Capitals in Titles for Kids: Which Words Get a Capital? (Grade 3 English)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Books, movies, songs and poems all have titles. When we write a title, some words get capital letters and some do not. Today we will learn the rules.

Rule one. Always capitalize the first word and the last word of a title, no matter how small they are. A title like The Cat in the Hat starts with a capital T.

Rule two. Capitalize the important words. That means nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. Words like dog, runs, happy, slowly and she all get capitals.

Rule three. Small words in the middle stay lowercase. These include a, an and the, short words like and, but and or, and short words like in, on, of and to.

Let's fix a title together. a walk in the woods. Walk and woods are important, so they get capitals. A is first, so it gets a capital too. In and the stay small.

Watch out for little words that are verbs, like is and are. They are short, but they are important. So we write Where Is My Dog with a capital I.

Now it's your turn. Write this title correctly. the princess and the dragon. Pause and try. The answer is, The Princess and the Dragon. And and the stay lowercase in the middle.

Great job! Remember, capitalize the first word, the last word and the important words. Keep small words in the middle lowercase. Practice capitals in titles in the English Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!