"A" is an indefinite article, and articles are the one category every major style guide agrees on. In Chicago, MLA, APA, AP, AMA, Bluebook, the New York Times, and Wikipedia, "a" stays lowercase in the middle of a title. It only gets capitalized because of where it sits, never because of what it is.
Quick Answer
Lowercase "a" in a title unless it is the first word, the last word, or the word directly after a colon or dash. That single rule is correct in all eight major style guides. There is no letter-count threshold to worry about and no style-guide split, which makes "a" one of the easiest words in title case.
You can apply this automatically by pasting your title into the title case converter at the top of the page.
Quick Reference: "A" by Style Guide
| Style Guide | Capitalize "A" mid-title? | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago (CMOS) | No | Lowercase articles unless first or last word |
| MLA | No | Lowercase articles regardless of position in between |
| APA (7th edition) | No | Articles are minor words, lowercase mid-title |
| AP (Associated Press) | No | Lowercase articles a, an, and the |
| AMA | No | Lowercase articles unless first or last word |
| Bluebook | No | Lowercase articles in case names and headings |
| New York Times | No | "A" appears on its explicit lowercase list |
| Wikipedia | No | Lowercase indefinite and definite articles |
Why Every Guide Agrees on "A"
Most title case disagreements come down to prepositions. Some guides lowercase every preposition regardless of length, others capitalize any preposition past four or five letters. Articles avoid that argument entirely: there are only three of them ("a", "an", "the"), they are all short, and every guide classifies them as minor words.
So the only thing that ever capitalizes "a" is position. That is why A Tale of Two Cities takes a capital "A" while The History of a Quiet Town does not.
When to Capitalize "A"
Capitalize "A" when it is the first word of the title, as in A Wrinkle in Time. Capitalize it when it is the last word, which is rare but happens in titles like Plan A. Capitalize it when it follows a colon or dash that introduces a subtitle, because every major guide treats the subtitle as a fresh start: Marketing Fundamentals: A Practical Guide. Outside those three positions, keep it lowercase.
Real Titles That Use "A"
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. "A" capitalized as the first word.
- A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. "A" capitalized as the first word, "of" lowercase mid-title.
- Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. "a" lowercase mid-title.
- Sleep Deprivation: A Meta-Analysis. "A" capitalized because it follows the colon.
- The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. "a" lowercase mid-title.
Common Mistakes
The most frequent error is capitalizing every word out of habit, which produces titles like "The Story Of A Quiet Town" where both "Of" and "A" are wrong. A subtler mistake is forgetting the colon rule and writing "Marketing Fundamentals: a Practical Guide" with a lowercase "a" that should be capitalized. The last one to watch is treating "a" like a word that needs emphasis: importance never earns a capital letter in title case, only position and part of speech do.
