Names keep their capitals everywhere
A capital letter at the front of a sentence is about position. A capital letter on a name is not.
“Ben sits by the window.”
“I sit next to Ben.”
In the second sentence the name is at the end and it still has its capital. Names never lose them, no matter where they land.
Family words work two ways
Words like aunt and grandpa and mom are the tricky ones, because they can do either job.
| Used as a name | Used as a word for any person |
|---|---|
| I called Aunt Rosa. | I called my aunt. |
| We visited Grandpa. | We visited my grandpa. |
| Mom made lunch. | My mom made lunch. |
Look at the left column. In each one, the word is standing in for the person’s actual name. You could swap in Rosa and the sentence would still work.
Look at the right column. Each one has “my” in front. Now the word is just telling you which relative, not naming them.
The swap test
Try putting a real name where the word is. If the sentence still sounds right, the word needs a capital.
“We visited Grandpa.” becomes “We visited Leo.” That works, so “Grandpa” takes a capital.
“We visited my grandpa.” becomes “We visited my Leo.” That does not work, so “grandpa” stays small.
A mistake to watch for
The word “my” is the clue. When it is there, the family word almost always stays lowercase.
“My Sister and I walked home.” is wrong.
“My sister and I walked home.” is right.
Remember that the word I keeps its capital in the middle of that sentence, because I always does.
Your turn
Choose the correct one.
- “I asked (Mom / mom) for help.”
- “I asked my (Mom / mom) for help.”
- “We saw (Uncle Ben / uncle Ben) at the store.”
Check your answers
- “Mom”. It stands in for her name.
- “mom”. The word “my” is in front of it.
- “Uncle Ben”. The word comes right before a name.
Remember
- Names keep their capitals anywhere in a sentence.
- A family word used as a name takes a capital.
- The word “my” in front usually means no capital.