College Composition / Unit 9 CMP 0202 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Proper Nouns and Adjectives
Captions available
The idea
Capitalize a title that comes directly before a person's name, but not the same word used as a description.
In practice
"Senator Tammy Baldwin" takes a capital; "Tammy Baldwin, a senator from Wisconsin" does not. "Doctor Atul Gawande," but "Atul Gawande, a doctor."
Where people slip
General words such as university or department are capitalized only as part of a specific name.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for College Composition