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Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,744 |
| Posted: | | | | [bockquote]For English titles do not capitalize joining words such as "of", "the", "a", "in", etc. unless they are the first, last or only word in of the title. May I ask what other words you wouldn't capitalize? Would you capitalize any two-letter-word?
No, it's not about a specific contribution or profile. | | | Karsten DVD Collectors Online
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| Registered: May 9, 2007 | Posts: 1,536 |
| Posted: | | | | Just some that come to mind:
an, at, or, and, on | | | Hans |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 681 |
| Posted: | | | | It seems that some joining words are treated differently than others. For example, IMO the words such as "around", "between" or "behind" can also be joining words, just as "in". However, I don't remember having seen those words uncapitalised in titles(?) In e.g. the following title (UPC: 5-050582-451160)... The League of Gentlemen are Behind You!: The Live Pantomime ... isn't "Behind" a joining word here? Still, in my eyes it would look odd if that wasn't capitalised. Maybe a more complete list of words to enter non-capitalised should be included in the rules, instead the wording of "...such as "of", "the", "a", "in", etc..." which leaves this a bit open? After all, it isn't an endless list of words that would have to be applied to this rule. | | | Mika I hate people who love me, and they hate me. (Bender Bending Rodriguez) | | | Last edited: by Draxen |
| Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,744 |
| Posted: | | | | For me capitalization looks the more odd the shorter the word is: Is, Be. Especially if they are mixed with non-capitalized words: "Bring It on". | | | Karsten DVD Collectors Online
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| Registered: May 9, 2007 | Posts: 1,536 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting DJ Doena: Quote: For me capitalization looks the more odd the shorter the word is: Is, Be. Especially if they are mixed with non-capitalized words: "Bring It on". In this example, "on" would not be a joining word. It would be in "Lay It on the Line". In another example above, "are" is also to be capitalized, I guess. What makes this complicated is that this is not a general rule of grammar (as in German), but applied only to movie (and supposedly book) titles, which gives it a certain level of arbitrariness. Generally English only capitalises the first word in a sentence, and proper names, just like French. | | | Hans |
| Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,744 |
| | Registered: May 9, 2007 | Posts: 1,536 |
| Posted: | | | | I guess "I" is a proper name for yourself. But some of the examples above show that just having a list does not solve all issues (although I agree it could be useful). For some words it would depend on the context (e.g. on, at). | | | Hans |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,635 |
| Posted: | | | | This Rule definitely needs to be re-worded.
Under common English Rules for titles of literary works, words that are not capitalized are:
prepositions (in, into, at, from, to, for, under, over, beneath, with, of, on, with, by, as, after, through, throughout, atop, behind, across, etc, etc.) coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, yet, for, nor, so) articles (a, an, the)
In addition, any one or two letter word which is not a proper noun (I) is not capitalized.
Any of the above will be capitalized if it is the first word of the title.
NOTE: these are rules for American English. Rules for other languages would certainly be different.
Edit: Any word greater than four letters should be capitalized. All nouns, pronouns and verbs should be capitalized. | | | Hal | | | Last edited: by hal9g |
| Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,744 |
| | Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 4,596 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting DJ Doena: Quote: So "From beneath You It Devours" would be correct? No. "From Beneath You It Devours" would be correct. | | | My WebGenDVD online Collection |
| Registered: July 31, 2008 | Reputation: | Posts: 2,506 |
| Posted: | | | | edit :- Never mind | | | Last edited: by Ardos |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,635 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting DJ Doena: Quote: So "From beneath You It Devours" would be correct? See my edit above. 8ballMax is correct. | | | Hal |
| Registered: May 9, 2007 | Posts: 1,536 |
| Posted: | | | | Thanks. This is the first time that this rule is actually spelled out.
But I gather that in "Bring It On", "On" is not a preposition? Or as other example "Turn It On", just like "Turn It Off"? Or does the two-letter rule override? | | | Hans | | | Last edited: by Staid S Barr |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 3,480 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting Staid S Barr: Quote: Thanks. This is the first time that this rule is actually spelled out.
But I gather that in "Bring It On", "On" is not a preposition? Or as other example "Turn It On", just like "Turn It Off"? Or does the two-letter rule override? I would amend Hal's post to include capitalizing the first and last word of a title regardless. | | | ...James
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| | T!M | Profiling since Dec. 2000 |
Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 8,736 |
| Posted: | | | | [never mind: I didn't read carefully enough] | | | Last edited: by T!M |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 13,202 |
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