Is "A" Capitalized in a Title?

Only at the start. "A" is an article, and every major style guide lowercases articles in the middle of a title. Capitalize it when it is the first word of the title or of a subtitle ("A Tale of Two Cities," "Pasta: A Love Story"), and keep it lowercase everywhere else.

"A" by Style Guide

Style guide	"A" mid-title	Why
AP	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title
APA	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title
Chicago	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title
MLA	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title
AMA	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title
Bluebook	Lowercase	Articles (a, an, the) stay lowercase mid-title

Examples in Chicago Style

• A Tale of Two Cities
• How to Write a Better Headline
• Notes from a Small Kitchen
• Portrait of a Lady

When "A" Is Capitalized

• First word: "A Wrinkle in Time."
• First word of a subtitle: "Bread: A Beginner's Guide."
• As a letter or grade, not an article: "How to Get an A in Calculus" and "Plan A" use the letter itself, which is always capitalized.
• Last word: titles rarely end in "a," but AP, Chicago, and MLA would capitalize it.

"A" Versus "An"

"An" follows exactly the same rule. The choice between them depends on the sound that follows ("a user," "an hour"), not on capitalization. The third article, "the", works the same way too. For all three together, see articles in title case.

Real Titles With "A"

• A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens): first word
• The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James): lowercase mid-title
• A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle): first word

"A" in Sentence Case

APA reference lists, many news sites, and most UI text use sentence case instead of title case. There, only the first word and proper nouns get capitals, so "a" is lowercase unless it starts the title: "How to write a better headline." Pick one of the two styles for a whole set of headings rather than mixing them.

Quick Answers

Should "a" be capitalized in a title?

Only as the first word of the title or of a subtitle. Mid-title, every guide lowercases it.

Is "a" capitalized after a colon?

Yes. "Bread: A Beginner's Guide." The first word of a subtitle is always capitalized.

Is "a" capitalized in APA?

Not mid-title. APA lowercases articles unless they begin the title or subtitle.