Title Capitalization Rules
In a title, capitalize the first word and every major word: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. Keep short articles, conjunctions and prepositions in small letters. This style is called title case.
The style guides agree on that much. They differ on prepositions, on the word "to" and on the last word. This guide gives the shared title capitalization rules first, then the differences between APA, Chicago, AP and MLA.
Which words are capitalized in a title?
These rules are the same in the four style guides.
| Word type | Examples | In a title |
|---|---|---|
| First word | Any word | Capital letter |
| Nouns and pronouns | dog, city, it, that | Capital letter |
| Verbs, also short ones | is, are, be, do, run | Capital letter |
| Adjectives and adverbs | big, new, very, not | Capital letter |
| Articles | a, an, the | Small letter |
| Short conjunctions | and, but, or, nor | Small letter |
| Short prepositions | of, in, on, at, to, by | Small letter |
The most common mistake is the second and third row. "Is", "it" and "be" are short, but they are a verb or a pronoun, so they get a capital letter: This Is It, not "This is it".
Where APA, Chicago, AP and MLA differ
The four guides differ on four points. The length of a preposition is the main one.
| Rule | APA | Chicago | AP | MLA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepositions in small letters | 3 letters or fewer | 4 letters or fewer | 3 letters or fewer | All, at any length |
| with, from, into, over | Capital letter | Small letter | Capital letter | Small letter |
| between, through, without | Capital letter | Capital letter | Capital letter | Small letter |
| "to" before a verb (to live) | Small letter | Small letter | Capital letter | Small letter |
| Last word | No special rule | Always a capital letter | Always a capital letter | Always a capital letter |
- APA Style states the rule by length: capitalize all words of four letters or more, and keep minor words of three letters or fewer in small letters.
- The Chicago Manual of Style changed its rule with the 18th edition. Its own online Q&A says that prepositions of more than four letters are now capitalized in titles. Before that, Chicago kept all prepositions small at any length.
- AP and MLA. The AP Stylebook and the MLA Handbook are not free to read online. Their columns in the table follow the widely published summaries of the two books, so check the book itself for work that must be exact.
One title in four styles
| Style | Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|---|
| APA | How to Live With a Dog That Is Afraid of Storms | Life Between the Wars |
| Chicago (18th edition) | How to Live with a Dog That Is Afraid of Storms | Life Between the Wars |
| AP | How To Live With a Dog That Is Afraid of Storms | Life Between the Wars |
| MLA | How to Live with a Dog That Is Afraid of Storms | Life between the Wars |
Title 1 turns on two words. "With" has four letters, so APA and AP capitalize it and Chicago and MLA do not. "To" before the verb "live" gets a capital letter only in AP.
Title 2 turns on "between". It has seven letters, so only MLA, which keeps every preposition small, writes it without a capital letter. Before its 18th edition, Chicago wrote it the same way as MLA.
Rules for hyphens and colons
- After a colon. The first word of a subtitle gets a capital letter, also when it is a minor word: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
- After a hyphen. APA capitalizes the second part of a hyphenated major word: Self-Report. The Microsoft Writing Style Guide gives the same result in its example Self-Paced Training.
- After a question mark or a dash. A new part of the title starts there, so its first word gets a capital letter.
Common mistakes in title capitalization
| Mistake | Wrong | Right |
|---|---|---|
| Short verb in small letters | What is a Slug | What Is a Slug |
| Short pronoun in small letters | Make it Work | Make It Work |
| Article with a capital letter | The End Of The Road | The End of the Road |
| Minor word small after a colon | Paris: a Short History | Paris: A Short History |
| Every word capitalized | A Day In The Life Of A Cat | A Day in the Life of a Cat |
A word is not judged by its length alone. First ask what kind of word it is. Only articles, conjunctions and prepositions can stay small.
How to capitalize a title with a tool
To convert case online, paste the title, choose Title Case and copy the result. Our converter uses one fixed rule set, so you know what to check afterwards.
| Our Title Case | What it means |
|---|---|
| 18 short words stay small | a, an, and, as, at, but, by, for, in, nor, of, on, or, so, the, to, up, yet |
| Every other word gets a capital letter | "With", "from" and "between" are capitalized, as in APA and AP |
| First and last word | Always a capital letter |
| After a colon, a dash, ? or ! | The next word gets a capital letter |
For both example titles above, the tool gives the APA version. It does not know grammar, so three things need a check by hand: names of people and places, short forms such as NASA, and the word "to" if you follow AP.
If you are not sure that title case is the right style at all, read the guide on title vs sentence case.
Frequently asked questions
- Is "is" capitalized in a title?
- Yes. "Is" is a verb, and verbs get a capital letter in every style guide, however short they are.
- Is "with" capitalized in a title?
- In APA and AP, yes, because it has four letters. In Chicago and MLA it stays in small letters.
- Is "the" capitalized in a title?
- Only as the first word of the title or of a subtitle. In the middle of a title it stays in small letters.
- Is the last word of a title always capitalized?
- In Chicago, AP and MLA, yes. APA has no special rule for the last word.
- Which words are not capitalized in a title?
- Articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but, or, nor) and short prepositions (of, in, on, at, to, by), unless one of them is the first word.