(I love visuals! (Rules of Spanish Capitalization). Example: In English we would usually say ‘I am going to see River Nile’. Both advanced and beginning students need reminders sometimes. Nationality: In Spanish, even though names of countries or cities are capitalized, words derived from them – such as nationality and language are not capitalized. While we capitalize ‘Nile’ or ‘Nilo’ we do not capitalize ‘River’ or ‘río‘. Wilson? Today we talk about some such differences, key capitalization rules in Spanish, and what not to capitalize in Spanish. Thanks for posting. Quiero estudiar alemán. Directions are not capitalized if they refer to a compass direction. Ordinal numbers: When an ordinal number is used after a name, it isn’t capitalized. 10 Things You Should Know About Gender in Spanish. http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/browse/reference-articles. It's fantasitic. Disciplines derived from proper nouns (French, German, Spanish, etc.) Capitalization (North American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction.The term also may refer to the choice of the casing applied to text. ), Nationalities: Although names of countries and cities are capitalized, words derived from them are not. Moving to China – Tips, Must-dos, Learning Mandarin and more! ¿Conoces a la Sra. capitalize only the first word and proper nouns. I didn't know that! :). With the Spanish names in boldface, here are some of the most common ones. Note that we also skip the ‘the’ in such cases while translating to Spanish. Example: Today is Monday = Hoy es lunes. (I'm studying Christianity. (We didn't see the Amazon River.) Vivimos cerca de la montaña Rainier. It's obvious why the American city of Philadelphia is spelled Filadelfia in Spanish: the spelling change helps make certain that the city's name is pronounced correctly. (Credit: About.com/Spanish). The CXC Spanish Examination 2014 (CSEC and CAPE) – How to prepare for and ace your Spanish exam, Learning Spanish for Cultural and Professional Growth | Anthony Diab. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Esta información es para no olvidarla nunca. Luis catorce (Luis the Fourteenth), Carlos octavo (Charles the Eighth), Place names: Although the given name of rivers, lakes, mountains and other geographic features are capitalized, the place identifier is not. La reina Victoria fue mi abuela. Mi madre es católica. They should be capitalized, however, if they refer to a region, are part of a proper name or denote a widely known section of a city or state. Religions: Here is a neat reminder! (I prefer the Puerto Rican coconuts.) Spanish uses capital letters less often than the English language. Spellings in this list are those that appear to be the most commonly used. (I'm English.) are always capitalized. Example: Do you speak Spanish = ¿Hablas español? What not to capitalize: Nationality : In Spanish, even though names of countries or cities are capitalized, words derived from them – such as nationality and language are not capitalized. Example: I am American = Soy americano. Why are language names not capitalized in Spanish, How learning Spanish can help boost the salaries for Call Center employees in the Philippines, 5 reasons to choose an app for learning English, Learn English on your Phone! Gracias Don_José. (I want to study German.) One more mystery solved by a fellow SD friend. México celebra su independencia el 16 de septiembre. I Didn't Know That! easy to understand and straightforward , i would like it tattooed on my forehead . Today we talk about some such differences, key capitalization rules in Spanish, and what not to capitalize in Spanish. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! (I prefer the Puerto Rican coconuts. When an ordinal number is used after a name, it isn't capitalized Luis catorce - Luis the Fourteenth. Introductory titles: Titles (such as doctor, profesor, señor) are not capitalized in Spanish. @MeEncantan: I am pretty sure the abbreviations are: D.ª -or- Dña. Although names of countries are capitalized in Spanish, names of nationalities are not (except at the beginning of a sentence.) Gender, an Inherent Characteristic of Spanish … Capitalization rules are different in English and Spanish. Note also that practices vary among Spanish writers in placing accented vowels within foreign names. ), Days and Months: Names of the days of the week and months of the year use lower-case letters. For example, the U.S. capital is sometimes written as Wáshington, but the unaccented version is more common. (Do you know Mrs. The rules for capitalization in Spanish are: Names of people always begin with capital letters. Place names: Names of rivers, lakes, mountains etc. Hablo inglés. Thanks so much! (I speak English.) ; All Spanish sentences begin with capital letters. Christian = cristiano A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity, such as London, Jupiter, Sarah, or Microsoft, as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (city, planet, person, corporation) and may be used when referring to instances of a specific class (a city, another planet, these persons, our corporation). ¿Conoces a la señora Wilson? Titles: In formal written Spanish, titles of movies, books, plays and similar works capitalize only the first word and proper nouns. Prefiero los cocos puertorriqueños. This list shouldn't be viewed as inclusive. (Do you know Mrs. Hablo inglés. ), Religion: Names of religions and their adherents aren't capitalized. In Spanish, it would become ‘Voy a ver el río Nilo’. (We live near Mount Rainier. for señorita) are. This list shouldn't be viewed as inclusive. Not included are cities that use "City" in their English names, such as Panama City and Mexico City, which are usually referred to as Panamá and México in their respective countries. Soy inglés. (Today is Tuesday.) However, some publications may use alternate spellings of some names. (Queen Victoria was my grandmother. In any case, numerous major and noteworthy cities worldwide are known by different names in Spanish than in English. Muslim = musulmán. Muchisimos gracias! Example: Christianity = el cristianismo Estudio el cristianismo. Another great explanation, Don José! Gerald Erichsen is a Spanish language expert who has created Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998. For example, the U.S. capital is sometimes written as … 35 Country and Place Names That Use the Definite Article in Spanish, Sing ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ in Spanish, ‘Hark, the Herald Angles Sing’ in Spanish, Using ‘Que’ and Other Relative Pronouns in Spanish, Use and Omission of the Definite Article in Spanish. (I speak English.) Hope these rules will help you write Spanish better! (Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16.). The name of most religions, their adjectives, and their adherents (proper nouns) are not capitalized in Spanish. Wilson?) Soy inglés. Example: Today is May 5th = Hoy es el cinco de mayo, Composition (Movies, Books) titles: In written Spanish, titles of movies, books, plays, etc. I am not sure. while names of cities and countries are capitalized in Spanish… Not included are cities that use "City" in their English names, such as Panama City and Mexico City, which are usually referred to as Panamá and México in their respective countries. I was surprised, not at what I have learned, but what I have forgotten about Spanish capitalization. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. (I'm English.) Example: George the eighth = George octavo. Less obvious is why the British capital of London is Londres to Spaniards or, for that matter, why Americans think of the German city of München as Munich. Nationalities: Although names of countries and cities are capitalized, words derived from them are not. Spanish people don't believe in capitalization, even when it's a city, state, or country. are capitalized, but the identifier (type of place) is not capitalized. Hoy es martes. Wilson?) Days of the week: Names of the days of the week use lower-case letters. Spanish uses lesser capitalization than English. (My mother is Catholic.) Example: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone = Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. While the given name of lakes, rivers, mountains, and many other geographic features are capitalized, the place identifier is not. Prefiero los cocos puertorriqueños. 0 0 SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. La guerra de las galaxias ("Star Wars"), Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") Note: In informal written Spanish, and on book covers and movie posters, it is not unusual to see such composition titles capitalized as in English. Languages: Names of languages aren't capitalized. What Spanish does capitalize are proper names for people, places, newspapers and magazines; abbreviations of personal titles such as Dr., the equivalent of the English "Dr.," and Sr., the equivalent of "Mr."; and the first word in the titles of books, plays, movies and similar works.