Capitalization/Las mayúsculas[1]: Spanish and English capitalizations are quite different, as it is much less common in Spanish. Many words that must be capitalized in English cannot be in Spanish, so read through this chart to make sure that you're not over-capitalizing your Spanish. In a title or a subtitle, capitalize only the first word and words normally capitalized. The following terms are not capitalized in Spanish unless they begin sentences: the subject pronoun “yo”; the names of months, and days of weeks; the names of languages and nationalities; nouns and adjectives derived from proper nouns.
[1] Joseph Gibaldi. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003. 128.
SPANISH CAPITALIZATION - LAS MAYÚSCULAS[1]
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1. |
First person singular subject pronoun |
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He said, "I love you." |
Dijo «yo te amo». |
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2. |
Days of the week, months of the year |
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Monday, Tuesday... |
lunes, martes... |
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January, February... |
enero, febrero... |
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3. |
Titles. Only capitalize the first word (and proper names, if any). |
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One Hundred Years of Solitude |
Cien años de soledad |
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Like Water for Chocolate |
Como agua para chocolate |
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4. |
Languages |
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Spanish, French, English... |
español, francés, inglés... |
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5. |
Nationalities |
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I'm American. |
Soy estadunidense/estadounidense |
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You bought a Spanish book. |
Compraste un libro español. |
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I married a Mexican. |
Me casé con un mexicano. |
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6. |
Religions. The name of most religions, their adjectives, and their adherents (nouns) are not capitalized in Spanish.
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Religion |
Adjective |
Noun |
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Christianity |
el cristianismo |
Christian |
cristiano |
Christian |
un cristiano |
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Judaism |
el judaísmo |
Jewish |
judío |
Jew |
un judío |
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Hinduism |
el hinduismo |
Hindu |
hindú |
Hindu |
un hindú |
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Buddhism |
el budismo |
Buddhist |
budista |
Buddhist |
un budista |
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Islam |
el islamismo |
Muslim |
musulmán |
Muslim |
un musulmán |
[1] Based on Laura K. Lawless online learning site: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/capitalization.html
