Title Capitalization › AP style title case
AP Style Title Case Converter
Type or paste a title: it is capitalized by the AP Stylebook’s rules for composition titles as you type. Press Enter to copy it.
AP style title capitalization rules
The AP Stylebook sets these rules for composition titles — books, movies, TV shows, songs, albums, plays, poems, video games, speeches and works of art:
- Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters: With, From, About, That, When.
- Lowercase articles (a, an, the) and prepositions and conjunctions of three letters or fewer (and, but, for, of, in, on, to, by, at), unless one is the first or last word of the title.
- Short words that are not articles, prepositions or conjunctions are principal words: Is, Be, Man, Who, Too.
So: How to Talk to Your Kids About Money.
Quotation marks, not italics
AP style uses no italics. Composition titles go in quotation marks: “Gone With the Wind,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Some titles take neither: the Bible and other holy books, and reference works such as dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias and handbooks. Names of newspapers and magazines are not put in quotation marks either.
AP headlines use sentence case
These title-case rules are for the titles of compositions. The AP’s own news headlines are in sentence case — only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized:
| You type | AP headline |
|---|---|
| Stocks Close Higher as Investors Weigh Inflation Data | Stocks close higher as investors weigh inflation data |
| City Council Approves New Budget After Long Debate | City council approves new budget after long debate |
Many other publications use title case for headlines, so follow your publication’s style. For sentence case, use the sentence case converter.
AP style title case examples
| You type | AP style |
|---|---|
| gone with the wind | Gone With the Wind |
| the man who knew too much | The Man Who Knew Too Much |
| notes from underground | Notes From Underground |
| a song of ice and fire | A Song of Ice and Fire |
| what we talk about when we talk about love | What We Talk About When We Talk About Love |
What the converter handles, and what to check
- if is a conjunction of fewer than four letters, so it stays lowercase: What to Do if the Power Goes Out.
- A short word that belongs to a verb is capitalized: How to Sign Up for Early Voting, Back Off and Relax.
- yet used as an adverb is capitalized: The Best Is Yet to Come.
Check by hand: names typed in lowercase — type them the way they should look and your capitals are kept — and a rare phrasal verb it does not know.
AP style title case FAQ
Does AP style capitalize “with”?
Yes. AP capitalizes prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters, so With, From, Into and About are capitalized.
Are AP headlines in title case?
No. AP news headlines capitalize only the first word and proper nouns — sentence case. AP’s title-case rules are for the titles of books, movies, songs and other compositions.
Does AP style italicize titles?
No. AP style uses no italics: composition titles go in quotation marks, and reference books and holy books take neither.
Which words are lowercase in AP title case?
Articles (a, an, the) and prepositions and conjunctions of three letters or fewer — and, but, for, of, in, on, to, by, at — unless one is the first or last word of the title.
Is AP title case the same as APA title case?
The capitalization rule is the same — every word of four or more letters is capitalized — so the converter uses one setting for both. The styles differ elsewhere: AP puts titles in quotation marks and is written for news, while APA is for academic papers and uses sentence case in its reference list.