Editing Letter case (section)

===Capitalisation===
{{Main|Capitalisation}}
Capitalisation is the [[writing]] of a [[word]] with its first [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase. Capitalisation rules vary by [[language]] and are often quite complex, but in most modern languages that have capitalisation, the first word of every [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] is capitalised, as are all [[proper noun]]s. {{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Capitalisation in English, in terms of the general orthographic rules independent of context (e.g. title vs. heading vs. text), is universally standardised for [[formality|formal]] writing. Capital letters are used as the first letter of a sentence, a proper noun, or a [[proper adjective]]. The [[names of the days of the week]] and the names of the months are also capitalised, as are the first-person [[pronoun]] "I"<ref name="Oliver #1">{{cite web | url = http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/using_capital_letters01.html | title = Using Capital Letters (#1) | author = Dennis Oliver | website = Dave's ESL Cafe | access-date = 19 February 2017 }}</ref> and the [[Vocative case#English|vocative particle]] "[[wikt:O#Particle|O]]". There are a few pairs of words of different meanings whose [[list of case sensitive English words|only difference is capitalisation]] of the first letter. [[Honorific]]s and personal [[title]]s showing rank or prestige are capitalised when used together with the name of the person (for example, "Mr.&nbsp;Smith", "Bishop Gorman", "Professor Moore") or as a direct address, but normally not when used alone and in a more general sense.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.mnstate.edu/hanson/MC210/MC210_AP_titles.htm | title = AP Style: Courtesy and Professional Titles | author = Nancy Edmonds Hanson | website = Minnesota State University | date = 25 August 2008 | access-date = 19 February 2017 | archive-date = 1 December 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161201184205/http://web.mnstate.edu/hanson/MC210/MC210_AP_titles.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000049.htm | title = Capitalizing Titles of People | website = English Plus | date = 1997–2006 | access-date = 19 February 2017 }}</ref> It can also be seen as customary to capitalise any word{{Snd}} in some contexts even a pronoun<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Capitalization/faq0004.html | title = Capitalization | website = The Chicago Manual of Style Online | access-date = 19 February 2017 }}</ref>{{Snd}} referring to the [[deity]] of a [[Monotheism|monotheistic religion]].

Other words normally start with a lower-case letter. There are, however, situations where further capitalisation may be used to give added emphasis, for example in headings and publication titles (see below). In some traditional forms of poetry, capitalisation has conventionally been used as a marker to indicate the beginning of a [[Line (poetry)|line of verse]] independent of any grammatical feature. In political writing, parody and satire, the unexpected emphasis afforded by otherwise ill-advised capitalisation is often used to great stylistic effect, such as in the case of George Orwell's [[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]].

Other languages vary in their use of capitals. For example, in [[German language|German]] all nouns are capitalised (this was previously common in English as well, mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries), while in [[Romance languages|Romance]] and most other European languages the names of the days of the week, the names of the months, and adjectives of nationality, religion, and so on normally begin with a lower-case letter.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://libguides.dickinson.edu/c.php?g=56073&p=1112966 | title = Citing Sources: Capitalization and Personal Names in Foreign Languages | website = Waidner-Spahr Library | publisher = Dickinson | access-date = 30 March 2017 }}</ref> On the other hand, in some languages it is customary to capitalise [[T–V distinction|formal polite pronouns]], for example {{lang|da|De}}, {{lang|da|Dem}} ([[Danish language|Danish]]), {{lang|de|Sie}}, {{lang|de|Ihnen}} (German), and {{lang|es|Vd}} or {{lang|es|Ud}} (short for {{lang|es|usted}} in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]).

Informal communication, such as [[texting]], [[instant messaging]] or a handwritten [[sticky note]], may not bother to follow the conventions concerning capitalisation, but that is because its users usually do not expect it to be formal.<ref name="Oliver #1" />