When you craft a title, every word counts, and choosing which to capitalize can shape the first impression of your readers. It’s worth exploring how small words, like ‘may’, fit into the puzzle of title capitalization. Depending on the style guide you follow—Chicago, MLA, APA, or AP—the rules can shift, leaving you to wonder about the correct approach. In the next few lines, find out how the seemingly simple word ‘may’ can play a significant role in proper title etiquette, and make sure your titles sparkle with professional polish.
In title case, the word ‘may’ should be capitalized, irrespective of the style guide used. The Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP styles all mandate capitalization for words having three or more letters, and ‘may’ fulfills this criterion.
Captializing words in titles depends on the style guide you’re following. The word may, despite being only three characters long, might have different treatments in titles depending on which guide you’re following.
Chicago Style
Follow the Chicago Manual of Style and you’ll capitalize may in a title since it is neither an article, conjuction, nor preposition. Remember, Chicago style advises capitalizing all adverbs, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and subordinating conjunctions in titles.
MLA Style
MLA (Modern Language Association) style also suggests you give may a capital M in titles. MLA guidelines state that you capitalize the first words of the title and subtitle, verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions which may qualifies as.
APA Style
When following APA (American Psychological Association) format, you capitalize may only if it’s the first word of the title or subtitle. APA style typically requires a sentence case for titles, meaning that most words are lowercase except proper nouns and the first word after a colon or em dash in titles and subtitles.
AP Style
In contrast, the AP (Associated Press) style is more restrictive. It requires that you capitalize the first word of the title and any proper nouns. Since may is not a proper noun, it is generally not capitalized unless it is the first word of the title.
Using the right capitalization in your titles is crucial. It can affect readers’ impressions and show that you have a strong grasp on the details of writing. Always check the specific guidelines for the style you are required or choose to use and apply them consistently to your titles.
Conclusion
Get the facts straight: In titles, whether to capitalize the word “may” hinges on the style guide. Chicago, MLA, and APA all recommend capitalizing important words, including verbs. “May” is a verb, so, yes, you capitalize it in these styles. The AP style is a bit different; it suggests capitalizing words with more than three letters. Since “may” has three characters, it stays lowercase. Always check the guidelines specific to your writing style to nail it down. Thanks for diving into the details of title capitalization!
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