Grammar

Capitalization

1.  For proper nouns and adjectives derived from them:

    Many people from Vietnamese descent live in Los Angeles.

2.  For generic names with a proper noun:

    The college is located on Carson Street.

3.  For the first word in a sentence:

    Did you leave the oven on when you left the house?

4.  For the pronoun I:

    Even if I wanted to, I could not ski.

5.  For the title of a relative when the relative is named:

    That blonde woman is Aunt Delia.

6.  For titles that precede a proper name (but not when a name is not given):

    That man in the blue suit is President Barack Obama.

    My doctor is Doctor Moore.

    My friend is a professor of English.

7.  For words in titles (except coordinating conjunctions, articles, and prepositions):

Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite movies.

8.  For races and ethnic groups:

    My friend Laurie married a Nigerian last year.

9.  For historical, religious, or political groups:

    Many Catholics tend to consider themselves Republicans.

10.  For points on the compass:

    The hurricane traveled NW toward the Florida coast.

11.  For specific course titles:

    I took Renaissance Literature last semester.

12.  For seasons only if they refer to semesters or issues of magazines:

    Jim plans to enroll at Yale in the Fall 2005 semester.

13.  For formal systems, organized departments, etc.:

    Most personal computers have Windows installed on them.

    The English Department has some great instructors.

14.  For the first word of a complete sentence in parentheses:

    She was nearly hit in the head.  (Of course, she never knew.)

15.  For names and abbreviations of associations, clubs, and organizations:

    The Kiwanis Club meets once a month.

16.  For sacred names:

    The Bible is a very important book for Christians.

17.  For directions when they are used as specific geographic places:

    Have you ever visited the Northeast?

    I have only been to New York City and Boston.

These rules have been adapted from
Summary of Punctuation and Capitalization Rules
by Ann Humes
http://www.lbcc.edu/WRSC/documents/PunctuationCapitalizationRules.pdf