Functional English (Capitalization and Punctuation)

Rules in
Capitalization
and Punctuation

RULE NO. 1
Capitalize the first
word of a quoted
sentence.

• He said, "Treat her as you
would your own daughter.“
• "Look out!" she screamed.
"You almost ran into my child."

RULE NO. 2
Capitalize a proper
noun.

• Golden Gate Bridge
• Dr. Jose P. Rizal
• Pasig Catholic College

RULE NO. 3
Capitalize a person's title when
it precedes the name. Do not
capitalize when the title is
acting as a description
following the name.

• Chairperson Petrov
• Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of
the company, will address us at
noon.

RULE NO. 4
Capitalize the person's title
when it follows the name on
the address or signature line.

• Sincerely,
Ms. Haines, Chairperson
• Yours truly,
Dr. Rolando P. Castro, Dean

RULE NO. 5
Capitalize the titles of high-ranking
government officials
when used before their
names. Do not capitalize the
civil title if it is used instead of
the name.

• The president will address
Congress.
• President Noynoy Aquino
delivered his SONA last week.

RULE NO. 6
Capitalize any title when
used as a direct address.

• Will you take my temperature,
Doctor?
• Do you have a court hearing,
Attorney?

RULE NO. 7
Capitalize points of the compass
only when they refer to
specific regions.

• Go south three blocks and then
turn left.
•We live in the southeast
section of town.

RULE NO. 8
Always capitalize the first and last words of
titles of publications regardless of their
parts of speech. Capitalize other words
within titles, including the short verb
forms Is, Are, and Be.
Do not capitalize little words within titles such as a, an, the, but,
as, if, and, or, nor, or prepositions, regardless of their length.

• The Day of the Jackal
• What Color Is Your Parachute?
• A Tale of Two Cities

RULE NO. 9
Capitalize federal or state when used
as part of an official agency name or
in government documents where
these terms represent an official
name. If they are being used as
general terms, you may use
lowercase letters.

• That is a federal offense.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation
has been subject to much scrutiny
and criticism lately.
• We will visit three states during our
summer vacation.

RULE NO. 10
Capitalize the first word of a
salutation and the first word of
a complimentary close.

• Dear Ms. Pedroza:
• My dear Mr. Sanchez:
• Very truly yours,

RULE NO. 11
After a sentence ending with a
colon, do not capitalize the
first word if it begins a list.

• These are my favorite foods:
chocolate cake, spaghetti and
adobo.
• These are my skills:
programming, driving and multi-tasking.

RULE NO. 12
Do not capitalize names of
seasons.

• I love autumn colors and
spring flowers.
• Philippines has summer and
rainy seasons.

Top Ten
Rules in
Punctuation

10. COMMA (,)
• Use commas to separate independent clauses
in a sentence
Example:
1. The game was over, but the crowd refused
to leave.
2. Yesterday was her brother’s birthday, so she
took him out to dinner.

10. COMMA
• Use commas after introductory words,
phrases, or clauses that come before the main
clause
Examples:
1. While I was eating, the cat scratched at the
door.
2. If you are ill, you ought to see a doctor.

10. COMMA
• Use a pair of commas to separate an aside
from the main body of the sentence.
Example:
1. John and Inga, the couple from next door, are
coming for dinner tonight.

10. COMMA
• Use commas to set off all geographical
names, items in dates (except the month and
day), addresses (except the street number
and name), and titles in names.
Example:
1. Birmingham, Alabama, got its name from
Birmingham, England.
2. July 22, 2011, was a momentous day in his
life.

10. COMMA
• Use a comma to shift between the main
discourse and a quotation.
Example:
1. John said without emotion, “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”
2. “I was able,” she answered, “to complete the
assignment.”

9. Period (.)
• The primary use of a period is to end a
sentence.
Example:
1. Business English is very important for your
professional growth.

9. Period (.)
• Its second important use is for abbreviations.
Examples:
1. Jesus Christ was born c. 4-6AD
2. Mr. Jose was happy to see his wife.

8. Question Mark (?)
• It goes at the end of a sentence which is a
question.
Examples:
1. What can you do for the company?
2. How can you be an asset?

7. Exclamation Point (!)
• This is used in ending extreme emotions
expressed in a sentence.
Example:
1. Ouch!
2. Fire! Fire!

6. Quotation marks (“”)
• are used to quote another person’s words
exactly, whether they be spoken, or written
Examples:
1. John said, “We are going shopping.”
2. As D. H. Nachas explains, “The gestures used
for greeting others differ greatly from one
culture to another.”

6. Quotation marks (“”)
• used to denote irony or sarcasm, or to note
something unusual about it
Example:
1. The great march of “progress” has left
millions impoverished and hungry.

5. Colon (:)
• used after a complete statement in order to
introduce one or more directly related ideas, such
as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or
other comment illustrating or explaining the
statement
Example:
1. The daily newspaper contains four sections:
news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads.

5. Colon (:)
• used to separate chapter and verse from the
bible or to separate hours, minutes, and
seconds
Example:
1. John 1:21
2. 09:25:12

4. Semicolon (;)
• Use a semicolon to join related independent
clauses in compound sentences
Example:
1. Jim worked hard to earn his degree;
consequently, he was certain to achieve a
distinction.
2. Jane overslept by three hours; she was going
to be late for work again.

4. Semicolon (;)
• used to separate items in a series if the
elements of the series already include
commas
Example:
1. Members of the band include Harold Rostein,
clarinetist; Tony Aluppo, tuba player; and Lee
Jefferson, trumpeter.

3. Apostrophe ( ’)
• to form possessives of nouns
Example:
1. the boy’s hat
2. three day’s journey

• to show the omission of letters
Example:
1. He’ll go = He will go
2. could’ve = could have

• to form plurals
Example:
1. Mind your p’s and q’s.

2. Parentheses ( )
• occasionally and sparingly used for extra,
nonessential material included in a sentence
Example:
1. Before arriving at the station, the old train
(someone said it was a relic of frontier days)
caught fire.

1. Hyphen or dash (-)
• Use a hyphen to join two or more words
serving as a single adjective before a noun
Example:
1. chocolate-covered peanuts
2. Two-storey house

• Use a hyphen with compound numbers
Example:
1. Forty-five
2. Sixty-two

• Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex- (meaning
former), self-, all-; with the suffix -elect;
between a prefix and a capitalized word; and
with figures or letters
Example:
1. ex-husband
2. T-shirt

• Use the dash to emphasize a point or to set off an
explanatory comment; but don’t overuse dashes, or
they will lose their impact; typically represented on a
computer by two hyphens with no spaces before,
after, or between the hyphens
Example:
1. To some of you, my proposals may seem radical --
even revolutionary.

• used for an appositive phrase that already
includes commas
Example:
1. The boys–Jim, John, and Jeff–left the party
early.

Functional English (Capitalization and Punctuation)

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