Sentence case is a capitalization style that writes a title or heading like an ordinary sentence: capitalize the first word and any proper nouns, and leave everything else lowercase. "How to write a better headline" is sentence case. "How to Write a Better Headline" is title case.
Result
Sentence Case Rules
- Capitalize the first word, whatever it is: "A quiet year for remote work."
- Capitalize proper nouns and words formed from them: "Why Figma won over designers," "A guide to French cooking."
- Keep acronyms and brand names as written: "How NASA names its missions," "Getting started with iPhone."
- Keep the pronoun "I" capitalized: "What I learned in my first year."
- Lowercase everything else, including verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
Capitals After a Colon
This is the one rule that varies. In plain sentence case, the word after a colon stays lowercase unless it is a proper noun: "Annual report: a record year." Reference styles treat the part after the colon as a subtitle and capitalize its first word. APA does this in reference lists ("Stress and coping in nursing students: A longitudinal study"), and so does Chicago's sentence-style capitalization. Choose one approach and use it for every title in the set.
Where Sentence Case Is Used
- News headlines at the Associated Press, the Guardian, and BBC News. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal use title case.
- Article and book titles in APA reference lists. See APA reference title capitalization.
- Wikipedia article titles and section headings. See Wikipedia title capitalization.
- Interface text in Google's Material Design and the Microsoft Writing Style Guide. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines are the notable exception: they use title case for macOS menus and buttons.
- Many email subject lines and newsletter headlines. See email subject line capitalization.
Sentence Case vs. Title Case
| Sentence case | Title case (AP) |
|---|---|
| The hidden cost of context switching | The Hidden Cost of Context Switching |
| What we learned from 100 subject line tests | What We Learned From 100 Subject Line Tests |
| A beginner's guide to content audits | A Beginner's Guide to Content Audits |
Title case looks more formal and is the norm for book, film, and song titles. Sentence case reads faster and suits interfaces, news, and conversational writing. For a fuller comparison, see title case vs. sentence case.
Common Mistakes
- Capitalizing words that feel important: "Our annual Report" should be "Our annual report."
- Lowercasing proper nouns or acronyms: "how nasa names its missions" loses the capitals NASA needs.
- Mixing sentence case and title case across headings on the same page.
Quick Answers
What is sentence case?
A style that capitalizes only the first word of a title or heading, plus proper nouns, the same way you would write a sentence.
Do you capitalize after a colon in sentence case?
In plain sentence case, no, unless the word is a proper noun. APA and Chicago capitalize the first word after a colon in titles.
Is sentence case the same as lowercase?
No. Sentence case keeps the first word, proper nouns, and acronyms capitalized. Lowercase removes every capital.
To convert text, use the sentence case converter.