselves with the conflicting dictates of various manuals for specific disciplines like the APA and the MLA. But it’s still confusing to a layperson. Here’s a breakdown by media type of what you’re likely to see:

Newspapers vary in their capitalization style for headlines, from using initial caps for every word to using sentence case. Magazines do so also, but they are not necessarily consistent from one article to the next, because they may design a given article headline to resonate with the feature’s theme (military-style stencil lettering for an profile about a soldier) or tone (a whimsical font for a story about the circus).

Book-cover designers often play with font and case, too but the style on the title page (and in references to other books in a book’s text) will generally be title case. Trade books — those for lay consumers, as opposed to scholars — that include bibliographies and references usually use title case in those resources, too.

Title case is what you’ll usually see on professionally edited Web sites as well, and it’s the default style for writing most people are likely to undertake.

Carla, did you mean “Many” in “May writers mistakenly believe…”? Good post. Thank you.

Thanks for your comments, everybody. Ken – I absolutely meant “Many”….thanks for pointing that out! Even proofreaders need their work proofread…

I agree with TechWriter. “To” is not a preposition when used with a verb. It becomes part of the verb as an infinitive.

Many Thanks for This Wonderful Essay

I would disagree only with one thing. You use the word ‘worry’ in the phrase “…you have to worry not only about the part of speech…” when ‘be aware of’ would perhaps be less pejorative or off-putting.

I think this topic is one of those things that just have to be done right, and which once learned bring professionalism to us amateurs – joyful for both the writer and the reader. Following this particular rule fully embellished fulfills many of the purposes of a title: grab and focus attention in an aesthetic way.

I had learned much of the rule, but not all. Now I can pay attention to who uses the rule effectively and who lets things slip. Your example of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual was interesting. Since they are known for their tendency to make milquetoast of ‘complications’, even at the cost of losing the effect and purpose of the chore, I believed your version of their rule. But on their site I found them quite internally inconsistent. There are examples of every title type.

Again, thank you for the essay.

PS – Cindy, the two space rule depended on the culture and when you learned to type. Typesetting machines and word-processors have never needed two spaces, and possibly not even proportionate Selectronic typewriters.

Here’s why it is Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association:

Publication Manual: Proper noun

American Psychological Association: Proper noun

You see, it is not just a Publication, nor is it just a Manual, it is a Publication Manual and that is its proper name, just as American Psychological Association is a proper name.

Also, I believe it may bolster their self-esteem.

P.S. Being ultra-radical I still put two spaces after a period and a colon! This website persists in correcting it, however, and my defiant space statements go unheard.

@Garrison: Rumor has it that the two-space habit originated with the [manual] typewriters that didn’t do any kind of automatic spacing adjustments, and so putting two spaces allowed for easier and faster reading, skimming and searching of documents (which, in those primitive days, were called papers). This two-space habit persisted into the use of WordPerfect (or should I say, WordImPerfect). The first medical transcription company I worked for had a particular account, a very large local hospital here, and all our work was done COMPLETELY in capital letters. Imagine reading pages and pages of documentation in all caps. The double space between sentences allowed a little rest for the weary eyes. I continue to use two spaces between sentences (and after colons), since I think it still makes skimming and searching documents easier. Whether or not my computer software makes any adjustments (and I don’t see that it does), I don’t know or care; by now, the two-space habit is ingrained, and it would take me a long time to get rid of it; not worth the effort. However, if the web site wants to eliminate my double spaces, it is free to do so. I won’t lose time–or sleep–over it! (and I’m thrilled to be considered ultra-radical about SOMEthing LOL)

@thebluebird11,

Yes, once we did type manually with no power required. Except of course the power to jam those sticky keys down hard enough to make an impression through the ribbon. Back then I used to find the ends of sentences by turning the paper over and holding it up to the light to see where the “stars” were. LOL. I think the old Underwood may still be in the closet at my parent’s house.

After that was a nice little Smith-Corona electric typewriter that tended to put too many spaces between things. It was a fine improvement, but still had a ribbon. By the way, why was there a red half on the bottom of the ribbon? I don’t think I ever used red to type anything.

In the mid-80’s I got a Smith-Corona that had a small screen and memory download on to a floppy disk that allowed you to edit and save documents. The only advantage to this system was that the saved document was re-typed by the machine, making it appear like an original paper. It was also fairly small and portable and I could plug it in at the library, unlike the cumbersome and virtually useless IBM PC Jr. I invested in just a year before.

I still use two spaces after commas because that was how I learned to type way back in the third grade. When I wrote my dissertation in the early 80’s that was still the APA norm. In fact, that was still the norm up until the early 90’s when I was reading student’s dissertations. As recently as 2008 I was writing court reports using two spaces and I never heard any complaints. It has only been in the last year that I discovered the one-space-rule and MLA due to proofreading my son’s papers. When it comes to things written, I am hopelessly out of date.

But, I keep up the good fight. Right on, far out, and power to the people! LOL.

I was once instructed to lower case state-of-being verbs. Is that part of any accepted convention?

Thank you for providing this valuable content on when to capitalize words in a title. Lately, I have been writing a lot of articles and I want to make sure my grammar is as correct as possible.

I really appreciate your help.

Stacie Walker

Thank you. I confess that capitalization is one of my many grammar weak spots. I think I will sign up for your newsletter:-)

I have worked as a professional writer for a several years. I constantly have to fight with people about the capitalization of the word “is” in a title. Since it is a verb, I have always capitalized “is” in titles; however, I constantly see others putting it in lowercase. I sometimes wonder if there is a rule I am unaware of. I have checked with case-checking websites, and these always say to capitalize “is” as well. Lately, I have become mired in self-doubt. I find myself wanting to lowercase “is” because I hate having others look at me with pity for what they think is my ignorance of proper style. I know this is my own insecurity, and I just wanted to vent. This post seems to support my position. However, if anyone knows why “is” should be in lowercase, please let me know so I won’t continue down this misguided editorial path.

Capitalise the first word of the title and capitalise all proper nouns. No more, no less.

Leave the arguments over this method actually being correct aside for a moment, it’s more aesthetically pleasing.

And, for the love of all things holy, no double spaces. Please!

Double spaces after a comma? That’s madness.

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Last updated on Jun 27, 2024

Title Capitalization Rules: Learn Which Words To Capitalize

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About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

Like many aspects of the English language, title capitalization rules can seem confusing and unintuitive. While the words that are (and are not) capitalized in a title aren’t always consistent, it’s really not as complicated as you might think.

Whether you’re figuring out what to call your novel , writing a headline for a blog post or article, or referring to a movie, song, or other published work, you’ll need to follow standard title capitalization rules. To help you along, let’s break down the basic rules and explain some exceptions. 

These are the three title capitalization rules you’ll need to remember:

• Capitalize the first and last words of a title
• Capitalize verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
• Don’t capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, or prepositions

1. Capitalize the first and last words of a title

The simplest rule you can follow with complete certainty is this: the first and last words of a title are always capitalized. It doesn’t matter what length the title is or what grammatical role the word plays. From the humble article “the” to longer nouns like “tyrannosaurus,” you’re 100% safe capitalizing the first and last word.

Example: Andy Williams’s 1966 hit single, “ Music to Watch Girls By ”

All style guides agree on this rule, and it’s because it just makes sense. By capitalizing the first and last words, you create a visual mark that shows the reader where the title begins and ends. Even if it’s used within a longer sentence, it can’t be confused with the text surrounding it.

💡 Note: When words are capitalized to form a title, their format is called “title case” or “headline case.” This is in contrast to “sentence case,” which is what you’ll see in this very paragraph.

FREE RESOURCE

Book Title Checklist

Create a title that stands out — and sells.

Capitalize the first word of subtitles, too

The rule for subtitles is very simple: the subtitle’s first word is also always capitalized, with no exceptions. Subtitles, written after a colon, are especially common in factual and academic works . 

Example: Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s classic work of feminist literary criticism,  “The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination .”  

If this title was written in sentence case, the first word after the colon would not normally be capitalized. And if we were following rule number 3 (spoiler alert), the word “the” would be in lowercase.

If you’re worried about your institution’s style guide of choice, you can sigh with relief. Capitalizing the first word of a subtitle is one of those rules where APA, MLA, Chicago, and AP style guides are in beautiful, unanimous agreement.

This is not the only rule they agree on — the next one is also universal.

2. Capitalize verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs

Many common parts of speech are always capitalized in a title. Let’s take a quick look at them, one by one.

The ‘action words’ of language, verbs are capitalized in every style guide. This also applies to phrasal verbs, where a verb and a preposition are used together, like “Get Up,” “Stand Up,” “Let Go,” and “Carry Out.”

A commonly asked question is whether the word “is” needs to be capitalized. “Is” and its cousins (“I am,” “you are,” etc.) are all conjugated forms of the verb “to be,” so the answer is yes. The same applies to the verb “do” and its variations “did” and “does.”

Here are a few examples of book titles that include verbs:

• This  Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
• Where'd You  Go , Bernadette by Maria Semple
• Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black
• I'll  Tell You in Person by Chloe Caldwell
• Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare
• History  Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

All style guides agree on capitalizing pronouns in titles. If you’re a native speaker, it’s possible you assume the term simply refers to “he,” “she,” “they,” and “his,” “hers,” and “theirs.” These are pronouns indeed, but there are many more types.

We won’t dwell (no one likes a grammar lesson), but to learn more about further types of pronouns, like relative, indefinite, demonstrative, or interrogative pronouns, you can check out Thesaurus.com’s entry on pronoun types . Fun fact: words like “someone,” “whenever,” “whose,” and “whom” are pronouns, too . Hopefully, this knowledge will come in handy when you next capitalize a tricky title.

Here are a few examples of book titles with pronouns:

• Roll of Thunder, Hear  My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• Guess How Much  I Love You  by Sam McBratney
• For  Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 
• Go Tell  It on the Mountain by James Baldwin 
• Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon

If you  do  happen to like grammar lessons, however, check out this article about the Oxford comma to learn more about when and how to use it like a pro.

Nouns and adjectives

You already know these ones, so we won’t patronize you. They’re also straightforward when it comes to capitalization: nouns and adjectives are capitalized in all style guides. Wonderful, right?

Let’s look at a few title examples that feature nouns:

• I Know Why the  Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• How the  García Girls Lost Their Accents  by Julia Alvarez
• If on a  Winter’s Night a Traveler  by Italo Calvino
• Diary of a Young Naturalist  by Dara McAnulty

And some book titles that capitalize adjectives:

• In  Cold Blood  by Truman Capote
• A Cavern of  Black Ice by J. V. Jones
• Understanding Comics: The  Invisible Art  by Scott McCloud
• The  Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  by Mark Haddon

You may know adverbs as words that end in -ly . They describe the  way or manner in which something is done or happens. Just don’t forget that adverbs of manner aren’t the only type of adverb. 

If your title includes any of the words below, you’re dealing with adverbs of frequency, time, place, or degree:

You don’t need to remember what category each adverb falls under — you just need to be able to recognize them as an adverb, since all adverbs are capitalized across all style guides.

Here are a few titles that feature adverbs, whether they end in -ly or not:

• “Isla and the Happily Ever After ” by Stephanie Perkins
• “A Fairly Honourable Defeat” by Iris Murdoch
• “ Tomorrow , and Tomorrow , and Tomorrow ” by Gabrielle Zevin
• “A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York” by Anjelica Huston

So far, we’ve looked at the two major rules where all style guides agree: capitalizing the first and final words of a title, as well as any “principal” or important words, like nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. The next rule is where it gets a little bit more complicated.

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3. Don’t capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, or prepositions

Unless you’re working with a style guide that says otherwise (or if they’re the first or final word in a title), the following types of words are not capitalized:

• Articles — the tiny words that come before nouns to indicate whether it’s a general concept or a particular, specific thing, e.g., “ the garden” vs. “ a garden”
• Prepositions — words that precede nouns to show direction or place, or to establish a relationship between two things, e.g., “ opposite the library,” “ next to the cat” 
• Coordinating conjunctions — words that link two parts of a sentence that can stand on their own, e.g., “I was tired. Alice went to bed” vs. “I was tired and Alice went to bed.”

Here are the words that fall under these categories:

📚 For more examples and information on prepositions, head to this page by the University of Ottawa.

Here are a few book titles that do not capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (unless they are the first or last words of the title):

• In Search  of Lost Time  by Marcel Proust
• Crime  and Punishment  by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• The Catcher  in the Rye  by J. D. Salinger
• The Portrait  of a Lady  by Henry James
• Again,  but Better  by Christine Riccio
• Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions, on the other hand, are capitalized. These words introduce a new part to the sentence dependent on the main sentence, or clause. Subordinating conjunctions include: if, since, as, when, although, while, after, before, until, because.

Because titles are not typically multi-clause sentences, it’s harder to intuit which group a conjunction belongs to. The simplest way to know when to capitalize conjunctions is to just remember which are coordinating and which subordinating. 

Subordinating conjunctions do get capitalized, as in these title examples:

• Things Have Gotten Worse  Since We Last Spoke  by Eric LaRocca
• As Good  As Dead  by Holly Jackson
• What If ?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions  by Randall Munroe
• Live Right and Find Happiness ( Although Beer Is Much Faster): Life Lessons and Other Ravings  by Dave Barry

4. When in doubt, refer to your style guide

If you're writing for a specific institution, keep their style guide bookmarked. For your convenience, here's what the four most commonly used style guides in North America require when it comes to capitalizing titles correctly:

Chicago Manual of Style

Capitalize:

• The first and last words of a title
• Verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs

Don’t capitalize:

• Articles, prepositions of any length, and coordinating conjunctions
• “To,” if used in an infinitive (e.g., “Failure to Launch” )

Modern Languages Association (MLA) Handbook

American psychological association (apa) publication manual.

• Words that consist of more than four letters, even conjunctions and prepositions
• Words shorter than four letters

The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook

• “To,” if used in an infinitive (e.g., “Failure To Launch” )
• Articles and prepositions shorter than four letters
• Coordinating conjunctions

You’ll notice that the first two, Chicago and MLA, are the same — whereas AP and APA share an enthusiasm for capitalizing words longer than four letters.

Now compare these book titles:

See the difference? 

• Chicago and MLA don’t capitalize “along” because it’s a preposition. 
• AP and APA do capitalize it because it’s longer than four letters long. 
• “For” is a coordinating conjunction (so lowercase for Chicago and MLA) and not long enough to be capitalized in AP and APA.
• All four style guides capitalize the first and last words of the title, as well as the first word of the subtitle.

🎯 Want to test yourself? Head over to our book title generator and give it a whirl. Write down what titles you’re given and then ask yourself how they’d be formatted for each style guide. 

Those are all the rules, so you can go ahead and capitalize your title. Beyond your title, if you’ve got a whole manuscript in need of polishing, consider hiring a copy editor to take care of the finer details.

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If you want to expand your knowledge of niche linguistic matters even further, head over to the world of punctuation with our post on using hyphens and dashes correctly. Just don’t forget your linguist geek hat.

Continue reading

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What to Capitalize in a Title: APA Title Capitalization Rules

Which words do you capitalize in a title?

Have you ever been confused about which words to capitalize in the title of your manuscript ? You have probably seen titles where only the first word is capitalized (so-called “sentence case”), titles where all words seem to be capitalized (“title case”), and also titles that look like combinations of the two. And you might have wondered where there is any general rule to all this. 

The answer is that, no, there is not really one general capitalization rule, but there are several style-dependent capitalization guidelines you can rely on, and the journal you plan to submit to will tell you (in their author instructions ) which one they want you to apply to your manuscript before submission. Just like you format your manuscript and reference list following APA or MLA formatting rules, you apply the respective style guide to capitalize your title, headings, and subheadings . In this article, we will first explain the general rules on what types of words to capitalize (e.g., nouns, articles, and conjunctions) and then look at the APA and MLA style guides in particular and their specific variations of those rules.

Research Paper Title Capitalization Rules

According to most style guides, all proper nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in titles of books and articles are to be capitalized. Some elements of titles are, however, never capitalized, such as articles (except articles at the beginning of a title), and some, such as conjunctions, can or cannot be capitalized, depending on the specific style guide variation. In the following, we will outline the general rules for all the different words in your title so that you can orient yourself easily to the different style guides and adapt your title quickly when necessary. 

Capitalizing Nouns and Pronouns in Titles

Nouns (including formal names of people, organizations, and places) and pronouns are easy to format, as all style guides agree that they should always be capitalized using title case capitalization. 

Capitalizing Articles in Titles

The rules for articles are also simple, as all major style guides agree that articles should be lowercase in titles—unless they represent the first and/or last word in the title:

In the latter example, the first “the” is capitalized because it is the first word of the title, while the second “the” is lowercase as articles usually are. Note that the same rule regarding article capitalization applies to subtitles as well.

Capitalizing Conjunctions in Titles

Conjunctions are a slightly more complicated case, as style guides differ on whether to capitalize them or on which conjunctions to capitalize. According to some guides,  conjunctions of three letters or fewer are to be written in lowercase while longer ones should be capitalized. Other style guides, however, state to write all conjunctions in lowercase, or make exceptions for specific conjunctions such as “yet”, “so”, and “as”. It is therefore always necessary to look up the specific rules of the target journal before submitting a manuscript—and have a look at our sections on APA and MLA style below. The following examples are, however, fairly universal:

Capitalizing Prepositions in Titles

Capitalization rules for prepositions are equally ambiguous and depend on the specific style guide you follow. Prepositions of four letters or more are often capitalized, while according to some style guides, all prepositions are written in lowercase, no matter their length. Sometimes, for example, when following the Chicago Manual of Style , capitalization depends on how a preposition is used in a title and whether it does indeed function as a preposition. According to this rule, prepositions are capitalized when they are used “adverbially or adjectivally” in prepositional phrases (as in “How to Back Up a Computer”), but not when used otherwise.

Capitalizing Adjectives and Adverbs in Titles     

Rules for capitalizing adjectives and adverbs , like nouns, are unproblematic, as they are capitalized across style guides. 

Capitalizing Verbs in Titles      

Verbs are another easy case and are also always capitalized, according to all style guides. 

Title Case Rules by Style Guide

Apa title case rules   .

APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used for scholarly articles in the behavioral and social sciences. The APA guidelines on when to capitalize a title include the following rules:

MLA Title Case Rules  

The Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook , used primarily to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities, promotes the following rules for when to capitalize a title or header:

Additional Rules for Title Capitalization 

As we have stressed several times throughout this article, it is crucial to always check the specific rules of the target journal and/or the rules of the style guide the target journal wants you to follow—note that these can sometimes conflict with each other, in which case the journal rules override the style guide. Apart from the two common style guides we explained here, APA and MLA , there are several others that have their own rules, such as the Chicago Manual of Style , the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style , or the Associated Press Stylebook , an American English grammar style and usage guide originally developed for AP writers but now used widely across journalistic fields. There is even a specific set of rules for the capitalization of titles of Wikipedia articles !

One capitalization rule that might not necessarily be mentioned in such style guides but is relevant for some academic/scientific fields is that when the Latin name of a species is mentioned, the second portion of the name must be written in lowercase, even when the rest of the title follows title case rules.

Another capitalization rule you might need when describing research experiments is that both elements of spelled-out numbers or simple fractions should be capitalized in title case:

Lastly, no matter your personal preference, make sure you always write the titles of books and articles exactly as they are written on the original document/in the original version, even if they do not seem to follow common capitalization rules.

Correct Capitalization in Your Title with Professional Editing    

If you are even more unsure now how to capitalize your title or find the author instructions of your target journal confusing (which can happen, since those sets of rules have often grown organically over a long period of time and, as a result, can lack consistency), then you might want to make use of professional English proofreading services , including paper editing services —your professional academic editor will figure such details out for you and make sure your manuscript is in the correct format before submission.

If you need more input on how to write and perfect the other parts of your manuscript, then head over to the Wordvice academic resources website where we have many more resources for you.

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Which Words in a Title Should Be Capitalized?

The Difference Between Sentence and Title Case

ThoughtCo/Richard Nordquist

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

There is no single set of rules for capitalizing words in a title of a book, article, essay, movie, song, poem, play, television program, or computer game. And, unfortunately, even style guides disagree, complicating matters.

However, here is a basic guide to the two most common methods, sentence case and title case , and the top differences between some of the main title capitalization styles. For most of us, it's a matter of selecting one convention and sticking to it.

First, which is which?

Sentence Case (Down Style) or Title Case (Up Style)

In sentence case, which is the simplest, titles are treated more like sentences: You capitalize the first word of the title and any proper nouns (not the same for subtitles).

In title case, on the other hand, which is the most prevalent in book titles and magazine and newspaper headlines, you capitalize the first and last words of the title and all nouns , pronouns , adjectives , verbs , adverbs , and subordinating conjunctions ( if , because , as , that , and so on). In other words, all the important words.

But this is where things start getting sticky. There are four main title capitalization styles: Chicago style (from the style manual published by the University of Chicago), APA style (from the American Psychological Association), AP style (from The Associated Press), and the MLA style (from the Modern Language Association).

In American mainstream publishing, Chicago and AP are the most widely used and referenced (APA and MLA are more used in scholarly articles). And when it comes to capitalization, it's the little words that they disagree on.

Little Words

According to "The Chicago Manual of Style," " articles ( a, an, the ), coordinating conjunctions ( and, but, or, for, nor ), and prepositions , regardless of length, are lowercased unless they are the first or last word of the title."

"The Associated Press Stylebook" is fussier. It calls for:

• Capitalizing the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of three or more letters
• Capitalizing an article— the, a, an —or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title

Other guides say that prepositions and conjunctions of fewer than five letters should be in lowercase—except at the beginning or end of a title. (For additional guidelines, see the glossary entry for title case .)

"Whichever preposition rule you adopt, you need to remember that many common prepositions [can also] function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, and when they do, they should be capitalized in a title," says Amy Einsohn in her "Copyeditor's Handbook."

A Capital Answer

So, should you use sentence case or title case?

If your school, college, or business has a house style  guide, that decision has been made for you. If not, simply pick one or the other (flip a coin if you have to), and then try to be consistent.

A note on  hyphenated compound words in a headline: As a general rule, says the latest edition of "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage" (that newspaper's style manual), "capitalize both parts of a hyphenated compound in a headline: Cease-Fire; Able-Bodied; Sit-In; Make-Believe; One-Fifth. When a hyphen is used with a prefix of two or three letters merely to separate doubled vowels or to clarify pronunciation , lowercase after the hyphen: Co-op; Re-entry; Pre-empt. But: Re-Sign; Co-Author. With a prefix of four letters or more, capitalize after the hyphen: Anti-Intellectual; Post-Mortem. In sums of money: $7 Million; $34 Billion."

One piece of advice on this subject comes from "The Chicago Manual of Style:" "Break a rule when it doesn't work."

And if you want a little help, there are sites online that will check your titles for you.

• Definition and Examples of Title Case and Headline Style
• All About Capitalization
• The Title in Composition
• Bibliography: Definition and Examples
• 140 Key Copyediting Terms and What They Mean
• Lowercase Letters Explained
• The Best Examples of Palindromes in the English Language
• Bicapitalization, From DreamWorks to YouTube
• Capital vs. Capitol: How to Choose the Right Word
• The Complimentary Close in a Letter or Email
• Proper Nouns in English Grammar
• Sniglet Definition and Examples
• What Is Newspeak?
• Using Sentence Case for Titles, Headings, and Headlines
• What Are Endnotes, Why Are They Needed, and How Are They Used?
• What Is Anastrophe in Rhetoric?

Title Page Setup

A title page is required for all APA Style papers. There are both student and professional versions of the title page. Students should use the student version of the title page unless their instructor or institution has requested they use the professional version. APA provides a student title page guide (PDF, 199KB) to assist students in creating their title pages.

Student title page

The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in this example.

Title page setup is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 2.3 and the Concise Guide Section 1.6

Related handouts

• Student Title Page Guide (PDF, 263KB)
• Student Paper Setup Guide (PDF, 3MB)

Student papers do not include a running head unless requested by the instructor or institution.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the student title page.

Professional title page

The professional title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation(s), author note, running head, and page number, as shown in the following example.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the professional title page.

Screen Rant

"shame on them": walking dead creator admits his biggest criticism of 'the ones who live' spin-off title.

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"The Voice You Hear When You're Lying Awake at Night": Walking Dead Creator Admits the Fan Critique That Got to Him

Absolute batman's first battle with [spoiler] changes everything we know about gotham lore, star wars just made yoda hiding from emperor palpatine totally unforgivable.

• Robert Kirkman playfully criticized AMC for changing Andrea's iconic quote, " we're the ones that live, " to be more grammatically accurate, when it was used for the title of The Walking Dead spin-off series The Ones Who Live .
• The Walking Dead Deluxe rerelease of the zombie comic series routinely offers insight into Kirkman's creative process and the evolution of the series – on the page as well as on screen.
• Fans can expect to learn more about the differences between The Walking Dead comic and TV show – and how Robert Kirkman feels about them – in upcoming issues of The Walking Dead Deluxe .

Warning! Spoilers for The Walking Dead comic series ahead. Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead , teased that there was one unforgivable sin television channel AMC had committed against his work: changing Andrea's iconic line " we're the ones that live ," to a more grammatically proper form when it became the title of the spin-off series The Ones Who Live .

The Walking Dead Deluxe #94 – written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Charlie Adlard – is a full-color reprint of the original issue, first released in 2012. Like every issue of the Deluxe rerelease of the series, annotations from Kirkman on the writing of the series are included alongside the original letters' page , offering a wealth of insight into the book's evolution and the author's creative process.

In this case, Kirkman took a tongue-in-cheek swipe at the grammatical change to the title of The Ones Who Live , jokingly calling it " a decision [he] cannot abide ."

Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman acknowledged that one criticism of the series plagued him during sleepless nights – even if he disagreed with it.

Robert Kirkman On The "Shame" Of Having AMC's Walking Dead Spin-Off Correct His Grammar

The walking dead deluxe #94 – written by robert kirkman; art by charlie adlard; color by dave mccaig; lettering by rus wooten.

Kirkman's comment comes in jest, seemingly playing off his magnanimity in dealing with the many changes between his book and The Walking Dead's TV iterations.

The Walking Dead #94 contains Andrea's iconic declaration that: " we're the ones who live ." According to Robert Kirkman, this was the moment that truly kicked off what would become a long-running romance between Andrea and Rick Grimes . Consequently, when a TV series was developed focusing on Rick and his on-screen love interest Michonne, the quote offered the perfect title for the show – or, rather, almost perfect. In his notes for the Deluxe edition of the issue, Kirkman noted:

As Andrea's storyline got adapted to Michonne in the TV series, that line was also inspiration for the spin-off show The Ones Who Live. They went with the more grammatically correct choice. A decision I cannot abide. Shame on them.

Grammar dispute aside, it is interesting to note how Kirkman views the parallels between the Rick-Michonne and Rick-Andrea pairings.

Of course, Kirkman's comment comes in jest, seemingly playing off his magnanimity in dealing with the many changes between his book and The Walking Dead's TV iterations . As The Walking Dead Deluxe continues – and the author has the opportunity to revisit the Rick-Andrea relationship as it develops – what will be most exciting for readers following along will be to learn more about how the comic book version of Rick's love life informed the subsequent TV version, even if the character and circumstances were ultimately remixed.

The Walking Dead Deluxe Explores The Evolution Of The Franchise In Multiple Mediums

The "adaptation era" enters full swing.

The second half of [ The Walking Dead Deluxe ] reprint will increasingly also offer a window into the behind-the-scenes of the TV series' transformation from a niche horror show to a massive pop culture force.

At the time of The Walking Dead #94's original publication, AMC's The Walking Dead adaptation was still early in its run, to the point where it was very much still finding its footing. In retrospect, fans recognize the show as an eleven-season juggernaut, and a cultural phenomenon – spawning multiple spin-offs, including The Ones Who Live – but in 2012, its future was still far from determined. What is certain is that the show and comic co-existed for the remainder of the comic's run, through the peak of the show's success.

All of that is to say, The Walking Dead Deluxe is sure to contain some fascinating insights into Kirkman's work on, and thoughts about, the TV series . So far, the Deluxe reprint has been a gold mine for readers who want to know about the comic's evolution; the second half of the reprint will increasingly also offer a window into the behind-the-scenes of the TV series' transformation from a niche horror show to a massive pop culture force. In other words, for fans of The Walking Dead franchise – in whatever medium – the Deluxe reissue is essential reading.

The Walking Dead Deluxe #94 is available now from Image Comics.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

Created by Scott M. Gimple and Danai Gurira, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is a sequel spin-off series in The Walking Dead television franchise. The series picks up some time after Michonne departs from the original series, as she searches to be reunited with her lover, Rick Grimes. Meanwhile, Rick finds himself amid another war between the living and the dead.

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• Capitalization Rules in English | Quick Guide & Examples

Capitalization Rules in English | Quick Guide & Examples

Published on April 19, 2019 by Amy Luo . Revised on September 4, 2023.

In English, a capital letter is used for the first word of a sentence and for all proper nouns (words that name a specific person, place, organization, or thing).

In some cases, capitalization is also required for the first word in a quotation and the first word after a colon .

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Table of contents

Recognizing proper nouns, directions and regions, theories, models and disciplines, capitalization within quotations, capitalization after a colon, capitalizing titles.

A proper noun is the specific name of a person, place, organization, or thing. All proper nouns (as well as adjectives derived from them) should be capitalized.

Michelle Obama , the former first lady, was raised in Chicago and is a graduate of Harvard Law School .

A common noun , on the other hand, refers to a general, non-specific category or entity. Common nouns are not normally capitalized (unless they are the first word of a sentence or part of a title).

Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy are forms of government classified according to which people have the authority to rule.

There are no proper nouns in the example above. Words like  democracy ,  government and  authority refer to general concepts and categories rather than specific names.

Common nouns often become proper nouns when used to name a specific entity:

Times and events

Specific periods and named events in history are proper nouns and thus capitalized. Centuries, however, stay in lowercase.

• The Middle Ages were dismissed as backward by Renaissance thinkers.
• The Paleozoic Era began 541 million years ago.
• The Great Depression affected virtually every country in the world.
• Impressionism was a pivotal artistic development in the nineteenth century .

Days of the week (e.g., Wednesday ), months of the year (e.g., August ), and holidays and festivals (e.g., Christmas , Ramadan ) are capitalized. However, the four seasons are common nouns and therefore not capitalized unless they appear as part of a proper noun.

• I plan on visiting New York in the summer .
• I plan on attending the Summer Olympics next year.

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North, east, south, and west are not capitalized when they refer to a direction or general area. This also applies to derivative adjectives and adverbs :

• I live five miles north of London.
• Warm, westerly winds passed through the city.
• The fire affected only the northern region of the forest.

However, capitalization is required for these words when they are part of a proper name or when they refer to a distinct region.

• The North Pole has a wider variety of animal life than the South Pole.
• The scope of the book is limited to the history of Western civilization.
• Cameroon’s East Region borders the Central African Republic.

Whether a geographical area is named as a distinct region can vary between countries.

• They took a road trip down the West Coast of the United States .
• We took a road trip up the west coast of Scotland .

If you’re unsure whether to capitalize the name of an area or region, check a dictionary or consult academic sources for common usage.

In academic writing, some types of nouns are often incorrectly capitalized. The table below shows academic terms that should not be capitalized. Note, though, that proper nouns within these terms are still capitalized as usual.

However, note that the names of existing tests, inventories and questionnaires should be capitalized.

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
• UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist

When the quote forms a complete sentence, capitalize the first word.

John asked, “Are these library books overdue?”

When the quote is a fragment incorporated into your own sentence, the first word is not capitalized.

She referred to him as “a plague sore.”

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When a colon introduces a list or any phrase that is not a complete sentence, do not capitalize the first word (unless it is a proper noun).

She filled the picnic basket with a variety of snacks: cookies, bread, dips, and fruits.

When a colon introduces a complete sentence, capitalization rules vary between style guides. According to APA style , the first word after the colon should be capitalized.

She had been up all night studying: She was determined to get the top grade in the class.

But according to Chicago style , the first word following the colon should be capitalized only if there is more than one complete explanatory sentence following the colon.

She had been up all night studying: she was determined to get the top grade in the class.

She had been up all night studying: She was determined to get the top grade in the class. It would guarantee her the prestigious scholarship.

The capitalization rules for the titles of books, articles, movies, art, and other works vary slightly between style guides. But in general, the following rules apply across major style guides, including APA , MLA , and Chicago .

• Capitalize the first word of the title and (if applicable) the subtitle
• Capitalize the last word
• Capitalize all nouns, verbs , adjectives , adverbs , pronouns , and subordinating conjunctions
• Use lowercase for articles (the, a, an), prepositions , and coordinating conjunctions

I prefer The Taming of the Shrew over Romeo and Juliet .

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the last in a trilogy.

Capitalizing headings in papers

When writing a paper or thesis, you have two options for capitalizing the headings of chapters and sections . You can use title case for all headings , as in the examples above.

3.1 Emerging Coffee Markets in North America

Alternatively, you can choose to use sentence case , which means you only capitalize the first word and proper nouns, as in a normal sentence.

3.1 Emerging coffee markets in North America

Some style guides have specific requirements for capitalizing headings (see, for example, how to format APA headings and subheadings ). Whichever approach you choose, make sure to be consistent: all headings at the same level should take the same capitalization style.

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Luo, A. (2023, September 04). Capitalization Rules in English | Quick Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 13, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/capitalization-rules/

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Taylor Swift Changes Alleged Kim Kardashian Diss Track ‘thanK you aIMee’ to Highlight ‘Ye’

The track is about a bully under the alias 'Aimee,' which Swifties believe is Kim.

It looks like Taylor Swift ‘ s feud with Kanye “Ye” West and Kim Kardashian will never end. Amid her ongoing Eras Tour , the 34-year-old international pop icon released the live version of her The Tortured Poets Department song “thanK you aIMee” — a rumored dig at the 43-year-old reality TV star — and made a slight tweak to the title. Instead of capitalizing the letters “KIM,” the live version’s title has the letters “YE” capitalized.

Upon the album’s release, Swifties were convinced that “thanK you aIMee” was a sly jab at Kim over her and Taylor’s long-term feud. Now that the song title has Ye’s name capitalized, fans believe that the title switch is a diss against the 47-year-old “Stronger” rapper.

Throughout the track, Taylor sings about a high school bully named “Aimee.” In one verse of the song, she points out the “legacy” that she built.

Taylor Swift’s updates “thanK you aIMee” in new ‘TTPD’ digital release to capitalize YE. Swift recently blocked the rapper from #1 on Billboard 200, ending his 11 album streak debuting at top of chart. pic.twitter.com/8Iexngf8tc — Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 15, 2024

“I wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool / I built a legacy that you can’t undo,” Taylor sings. “But when I count the scars, there’s a moment of truth / That there wouldn’t be this if there hadn’t been you.”

In the chorus, Taylor describes the foundation she was building while “Aimee” tormented her.

“All that time you were throwing punches / I was building something,” she sings. “And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed F**k you, Aimee to the night sky / As the blood was gushing / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”

Taylor’s rift with Ye and Kim dates back to 2009. That year, Taylor won the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards, but Ye interrupted her acceptance speech by claiming that Beyoncé had “one of the best videos of all time.” An embarrassed Taylor fell silent as Ye walked away. Years later, the fellow music artists patched things up and became friends. In fact, Taylor was even photographed with both Ye and his then-wife, Kim, at the Grammys in 2015. However, everything changed one year later when Ye released his song “Famous,” which features a dig at Taylor. After the “Karma” artist contested the lyric, Kim released videos of a phone call between Taylor and Ye, in which Taylor was heard agreeing with a portion of the lyric. The pop singer faced harsh criticism on social media and took a hiatus from the spotlight as a result of the conflict.

During her December 2023 TIME cover story, Taylor explained how the ordeal with Kim and Ye affected her personal life .

“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited, and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” the “Love Story” singer claimed. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. … I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”

Taylor Swift seemingly shifts shade from Kim Kardashian to Ye with updated song title

Taylor Swift seemed to take aim at Ye , the rapper formerly known as Kanye West , with an updated title for a song from her album "The Tortured Poets Department."

Taylor Nation announced the release of a digital album Thursday featuring a mash up of the song, "thanK you aIMee" and 2010 hit "Mean" — which was performed by Swift in Wembley in June as part of her London Eras Tour.

The song’s original title "thanK you aIMee," with the letters K I and M capitalized, is widely considered to be one of the megastar's most overt diss tracks, targeting Kim Kardashian following a rumored yearslong feud . But the Taylor Nation announcement instead highlighted the letters Y and E in the song's title — seemingly calling out Ye.

Swift and West's back-and-forth can be traced back to 2010, when the rapper snatched the microphone from Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards as she was accepting the "Best Female Video" award.

The situation came to a head following the controversy surrounding West’s lyrics about Swift in his song “Famous.” Swift claimed she was unaware that West would refer to her as “that b----” in his song. But West’s wife at the time, Kim Kardashian, shared a short and edited video in 2016 of West apparently speaking to Swift and getting her approval for the song.

A representative for Swift said at the time that the rapper did not call her for approval, but to ask her to release the song on her Twitter.

"She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that b---h famous'," the representative said.

In 2020, the 25-minute video of the call between Swift and West was leaked and it appeared to back up the pop star’s story.

Swift performed the "thank You aimEe" and "Mean" mash up for a packed Wembley Stadium in June. She started by thanking the audience for supporting her performance on the iconic stage.

"But on the other hand, it really makes me think about how every time somebody talks s***, it just makes me work even harder and it makes me that much tougher," she said. "So, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people."

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Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025

The former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the White House and limit the independence of federal agencies.

Donald J. Trump intends to bring independent regulatory agencies under direct presidential control. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times

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By Jonathan Swan Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman

• Published July 17, 2023 Updated July 18, 2023

Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.

Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.

Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.

Mr. Trump intends to bring independent agencies — like the Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control.

He wants to revive the practice of “impounding” funds, refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon.

He intends to strip employment protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants, making it easier to replace them if they are deemed obstacles to his agenda. And he plans to scour the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaucracies to remove officials he has vilified as “the sick political class that hates our country.”

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