Which words in a title should be capitalized?
Solution 1:
This Writer's Block page on capitalization sums up the rules in one page which is the most useful that I have found, basically these rules from the Chicago Manual of Style plus a number of minor rules which are worth reading:
- Always capitalize the first and the last word.
- Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions ("as", "because", "although").
- Lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions ("and", "or", "nor"), and prepositions regardless of length, when they are other than the first or last word. (Note: NIVA prefers to capitalize prepositions of five characters or more ("after", "among", "between").)
- Lowercase the "to" in an infinitive.
Solution 2:
Title case conventions can vary among different authors or publications. But the most common rule is the following (from yourdictionary.com):
In Titles: Do Capitalize
- Nouns (man, bus, book)
- Adjectives (angry, lovely, small)
- Verbs (run, eat, sleep)
- Adverbs (slowly, quickly, quietly)
- Pronouns (he, she, it)
- Subordinating conjunctions (as, because, that)
In Titles: Do Not Capitalize
- Articles: a, an, the
- Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor, etc.
- Prepositions (fewer than five letters): on, at, to, from, by, etc.
As I said, this can vary from text to text; you will find exceptional uses here and there.