Capital Letters for Proper Nouns
Use a capital letter for the names of people, places, planets, days of the week, titles of rank or relationship (when joined to person’s name), months, holidays, departments, clubs, companies, institutions, bridges, buildings, monuments, parks, ships, hotels, streets, historical events and
documents. (These are known as proper
nouns.) Do not use a capital letter for common
nouns.
Examples (proper nouns in bold):
 The next lake the party visited was
Lake Michigan. 
(The word 'lake' is a common noun; it is the word for an in-land water feature.
'Lake Michigan' is a proper noun; it is the name of the lake.)
According to Lord
Davies, The Church in London is not actually a church; it is a public house.
(The Church - proper noun; church - common noun)
It was a
rewarding day, and I intend to visit here again on Armistice Day next
year.
(day - common noun; Armistice Day - proper noun)
Could you ask Sergeant Allan or the other sergeant to arrange the patrol
on Friday morning?
(Sergeant Allan - proper noun; sergeant - common noun)
'Big Fish' should be 'big fish'
(magazine article)
'Toilet' should be 'toilet'
(instructions on packaging for a toilet seat)
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STICK TO THE RULES
Do not be tempted to give a word a capital letter just because it is an important word in your sentence.
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We value our Clients' opinions.
I'm having the best day of my life, and I owe it all to not going to Church! (Homer Simpson)
Lisa,
Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins and Eskimos.
(Homer Simpson quote)
("Vampires" is wrong. "Eskimos" is correct.)
We live in an age when
Pizza gets to your home before
the Police.
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IN BUSINESS WRITING
In business writing particularly, it is considered good practice (for politeness) to capitalise some common nouns, such as
Company and Director - you have a choice.
 The manager of your company confirmed the booking in writing
on 15 August.
The Manager of your Company confirmed the booking in writing on 15 August.
In the main, this pertains to job titles and names of departments. Other words which may be important enough in the context of your writing to warrant capital letters are:
Director, President, Office Manager, Commanding Officer, Division, Claims Department, Court, Regiment, Unit
The Director will cast the final vote.
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