A capital letter stands tall and proud, like a mighty oak tree or Andre The Giant. In general, you should use capital letters to
- indicate the start of a new sentence
- note the beginning of a direct quotation
- identify a proper noun
You should also capitalize all of the things on the following list we've conveniently compiled for you.
Ready? Here we go:
names of people and pets
Roseanne, Pinocchio, Spot
nicknames (but not terms of endearment)
Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
Come here, baby. (Here, baby is a term of endearment. Aw.)
What about Mom and Dad? Those are nicknames for your parents. That's why they should be capitalized, as in I call my mother "Mom," but my British friend Nigel calls his mother "Mum."
names of specific places, cities, states, countries, and regions
Eastland Mall, Jupiter, Boston, Massachusetts, Ecuador, the Midwest
races, nationalities, languages
African-American, Chinese, French
religions, religious figures, and sacred texts
Buddhist, Buddhism, Jesus, Allah, the Bible
government buildings and departments
Harold Washington Library, Congress
major historic events
World War II
days, months, and holidays (but not seasons)
Saturday, February, Thanksgiving, autumn
product and company names
Apple, Volkswagen Jetta, Nordstrom
organizations
Habitat for Humanity, Oakland Raiders, League of Women Voters
the major words in titles of works (so no articles, prepositions, or conjunctions—unless it's the first or last word)
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
specific course titles (but not areas of study, unless they're derived from a proper noun, like English)
Introduction to Meteorology, Art History 101, biology, calculus
personal titles when they come right before a name
President Kennedy