Wondering about the little word ‘it’ when crafting the perfect title? Titles pack a punch, and every word counts, including the seemingly insignificant ‘it’. Mastering title capitalization can be tricky, especially with different rules like those in Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP styles. Discover the answer to whether ‘it’ stands tall in a title or if it stays lower case as you learn to navigate the captivating world of grammar and copywriting.
Yes, in title case, ‘it’ should be capitalized. This applies to all major style guides, including Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP. Even though ‘it’ is a short word, it’s not classified as a preposition, article, or coordinating conjunction, so it’s usually capitalized in a title.
When you’re figuring out if ‘it’ should be a big letter at the start in a title, it really depends on the style guide. Most of the time, small words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘the’, ‘or’, and ‘it’ stay small unless they begin the title. But some guides have different rules.
Chicago and MLA Style
In Chicago and MLA styles, you make the important words in titles big. This means nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some others get capital letters. But, ‘it’ gets the capital treatment if it starts the title. For example, in a title like ‘It Takes Time’, ‘It’ is the first word, so it gets a capital.
APA Style
With APA style, you also make the first word of the title big. This is true for subtitles too. If ‘it’ starts a subtitle, like in ‘Learning to Write: It Changes Everything’, then ‘It’ is made big. Otherwise, such small words are kept small.
AP Style
Meanwhile, AP style is a bit different. It says that words with only 2 or 3 letters should stay small. But ‘it’ still gets a big letter if it’s the first or last word in a title. Think of a title like ‘Believe It or Not’, where ‘It’ is at the end and so, it’s capitalized.
In each case, double-check with a style guide when you’re not sure. Remember words like ‘is’, ‘if’, ‘it’, and ‘in’ might seem too small to matter, but the right capitalization makes your title look polished and professional.
Conclusion
So, remember when titling your work, the short word ‘it’ usually gets capitalized. Whether you’re writing in Chicago, MLA, APA, or AP style, this rule holds. But always double-check the specific guidelines for the style you’re using—there might be exceptions. Thanks for reading, and here’s to making those titles shine!
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