Place names made of two words
Many places are named with two words together.
“Bell Street”
“Hillside School”
“Blue Lake”
Both words are part of the name, so both words get a capital letter.
Why the second word is tricky
The second word usually looks like an ordinary word you already know. Street. School. Lake. Farm. You have written those words in lowercase a hundred times.
Inside a name, they change jobs. They stop meaning any street and start being part of the name of one street.
| Any place | One particular place |
|---|---|
| a street near my house | Bell Street |
| the school on the corner | Hillside School |
| a lake we visited | Blue Lake |
| my grandpa’s farm | Miller Farm |
Look down the right column. The second word takes a capital every time.
Both or neither
Half a capital does not work.
| Written | Right or wrong? |
|---|---|
| Bell Street | Right. |
| Bell street | Wrong. The second word is part of the name. |
| bell Street | Wrong. The first word is too. |
| bell street | Wrong. Both are missing. |
Names with more than two words
Some place names run longer. Each word that belongs to the name takes a capital.
- “Cedar Ridge Library”
- “Pine Valley Farm”
Little joining words inside a longer name stay small, the same way they do in people’s names.
Your turn
Write each one correctly.
- “willow road”
- “hillside school”
- “blue lake”
Check your answers
- “Willow Road”
- “Hillside School”
- “Blue Lake”
Remember
- Both words in a two-word place name take capitals.
- The second word counts even though it looks ordinary.
- Longer names capitalize every word that belongs to the name.