To capitalize, or not to capitalize. That is the question. Luckily, I am here with the answers.

First up we have the obvious ones that you no doubt already know:

1. The first word of a sentence
2. The first word of a quoted sentence
3. Proper nouns
4. Titles, when they appear with the person’s name (not as a description)
5. A title, pet name or nickname when used in lieu of the person’s name
6. The first words in the greeting & close of a letter

We can also bang out the ones that are most often capitalized but should not be:

1. Seasons (unless you’re talking about a girl named Summer or Autumn)
2. The cardinal directions (unless you’re talking about a specific place or region)

Alas, things are not always so straight forward as all that. So, let’s get into the trickier ones.

Publication titles can be confusing. You should always capitalize the first and last word of a publication title. The tricky part is all the possible little words in between. Verbs in the title should be capitalized. Prepositions should not.

Examples:

Gone with the Wind

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Moab Is My Washpot

The Paris Review

Agency or government body names can also get confusing. Only capitalize if you are referring to a specific body, branch or organization by name.

Examples:

The Department of Homeland Security is a federal body.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation operates across state lines.

The State Board of Education is comprised of many departments.

Speaking of school, academic subjects should only be capitalized if you are giving the specific course title or if the name of the subject is a proper noun.

Examples:

I have never been good at math; I failed Trigonometry 1 in high school.

I had better grades in French and English than I did in history, even though my World History teacher ran a great class.

We’re in the homestretch! The last tricky capitalization rule involves something we’ve touched on before: Colons. This section is actually an example of the rule, but I’ll break it down in case you missed it. When you use a colon in a sentence, the first word after the colon should only be capitalized if there is more than one sentence following it.

Examples:

I need to pick up a few things for this recipe: flour, eggs, salt and olive oil.

I have been home sick for two days: my throat is still sore.

I love Netflix Instant on the PS3: Last night I watched old movies. I forgot how much I enjoy Roman Holiday.