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Capital letters: when to use them

Learn the three big rules for capital letters: starting a sentence, names of people and places, and the word I.

Get the whole book: English for classes 1 and 2 (6 lessons, free to print)

Let us begin

The big idea

Capital letters are the big letters of the alphabet, like A, B and C. They are special, so we use them only at the right times. Let us learn the rules!

Rule 1: Every sentence begins with a capital letter. We write "The sun is hot." and not "the sun is hot."

Rule 2: Names of people, places and days start with a capital letter. We write Asha, Delhi, India and Monday.

Rule 3: The word I is always a capital letter when it means me. We write "I like mangoes."

All the other words in the middle of a sentence are written with small letters, unless they are names.

Where capital letters goA sentence "Asha lives in Delhi." with the capital letters in Asha and Delhi marked by arrows and labels. Asha lives in Delhi. Start of sentence Name of a place Small letters for the other words.
A capital letter starts the sentence and the names.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Start of a sentence

    We write: My mother is kind. The first word, My, has a capital M. The rest of the words are small.

  2. Names

    We write: Ravi lives in Jaipur. The words Ravi and Jaipur are names, so each has a capital letter.

  3. The word I

    We write: Today I went to school with Meena. The word I is a capital, and Meena is a name, so it also has a capital.

Try it at home

Capital letter detective

You will need

  • An old newspaper or a story book
  • A pencil or crayon

What to do

  1. Open the book or newspaper at a page with a few sentences.
  2. Circle every capital letter you can find.
  3. Look at each circled letter. Is it at the start of a sentence, or is it a name?
  4. Write down three names you found.
  5. Write three sentences of your own with correct capital letters.

Ask a grown-up: An adult can help you choose a page that has easy sentences.

Practice sheet

Check what you learned

Write your answers in a notebook, or print this sheet and write on it. When you finish, mark your work with the answer key.

Practice sheet: Capital letters: when to use them (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. Which letter should start every sentence: a capital or a small letter?
  2. Rewrite correctly: my name is rohan.
  3. Write the name of your city with a capital letter.
  4. Does the word dog need a capital letter in "The dog barks."?
  5. Rewrite correctly: i like to read.
  6. Which words need capitals: "meena goes to school on monday"?
  7. Why does the word India start with a capital?
  8. Write the name of one day of the week with a capital letter.
  9. Is the word book a name?
  10. Write one sentence about a friend, with capital letters in the right places.

Answer key

Answers: Capital letters: when to use them

Do the practice sheet first, then check here. If an answer is different from yours, read the lesson again and try once more.

  1. A capital letter.
  2. My name is Rohan.
  3. Sample answer: Mumbai. Any city name starting with a capital.
  4. No. Dog is not a name and is in the middle of the sentence.
  5. I like to read.
  6. Meena and Monday. Meena also starts the sentence.
  7. Because it is the name of a country.
  8. Sample answer: Tuesday.
  9. No, book is an ordinary word, so it uses a small letter.
  10. Sample answer: Priya is my friend.

What next

Keep learning

Get the whole book

All 6 english lessons for classes 1 and 2 on one page, with every practice sheet and answer key, ready to print.

English for classes 1 and 2

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