Capital letters

Really I should be starting this blog with a little moan about apostrophes. After all there is a never ending supply of examples of apostrophes being misused and plenty of pictures available to illustrate the point, such as these from The Apostrophe Protection Society, but as a writer should I really be giving you a predictable intro? No, I am going to opt for another of my pet hates – the misused capital letter.

If you tend to use capital letters at the start of job titles, nouns and anything else you consider important then please

It is wrong, incorrect, not good grammar. 

There is a growing trend (yes grammar has trends) to capitalise words which the writer thinks are important. The result is a page of writing where every sentence has at least two incorrect capital letters. 

Capitalising job titles is a common error, particularly if the person feels they have an important job. But being a managing director instead of a Managing Director does not make you any less important. It just shows that you can write correctly. 

Capital letters can also change the meaning of a sentence. Take for example this sentence:

We spent time at The Castle.

Now did the writer spend time at a castle, or did he spend it at a place called The Castle, a pub or restaurant perhaps?

Who knows! The writer may well be getting his proper nouns and his nouns mixed up.

Although a bit crude this picture does illustrate perfectly how a capital letter can change the meaning of a sentence.

So please remember – use capitals for proper nouns but not for nouns, and unless you are the Prime Minister or The Queen British grammar rules state that your job is not important enough to warrant a capital letter.