Automatically Capitalize Your Title
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The rules of title capitalization
- Capitalize the first and the last word.
- Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions.
- Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, yet) and prepositions (of, in, on, to, with…).
- Lowercase the "to" in an infinitive (I Want to Play Guitar).
- Capitalize the first word after a colon, and each part of a hyphenated compound except minor words inside it (Up-to-Date).
Paraphrased from The Chicago Manual of Style. The style guides differ mainly on one question: is a longer preposition such as with, from or about capitalized?
AP and APA style
AP (the Associated Press Stylebook: news, journalism, blogs) and APA (7th edition: psychology, social sciences, academic papers) capitalize every word of four or more letters, prepositions included (With, From, About, Into). Shorter articles, conjunctions and prepositions stay lowercase unless they are the first or last word: What I Learned About Writing From Ten Years of Running.
Five or more letters (Wikipedia Manual of Style)
Prepositions of five or more letters are capitalized (About, Under, Between) and shorter ones are not (with, from, into): What I Learned About Writing from Ten Years of Running. This is the rule in Wikipedia's Manual of Style.
Chicago and MLA style
Chicago (The Chicago Manual of Style: books, publishing, history) and MLA (9th edition: literature, humanities, essays) keep every preposition lowercase, whatever its length, along with articles and coordinating conjunctions: What I Learned about Writing from Ten Years of Running.
Title case examples
| You type | AP / APA | Chicago / MLA |
|---|---|---|
| the lord of the rings: the return of the king | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| a tale of two cities | A Tale of Two Cities | A Tale of Two Cities |
| what i learned from ten years of running | What I Learned From Ten Years of Running | What I Learned from Ten Years of Running |
| how to win friends and influence people | How to Win Friends and Influence People | How to Win Friends and Influence People |
| the old man and the sea | The Old Man and the Sea | The Old Man and the Sea |
| everything you need to know about title case | Everything You Need to Know About Title Case | Everything You Need to Know about Title Case |
| why you should never start with a preposition | Why You Should Never Start With a Preposition | Why You Should Never Start with a Preposition |
| gone with the wind | Gone With the Wind | Gone with the Wind |
| a step-by-step guide to the u.s. tax code | A Step-by-Step Guide to the U.S. Tax Code | A Step-by-Step Guide to the U.S. Tax Code |
Frequently asked questions
What is title case?
Title case is the capitalization style used for titles and headlines: the first and last words and all "major" words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions) start with a capital letter, while "minor" words — articles, coordinating conjunctions and short prepositions — stay lowercase.
Which words are not capitalized in a title?
Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, yet) and prepositions (of, in, on, to, with, from…) are lowercase unless they are the first or last word. Whether longer prepositions like "with", "from" or "about" are capitalized depends on the style guide: AP and APA capitalize any word of four or more letters; Chicago and MLA keep prepositions lowercase regardless of length.
Is "is" capitalized in a title?
Yes. "Is" is a verb, and verbs are always capitalized in title case, no matter how short. The same goes for "be", "are", "was" and "am".
Should I capitalize "with", "from" and "about"?
In AP and APA style, yes — they have four or more letters. In Chicago and MLA style, no — they are prepositions, which stay lowercase regardless of length. Pick the matching setting above and the tool applies the rule for you.
Do you capitalize the word after a colon in a title?
Yes. The first word after a colon (or a question mark, period or exclamation point) starts a new unit of the title and is capitalized, even if it is a minor word like "the" or "a".
How are hyphenated words capitalized?
Capitalize each part of a hyphenated compound except minor words in the middle of it: "Self-Driving Cars", "Up-to-Date Advice", "State-of-the-Art Design".
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