How to Capitalize Titles

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and earlier this week I told you about a book titled “You’re ok, your dog’s ok.” There were a number of grammar mistakes in this title, one of which was the fact that the only capitalized word was the first one. This is bad form for titles. The general rule is that every word should be capitalized. There are several exceptions. Articles, like a, an, and the, should only be capitalized if they are the first word in the title or the subtitle. Single-syllable prepositions, like “in” and “by,” shouldn’t be capitalized either unless, again, they’re the first word. And conjunctions, like and or but, also shouldn’t be capitalized—unless, again, they’re the first word. Which, by the way, should never be the case. Don’t start titles with conjunctions. It’s weird. That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.