EEE.2 Formatting and capitalizing titles
What does it mean to format and capitalize titles?
Formatting and capitalizing titles means writing the names of books, stories, and other works correctly so readers can easily recognize them.
- Charlotte’s Web is a book title.
- The Three Little Pigs is a story title.
Titles usually look different from regular sentences because they follow special capitalization rules.
Which words are capitalized in titles?
In a title, you should capitalize important words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and the first and last words.
- The Secret Garden
- How to Train Your Dragon
Do not capitalize short words like and, to, or the unless they are the first or last word in the title.
Formatting book and story titles
Book titles and long story titles are usually written in italics or underlined to show they are titles.
- I am reading Matilda.
- My favorite book is Because of Winn-Dixie.
If you are writing by hand, you may underline the title instead of using italics.
Formatting short titles
Short titles, such as poems, songs, and short stories, are usually placed inside quotation marks.
- We read “The Fox and the Grapes” in class.
- She sang the song “America the Beautiful.”
Quotation marks help show that the words are the name of a short piece, not part of the sentence.
Checking your title formatting
After writing a title, check that it is capitalized and formatted correctly.
- Are important words capitalized?
- Is the title in italics, underlined, or in quotation marks?
- Does the title stand out from the sentence?
Correctly formatted titles make your writing clearer and easier to read.