Any person or one person
Read these two words.
“girl”
“Ava”
The first one could be any girl anywhere. The second one is one person. You know exactly who is meant.
A name that belongs to one person is a special name. Special names always begin with a capital letter.
Why the capital is there
The capital letter is a signal. It tells the reader that this word is somebody’s real name. It is not just a word for the kind of person they are.
| Any person | One particular person |
|---|---|
| girl | Ava |
| boy | Leo |
| teacher | Mr. Nolan |
| doctor | Dr. Ruiz |
| friend | Ben |
The words in the left column stay lowercase. Every word in the right column takes a capital.
Words for people stay small
This is where students slip. Words like teacher and doctor feel important. So they get a capital by mistake.
“My Teacher is here.” is wrong.
“My teacher is here.” is right.
Ask yourself one question. Could this word name anybody? If it could, it stays small.
Your turn
Say capital or no capital.
- “leo”
- “brother”
- “ben”
- “baker”
Check your answers
- Capital. “Leo” is one particular person.
- No capital. It could be anybody’s brother.
- Capital. “Ben” is one particular person.
- No capital. It could be any baker.
Remember
- A special name belongs to one particular person.
- Special names begin with a capital letter.
- Words that could name anybody stay lowercase.