Practice Makes Perfect

D. First names, last names, initials, and personal titles of all kinds are always capitalized.

Jason Kensington

Ms. Alicia Jones

Professor Rosa Morena

Senator William Hayes

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

J. D. Powers

E. Titles that are not part of directly addressing the person who bears the title should not be cap-

italized. Compare the following:

I met a senator at the meeting. Hello, Senator. How are you?

Is she the governor now? It’s good to see you, Governor Bejcek.

A captain entered the room. Please sit down, Captain Bligh.

F. All days of the week, months of the year, and holidays are capitalized. Seasons and other cate-

gories of time are not.

Is it Monday already? The weather is cooler in the fall.

My favorite month is June. Where do you spend the winter?

She was born March 3, 2001. How many years are in a decade?

Today is the Fourth of July. The twentieth century was important.

I like Halloween. It’s a new millennium.

G. There are special rules for abbreviations for time. B.C.and A.D.are always capitalized. B.C.is

used for eras or years that occurred before Christ. A.D.is used for eras or years that occurred anno

Domini(“in the year of our Lord”), that is, beginning with the first year after Christ’s birth. (B.C.

follows the date; A.D. precedes the date.) A.M.and P.M.may or may not be capitalized. A.M.

refers to the hours between midnight and noon, and P.M.refers to the hours between noon and

midnight.

That happened in the fifth century B.C.

Columbus first landed in the New World in A.D. 1492.

They arrived exactly at 9:00 P.M.

I set my alarm for 7:35 A.M.

Rewrite the words in each sentence that require capitalization.

1. john bought a new cadillac for his wife.


2. is colonel brubaker a friend of governor dassoff?


3. the president of the company was born on march tenth in the city of buffalo.

exercise 19-1

96 Practice Makes Perfect: English Grammar for ESL Learners

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