To demonstrate, the conjunction “between” is capitalized, such as in the novel The Light Between the Oceans. There are some styles that take exception to this rule. Associated Press and MLA capitalize words with four or more letters, APA with five or more, and Chicago Manual of Style doesn’t base capitalization on word length. [2] X Research source Always be aware of what style is required.
For example, in the novel Of Mice and Men, the word “of” is capitalized even though it is a preposition that is less than five letters.
To illustrate, in the book (Un)arranged, the prefix “un” is capitalized because it appears as the first “word” of the book title. However, when the parentheses appear in the middle of the title, such as in the book How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables, all capitalization rules apply. The word “but” is not capitalized because it is a conjunction, while the word “true” is capitalized because it is an adjective.
For instance, in the title Animal Farm the word “animal” is capitalized because it is an animal, and “farm” is capitalized because it is a thing (despite being less than five letters).
For example, in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, “kill” is capitalized because it is an action verb, even though it is less than five letters. Common verbs that cause difficulty are: be, been, am, are, is, was, and were. For instance, in the title I Am the Walrus, “am” is capitalized because it is a verb that demonstrates the action of being. [10] X Research source
To demonstrate, in the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish’‘, all numbers are capitalized because they are adjectives and describe how many fish are present. Additionally, the colors “red” and “blue” are capitalized because they describe the looks of the fish.
To illustrate, the word “barefoot” in the novel, Running Barefoot, is capitalized because it describes how one is running. Occasionally, the conjunction/preposition “but” will function as an adverb and should be capitalized in these situations. When it is used as an adverb, it will immediately follow a verb and can be replaced by words like “only” or “just”. For example, in the title Life Is But a Dream, “but” is capitalized because it describes the verb “is”. [12] X Research source
For example, in the novel The Old Man and the Sea, the word “and” remains un-capitalized because it is a conjunction that is of lesser importance and is only used to join together groups of words. Regardless of length, conjunctions should be capitalized if they are the first or last word of the title. [14] X Research source
To demonstrate, in the novel The Wizard of Oz, “of” is the preposition which shows the relationship between the Wizard, and the land of Oz. It remains lowercase because it is a preposition that is less than five letters. Prepositions that are five letters or longer should be capitalized. For instance, the preposition “among” is capitalized in the novel, A Walk Among the Tombstones. Regardless of length, prepositions should be capitalized if they are the first or last word of the title. [16] X Research source
To illustrate, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, “a” is an indefinite article, and is therefore not capitalized. The only time articles should be capitalized is when they are the first or last word of the title. [18] X Research source For instance, in The Great Gatsby, the article “the” is capitalized as the first word of the title.
