Using case sensitive

In Spanish, the most common writing is in lowercase. However, in some contexts, such as the pause after a period or the first letter of a proper name, they are always capitalized. In some occasions, a word, a phrase or a text can appear written completely in capital letters, such as NGO or SMOKING IS FORBIDDEN on office or restaurant signs, for example example.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to explain which is the main use of uppercase and lowercase letters according to the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy).

Index

1. Introduction to capitalization
2. Capitalization according to punctuation marks
3. Capitalization without regard to punctuation marks
4. Use of lower case

Before explaining the uses of capital letters, it is important to consider some general questions regarding the use of capital letters. First of all, just like lowercase letters, capital letters are accented following what is established by the rules you accentuate.

For example, "anima" is a word that, when written in lowercase letters, is accentuated because it is esdrújula. So, when we write the same word with a capital letter, "Anima", we must write it with a tilde in the initial letter. However, abbreviations, which are words that are always written in capital letters, never have an accent: "CIA", which comes from the English Central Intelligence Agency) is not accentuated in Spanish.

Another interesting fact in relation to the use of the initial capital letter is the fact that the letters "i" and "j", when capitalized, do not carry a period, as in the words "India" or "José".

Image: A house of words - blogger

Depending on the position of the points throughout the speech or written text, the use of capital letters changes or not, since punctuation directly conditions the appearance of capital letters, as we will see below, in the following contexts:

• After a period and followed: I slept badly tonight. I will be tired all day.
• Behind the ellipsis as long as the phrase does not continue after them; that is, whenever the ellipsis divide two sentences independent of each other: Thus, You have to buy bread, beer, chocolate, lettuce, jam... and I take care of making dinner is a sentence that continues after the three points, so it is not capitalized, compared to the following example: We went to the movies and then for a walk... One night ago cold winter like before.
• When We write a letterAfter the colon of the initial greeting, we use the capital letter to start the letter: Dear Miriam: I am writing to you because ...
• Similarly, after the two points that we use to reproduce a speech in direct style: Alicia told me: "I will always love you."

On the other hand, in addition to punctuation marks, capital letters are also governed by other types of rules independent of the punctuation of a text. For example, always capitalize all proper names.

In general, common names are always written in lowercase, but in certain contexts, when this name Common is recategorized and used to name a reality different from the rest, it can also be written with letters capital letter.

Next, we will see some examples of nouns that are capitalized:

• The proper names of people, animals and singularized things: Isabel, Pedro, Rocinante, Tizona.
• The last names: Ramirez, Martínez, García, Moreno, Molina, Ruiz.
• The names of gods: God, Allah, Jupiter, Mars, Athena, Isis, Jehovah.
• Nicknames or nicknames: Alfonso X the Wise, Manuel Benítez el Cordobés.
• The place names: America, Italy, Toledo, Mexico, La Mancha, the Ebro, the Pyrenees, Seville, Madrid, Sierra Nevada, the Picos de Europa, Río de la Plata.
• The names of streets and public spaces in cities are capitalized, but common names are lowercase. that they accompany you: Thus, we write "calle" with a lower case "but" Sierpes "with a capital letter because it is the proper name of the street:" calle Sierpes ". The same happens with: Alcalá street, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de España, Paseo de Recoletos, Avenida de la Constitución.
• The names of the four cardinal points are also capitalized: North South East and west, as well as the names and adjectives that give title to periodical publications or collections: La Vanguardia, el Marca, the Library of Spanish Authors.
• The names of the festivities are also capitalized: Christmas, Corpus, Constitution Day, April Fair, Worker's Day.

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The capital letter is used for generic writing in Spanish. For example, the days, months and seasons of the year are written with a lower case in our language, unless they are part of a proper name such as Holy Thursday, in which case it would be capitalized.

On the other hand, all common names are generally written in lowercase letters, except for the aforementioned exceptions. Similarly, proper names that are recategorized and used as common must be written with lowercase letters. Treatment formulas such as you sir, saint or Don(ña).

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the difference between common and proper nouns.

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