Title case is a capitalization style for titles and headings. You capitalize the first letter of every major word (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and most conjunctions) and keep a short list of minor words lowercase: articles, coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions. "the lord of the rings" in title case is "The Lord of the Rings."
Result
Title Case Compared With Other Cases
| Style | Example | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Title case | A Guide to Writing Better Headlines | Major words capitalized, minor words lowercase |
| Sentence case | A guide to writing better headlines | Only the first word and proper nouns capitalized |
| Start case | A Guide To Writing Better Headlines | Every word capitalized (not a style guide format) |
| Uppercase | A GUIDE TO WRITING BETTER HEADLINES | Every letter capitalized |
| Lowercase | a guide to writing better headlines | No capitals |
Capitalizing every word ("start case") is the most common thing people mistake for title case. No major style guide uses it, because it capitalizes "To," "A," and "Of." For a fuller comparison, see title case vs sentence case.
The Rules of Title Case
- Capitalize the first word of the title and of any subtitle after a colon, whatever it is.
- Capitalize major words: nouns, pronouns, verbs (including short ones like "Is" and "Be"), adjectives, and adverbs.
- Lowercase minor words in the middle: articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), and short prepositions (at, by, in, of, on, to). See the full list of words not capitalized in a title.
- Capitalize the last word in AP, Chicago, and MLA style, even if it is a minor word ("What Are You Waiting For").
How the Style Guides Differ
Every guide follows those four rules. They differ on the details:
- Long prepositions: AP and APA capitalize prepositions of four or more letters ("With," "From"), while Chicago and MLA lowercase every preposition.
- "So" and "yet": Chicago capitalizes them; the others keep them lowercase as conjunctions.
- The last word: APA has no rule forcing it to be capitalized.
| Style | "a walk through the history of words with no capitals" |
|---|---|
| AP | A Walk Through the History of Words With No Capitals |
| APA | A Walk Through the History of Words With No Capitals |
| Chicago | A Walk through the History of Words with No Capitals |
| MLA | A Walk through the History of Words with No Capitals |
The title case styles comparison covers eight guides side by side.
Where Title Case Is Used
- Titles of works: books, films, songs, albums, articles, and reports are usually written in title case.
- Academic papers: APA, MLA, and Chicago all use title case for paper titles and many headings, though APA reference lists use sentence case.
- Blog posts and web headings: many publishers use title case for post titles; others prefer sentence case for a more conversational tone. Both work if you stay consistent.
- News headlines: AP style uses sentence case for headlines. Its title case rules apply to the titles of books, movies, and other works.
Quick Answers
What does title case mean?
Capitalizing the major words of a title and leaving minor words such as "a," "and," and "of" lowercase, except at the start of the title.
Is title case the same as capitalizing every word?
No. Capitalizing every word is sometimes called start case. Title case keeps articles, short prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions lowercase.
Which title case style should I use?
Use whatever your publication, school, or client requires. If no one specifies, Chicago is common in book publishing and AP in journalism. Pick one and apply it everywhere.