When you pen a title, every word counts—including the small ones. You might wonder about conjunctions like ‘or’ and whether it deserves a capital letter. It might seem like a tiny detail, but getting it right can make your writing stand out. Whether you’re crafting an academic paper or sprucing up a blog post, understanding the rules for capitalization in titles is key. Let’s dive into the world of style guides like Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP to uncover the mysteries of titling and ensure your headlines shine with perfect punctuation.
In title capitalization, the word “or” is capitalized if it begins the title or follows a colon. According to Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP writing styles, conjunctions like “or” are lowercase in titles unless they fulfill these conditions.
When writing a title, knowing which words to capitalize can be tricky. With the word ‘or’, the rule of thumb across various style guides is to keep it lowercase unless it’s the first or last word in a title.
Understanding Capitalization in Titles
Style guides like Chicago, MLA, APA, and AP have different rules for title capitalization. Chicago and MLA styles recommend capitalizing important words in titles, which usually include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions. However, ‘or’ being a short conjunction, is not capitalized. In APA style, capitalize words with four letters or more, so ‘or’ stays lowercase. AP style is an exception because it says to capitalize all conjunctions, but ‘or’ is often treated as an exception and left lowercase due to its short length.
Examples in Different Styles
Here’s how ‘or’ would be treated in a title, according to various styles:
Chicago/MLA: Love or Money: The Ultimate Dilemma
Notice ‘or’ is not capitalized since it’s neither the first nor the last word.
APA: To Be or Not to Be: Exploring Choices in Literature
‘Or’ remains lowercase because it’s shorter than four letters.
AP: Cats or Dogs: Which is the Better Pet?
While AP suggests capitalizing all conjunctions, ‘or’ is often an outlier and remains lowercase.
Always check the specific guidelines of the style you are following for any exceptions or updates to these rules.
Conclusion
When you write your next title, remember that small words like ‘or’ don’t usually get a capital letter in title case, unless they’re the first or last word. Whether it’s Chicago, MLA, APA, or AP style, this rule applies. So, keep that in mind for your titles to look polished and professional. Stick to capitalizing longer words and main words to make your titles pop. Thanks for reading and here’s to writing titles that shine!
Want to learn about more specific capitalization rules for words?
