When you craft a title, every word counts, but figuring out which should stand tall with capital letters can trip up even the savviest writers. Think of titles as first impressions—do you capitalize little words like ‘about’? Discover the rules that guide the art of capitalization across various styles, from Chicago to MLA, APA, and AP. Unravel the mystery and give your titles the power to shine with the perfect mix of uppercase and lowercase letters.
In most title capitalization styles, small words like ‘about’ remain lowercase. However, always check with your specific style guide. For example, APA, Chicago, and MLA styles typically lowercase ‘about’, while AP capitalizes all words with four or more letters.
When you’re writing titles, whether it’s for an essay, article, or book, you might wonder whether small words like ‘about’ get a capital letter. Capitalizing titles correctly makes your writing look polished and professional. Understanding which words to capitalize is key, and the rules can vary based on the style guide you’re following.
Understanding Title Capitalization
The general rule for title capitalization is you should capitalize the first and last words of the title, regardless of what they are. Then, you also capitalize all the important words in between. That includes nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions.
‘About’ in Different Style Guides
If you’re using the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), you’ll capitalize ‘about’ if it’s the first or last word in a title. If ‘about’ is not the first or last word, it stays lowercase because it is considered a preposition of fewer than five characters.
In contrast, the Modern Language Association (MLA) style is less about counting characters and more about the function of the word. Like CMOS, MLA suggests that ‘about’ should not be capitalized unless it’s the first or last word in a title, or unless it’s part of a two-part phrase like ‘About Face’.
Following the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide, you would capitalize ‘about’ if it appears as the first word in a title or subtitle; otherwise, it remains lowercase.
For journalism, the Associated Press (AP) style guide also suggests capitalizing ‘about’ if it’s the first word or part of a verb phrase, as in ‘Talking About Science.’ No need to capitalize when it’s a preposition.
Examples
Take the title: “All About Dogs.” Following the CMOS or APA style, only the first and last words would be capitalized, because ‘about’ has fewer than five characters and functions as a preposition in this case. So, it would be written as “All about Dogs.”
For MLA, the same title would also be “All about Dogs” unless the word ‘About’ is stressed when spoken, which may justify its capitalization. This requires judgment based on the title’s context.
However, with AP style, the title would be “All About Dogs” because respect for emphasis within titles is more pronounced.
As seen, the way you capitalize ‘about’ can depend a lot on the style guide you’re following. Keep these guidelines in mind when deciding whether ‘about’ should get a capital letter in your titles.
Conclusion
So, when you’re crafting a title, remember that the word about is considered a preposition with five letters. In styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago, these are generally not capitalized unless they start the title or come after a colon. However, the AP style suggests capping all words with four letters or more. This means APA, MLA, and Chicago would keep it lowercase, while AP would capitalize it. Keep these handy rules in mind, and your titles will always be on point. Thanks for reading and best of luck with your writing!
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