Making sense of capitalisation: week 3 - capitalising proper nouns

Kat Taylor
Mar 28, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Feb 4

The incorrect capitalisation of proper nouns is one of the most common mistakes I come across as a professional proofreader and editor. Inconsistent capitalisation can make otherwise strong writing look careless—particularly in academic, professional and published work.

Let me begin by explaining what a proper noun is, for those who aren't sure.

Simply, a proper noun is the specific name of a person, place, institution, day of the week, month of the year, company, etc. A few examples of proper nouns are:

Kat Taylor (my name)

Sheffield (a place)

The University of Sheffield (an institution)

Proper nouns are always capitalised.

Where it gets confusing is when a proper noun could also just be a noun.

A good example of this, and one that catches lots of people out is 'mum'. Mum (or dad, auntie, uncle, etc) is only a proper noun (and, therefore, capitalised) when you are using the word mum to replace your mum's actual name. The dialogue below demonstrates:

Rosie: "Can you come out to play?"

Michael: "I don't know, I'll go and ask Mum."

In this example mum is capitalised because Michael is using the word mum as his mum's name, instead of Susan. In the following example, Rosie uses the word mum as her mum's position in the family.

Rosie: "Can my mum borrow a cup of sugar?"

Michael: "I'll just go and check if we've got any."

Similarly, job titles catch a lot of people out. For example prime minister, doctor, king, etc. For example:

"Call Doctor Smith right away." Here, the word doctor is being used to name a specific doctor, and so it should be capitalised.

"Somebody call a doctor!" In this sentence the speaker is asking for any old doctor, so it should not be capitalised.

"The king will have you hung drawn and quartered!" Again, the speaker is not naming a specific king so there is no need to capitalise.

"All stand for King Arthur!" In this example the speaker names a specific king, so we need a capital letter.

I hope this article has made things clearer for you, but if you're still unsure or want the reassurance of an expert eye, KT Proofreading can help. I offer professional proofreading and editing services specialising in British English, supporting authors, academics and professionals in refining their writing. Whether you’re polishing an academic essay, preparing professional content, or fine-tuning fiction before submission or publication, I can spot the small details that make a big difference.

Get in touch today for professional proofreading and editing support and take your writing to the next level.

About the author

Kat Taylor is a professional proofreader and editor based in the UK, specialising in British English. She works with authors, academics and professionals to help refine their writing for clarity, accuracy and confidence. Learn more about Kat or explore her proofreading and editing services.

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