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Capitalizing Proper Nouns
Episode 74: September 07, 2007

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Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is capitalizing tricky nouns like Ground Zero, Internet, and Earth.

But first, advertising makes this podcast possible and today the show is sponsored by GoToMyPC. Discover the power and freedom of Web-based remote access with your free 30-day trial, available now atGoToMyPC.com/podcast.

Quite a few people have asked me whether they should capitalize the words Internet, Web, and website, including Chris from Olney, Maryland; Matt from Moscow, Idaho; and a listener named Ji Soo Yi.

Proper Nouns

To answer these questions, I need to decide whether these words are proper nouns or common nouns. If you remember the Saturday morning cartoon Schoolhouse Rock, you'll remember that a noun is a person, place, or thing.

But proper nouns name specific people, places, or things. Names like Chris, Matt, and Ji Soo are capitalized because they are proper nouns that name specific people. On the other hand, boy, girl, and computer aren't capitalized because they are common nouns that don't refer to any one individual person or item.

So names are easy, but what about these other words that seem as if they could go either way.

Internet, Web, and Website

Is the Internet one specific place or is it a collection of things? Most language experts believe the Internet is one big specific place that people visit, so Internet is capitalized, as is Web because it is just a shorthand name for the Internet. On the other hand, the Web is populated by many different websites, so website is not capitalized. Internet and Web are proper nouns because they refer to something specific, whereas website is a common noun that can be used to refer to many different places on the Internet. Some people disagree that the Internet is one specific place, and I'm curious what you all think, so I've put a poll in the transcript at the website, which is quickanddirtytips.com.

What is the Internet?
	One big place (a proper noun)
	Many places (a common noun)

pollcode.com free polls

Ground Zero

Since we're coming up on September 11th, I was thinking about Ground Zero, and I realized that sometimes I see the words ground zero capitalized and sometimes I don't. Back in 2001, it seemed as if the name Ground Zero got assigned to the site of the World Trade Center in New York almost immediately. Traditionally, ground zero means the site of a nuclear explosion, and sometimes it is used to refer to the site of a more general explosion or an area where rapid change has taken place. In those general instances, ground zero would be a common noun and wouldn't be capitalized. On the other hand, although there are a few dissenters, most notably the New York Times, most people agree that Ground Zero is the name of the specific site of the former World Trade Center, and therefore it's a proper noun that needs to be capitalized when it is used in that way (1, 2, 3, 4).

Depression

Another word that's sort of like ground zero, in that sometimes it's a proper noun and sometimes it's a common noun, is depression. If you're talking about a general economic depression, then it's lowercase, but if you're talking about the Great Depression, then you are referring to a specific historical period, so it's capitalized (5).

Planets

The last word I'm going to talk about today is earth. First, when you are using the word earth to just refer to dirt, of course it's lowercase, but when you're talking about our planet, it becomes tricky because there isn't what I consider a strong rule. All the other planet names like Mars and Jupiter are always capitalized because they're names that refer to specific places, but for some reason, most people treat earth differently and don't capitalize it. Sometimes you'll see it capitalized when it's listed with all the other planet names or when it's referred to in an astronomical way. For example, it will likely be capitalized in a sentence talking about space travel like, “We plan to leave Earth in January and arrive at Mars in October,” but it is likely to be lowercase in a sentence where it is used more generically, like, “I'm wishing for peace on earth and goodwill to men.” So the word earth is an exception to the rule that something is always a proper noun and capitalized if it names one specific place. I hate exceptions, but it's good to know about them.

History of English Capitalization

Finally, here's an interesting aside: I took German in high school, and one of the first things I noticed is that all the nouns are capitalized. Whether they are common nouns or proper nouns, they all get capitalized in German. And I also noticed that some of the kids in my class got really confused and started capitalizing all their nouns in English too. So that's something to watch out for if you're studying German. Remember that in English, proper nouns are the only nouns that get capitalized. (Actually, there was a period roughly between 1600 and 1800 when it was trendy to capitalize all nouns in English (6, 7), so if you're reading something written during that time, like the U.S. Constitution, you can also get confused.)

That's all.

People have been uploading great photos to the Grammar Girl group at Flickr. My favorite one this week is a slick image from a Florida McDonald's. The sign says, “My Friend's and I love working at McDonald's” and friends is spelled with an apostrophe s. I think I like it so much because it looks professionally produced, as though someone spent a lot of time on the layout but then got the words wrong.

In the Flickr group there's also a photo of me being stressed out on Good Morning Arizona because I forgot to bring a video clip of my appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show that they had asked me to bring. I was calling everyone I knew to see if they could FTP me the file, and I couldn't reach anyone. Well, two people wrote comments reminding me that I should have used GoToMyPC to fetch the file off my computer! Someone even provided the link to the 30-day free trial. You guys crack me up! Unfortunately, the clip was on a DVD that was sitting on my desk, but you're right, that was pretty much a perfect example of when GoToMyPC would have been useful. The URL for the free 30-day trial is GoToMyPC.com/podcast. If you would like to discover the power and freedom of Web-based remote access, which I did not have that day, visit GoToMyPC.com/podcast.

If you visitQuickAndDirtyTips.com you can find my contact information and a transcript of this and all the other podcasts. You'll also notice that we've launched a new website. I hope the new site will make it easier to read the transcripts, play the podcast from the website, and find what you're looking for in the archives. And I hope you like it!

Thanks for listening.

References

1. Garner's Modern English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003, p. 392.

2. Saffire, W. The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time. Simon and Schuster: New York. 2004.

3. Walsh.B. The Elephants of Style. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2004, p. 40.

4. “Style Update.” Copy Talk. The Canadian Press. April 2003, NO. 177 http://urltea.com/1f8z (accessed September 6, 2007).

5. CliffsNotes.com. Proper Nouns. http://urltea.com/1f91 (accessed August 31, 2007).

6. Dollinger, S. “What the Capitalization of early Nouns in Canadian English may tell us about 'colonial lag' theory: methods and problems.” Views, 12(1), 2003, p. 24-44. http://urltea.com/1fhv

7. Wikipedia contributors, "Noun." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://urltea.com/1fhw (accessed September 7, 2007).

More Reading

A discussion about the history of capitalization.

Comments (27) for Capitalizing Proper Nouns | Subscribe to Comment

hanna Says:
2/24/2008 7:12:26 PM

We run trade fairs and when referring to the event we use the a capital for the word Fair. Can you tell me if this is correct?

Mike Says:
2/12/2008 10:56:29 AM

How come we "use the Internet" (with the definite article), but we "use Word" (without the definite article)?

Grammar Girl Says:
10/15/2007 2:28:55 PM

When I encounter a word like "website" and am wondering whether it is one word or two (or whether it should be capitalized or not), I usually check a dictionary first. But when I know it is something that is controversial or evolving, I also check style guides and usage dictionaries and then make a determination based on all those sources. I have to be extra careful since I am giving people advice, but for most people it is OK to pick one dictionary and style guide and stick with their recommendations.

andrew in seattle Says:
10/7/2007 8:22:54 PM

Hi, Grammar Girl. How do you proceed when you encounter a puzzling word like website? In your comment I see that you reference a dictionary of usage and some stylebooks but no dictionaries. Do you first check the stylebook that is relevant to your particular writing assignment, then check a dictionary of usage, and finally check a standard dictionary? Or some other order? Perhaps usage guides are updated more regularly than dictionaries and so they are better first sources than dictionaries when dealing with controversial words like website? In any case, for now I plan to stick with the CMOS's advice and use website in informal contexts and Web site for official business.

Larry Edwards Says:
10/7/2007 2:31:54 PM

Grammar Girl: I agree with you regarding the capitalization (or not) of Internet, Web and website. However, I must correct a common misconception. "Web" is not shorthand for the Internet. It is shorthand for World Wide Web, which is an element within the Internet that made its debut in 1993. The Internet, formed in 1969, is composed of many different technologies (email, FTP, newsgroups, VOIP, etc.), of which the Web protocol (http) is only one.

Jo Says:
9/29/2007 10:57:29 PM

"The Associated Press Stylebook example is interesting because in my older edition (1998) it recommended Web site, but I hear the newer editions recommend website." This summer I worked as a copy editor for a wire service. We used Web site. It's possible that the newer editions of the stylebook say website, but my company preferred it as two words with a capital w.

brent Says:
9/28/2007 10:48:25 PM

Is is correct to say that a noun is a : person place thing quality (or) idea Also, regarding capitalization, is the term Special Education always capitalized or does it depend on context ? Thanks

Robert Says:
9/20/2007 11:47:41 PM

I want my poll!

JD Says:
9/14/2007 11:27:51 AM

And Hector says: "The Internet isn't a place, or a thing; it's a vast system of interconnected networks." So what's a system if not 'a thing'? And saying all the oceans in the world are creative fictions – well, yes, so are colours, but that doesn't make them any less 'real' or discrete to people observing them. http://engineroomblog.blogspot.com

JD Says:
9/14/2007 11:18:51 AM

I disagree with Ryan that we don't capitalise sky and atmosphere, so we shouldn't capitalise Internet. There are numerous skies and atmospheres (the atmosphere of other planets, for example), but only one Internet. And yes, I spell capitalise with an 's' - forgive me, I'm English. http://engineroomblog.blogspot.com

Andrea MacDonald Says:
9/13/2007 7:16:42 PM

I also have to disagree that the Web is another word for the Internet. The Web is part of the Internet but it isn't one and the same. Gabriel describes it really well (above). Also, I'm wondering about the Earth. I'm not sure if Earth is the proper name for this planet. Is it not Terra, just as the Sun is properly called Sol and the Moon Luna? Thanks. Love the show! Andrea MacDonald

The Monster Says:
9/13/2007 1:54:10 PM

"we capitalize it because it is a proper noun -- the name of a unique place just like Rome or Disneyland" But the Internet isn't really a "place" at all, even though we like to talk about "cyberspace" as if it were. We don't capitalize the word "highway" in a sentence like "You can drive a car from Baltimore to Denver on a highway", but would capitalize the name of a specific highway connecting the cities (Interstate 70). This is the reason why 'earth' usually isn't capitalized, and why over time I expect 'internet' to become the norm. From the normal human perspective, 'earth' is hardly specific at all, while 'Mars' refers to a tiny dot in the sky. When we have people living in the Moon (that's not a typo, I expect subsurface dwellings will be best for permanent settlement) and on Mars, they'll probably capitalize Earth. As the Internet becomes more pervasive, making every cell phone a node, it won't seem like a specific "place" at all.

Chad Says:
9/13/2007 10:31:07 AM

I don't think the internet deserves a capital I, but I'm not sure why. More and more people seem to be on that side these days...I guess people just love lowercase i's (especially before "Phone"). The trend seems to be toward using less and less capitalization these days. In the '90s, you would see "Internet" and "Web site", where you now see "internet" and "website". The Web is *not* shorthand for the internet. The Web is short for World Wide Web, which consists of all the content, the websites, videos, etc. available online, while the internet is simply the network the Web runs on. However, that *doesn't* mean that "website" should be capitalized, because it's possible to have websites running somewhere other than the internet (a LAN, for example).

Mike Says:
9/11/2007 7:11:47 PM

The Internet is one place, though it is made up of and connects many others -- like Interstate Highway System. Likewise for the Web. FYI: the Web and the Internet are separate and very different things. Technically and irreversibly so. The Internet is a system of and for communication between many networks upon which other things operate. Compare it to a highway system or a telephone system or a postal system. I say "of and for" because it is both protocols and rules for successful communication and it is also a set of physical cables and wires and such that is the stuff of which networks are made. The World Wide Web is an autonomous system of protocols that (usually) operates on top of the internet system. It has no cables of it's own and requires none, technically, to function. It does require a network to function beyond a single computer, and it does need the Internet to be able to be able to be accessible world-wide. Words rock.

Ryan Says:
9/11/2007 2:54:39 PM

I disagree with capitalizing internet. I know the AP style book says to (side note: AP style also says to use "Web site" which I think is stupid.) We don't capitalize "Space", or "Atmosphere" or "Sky"

Zara Says:
9/11/2007 7:35:45 AM

I don't believe that the internet is one specific place. I challenge you to try to find the one specific place or thing that is the internet. Same goes for the web. It's not letting me vote for the poll, though.

hector Says:
9/11/2007 4:05:33 AM

The Internet isn't a place, or a thing; it's a vast system of interconnected networks. It's as much an idea as anything else. I'm tempted to say there's no "the" there. The Web is a subset of the Internet. Whereas the Web and email are discrete entities (in the sense that each works according to a set of predefined rules) the Internet includes any connected transmissions, no matter what rules they play by, and no matter how few are playing by those rules. In common usage, however, the two rapidly became interchangeable. A geek friend used to get irritated every time he heard someone say they were surfing the Internet, insisting, "You surf the Web, not the Internet." But he has long given up the fight. Which is not to say that educated people should not know the distinction. When I say the Internet is "a system of interconnected networks," I refer to the fact that a network may be connected to the Internet without being a subset of the mega-network that is the Internet. Large portions of a network that is connected to the Internet may be sequestered from the Internet; and this is in fact common, for security reasons. But they are potentially part of the Internet if, say, their security is breached or abandoned. So the boundaries of the Internet are constantly in flux. The Internet most emphatically is not "one big specific place that people visit," any more than the ocean is "one big specific place that people sail ships on." Your explanation of common nouns doesn't use the best examples for purposes of this discussion: "boy, girl, and computer aren't capitalized because they are common nouns that don't refer to any one individual person or item." Boys, girls, and computers are all discrete entities; hence, "I own a computer," or, "I met a boy today." But "ocean" is not discrete. All the oceans in the world are creative fictions, since they are all part of a contiguous body of water. Like the Internet, the ocean is neither a collective nor an individual, but some other class of thing. But perhaps you could enlighten me on this!

Kellie Says:
9/10/2007 11:48:06 PM

I agree with the others that Internet (with the capital I) is no longer applicable. When the Internet first came about, it really was the destination. You were going to the Internet. But not any particular place on the Internet. Now, the internet is not the destination, it is the method of getting to the destination. I am no longer going to the Internet, I am going to use the internet to get to Flickr. (Or Facebook, or CNN, or this site.) The internet is a transportation method in the same way that an airplane or a car is a transportation method to a particular place. As the internet is no longer the final destination, I do not think it should be capitalized. As an aside, when I saw the title of this podcast, I expected it to be about "capital" vs. "capitol". I think that might be a good subject for an episode, as many people confuse the two.

Grammar Girl Says:
9/10/2007 8:59:26 PM

Ah, but we don't capitalize "Internet" because it is important or new; we capitalize it because it is a proper noun -- the name of a unique place just like Rome or Disneyland.

Patrick Says:
9/10/2007 8:48:02 AM

I've always regarded Internet (capitalized) as old hat. I remember being very young when I first heard the term Information Superhighway in reference to the internet. Whenever I see the word Internet, I automatically conjure up an image of an 18-wheeler speeding through a world just like our own but with ticking numbers rather than real surfaces (like The Matrix movie franchise). The same goes for World Wide Web: spiders, silk, and mummified bugs everywhere. I suppose I think of the capitalized Internet as a reference to a time when it was brand new. The capital seems anachronistic.

Grammar Girl Says:
9/9/2007 2:31:14 PM

I've enjoyed all of your insightful comments, especially those about the difference between the Web and the Internet. The proper form of website (or Web site or web site) is a question that isn't settled yet. Garner's Modern English Usage recommends website (and Web when it stands alone). The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style, Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, and the Associated Press also recommend website. On the other hand, Common Errors in English Language recommends Web site. The Associated Press Stylebook example is interesting because in my older edition (1998) it recommended Web site, but I hear the newer editions recommend website. I don't believe there is a right answer; you have to use the logic that makes sense to you, and consider the opinions of other language experts. At least that's what I do. It makes sense to me that there are many websites, and therefore the word is a common noun. It also seems as if the majority of language experts take that view, although not all of them.

Paul Walker Says:
9/9/2007 6:42:14 AM

Glad to see Gabriel has already mentioned the difference between the Internet & the Web. While nowadays most of the Internet's use is the Web, the same. The Internet refers to the collection of networked computers (and the systems to network them together), whereas the Web refers solely to the HTML pages hosted on these computers, and accessible to the world. The Internet refers to a single, vast network. thus it is capitalised. On the other hand, the terms intranet & network are not; as these are general. Any other internet, other than the Internet, is almost always refered to by one of the previous names. Perhaps Earth is also similiar to ground zero & depression in its capitalisation. When refering specifically to this planet, we capitalise. When refering to whichever planet on which most people currently live, we don't. ‘Peace on earth’ is not picky about which planet we're on, ‘We'll leave Earth on January’ is. (As an aside, the bible phrase usually quoted 'Peace on earth &goodwill to men' is more accurately translated from latin as 'peace on earth for good willed men')

Marcus Andersson Says:
9/9/2007 12:51:23 AM

I agree with the previous poster that the Web is not shorthand for the Internet. The Web is short hand for the World Wide Web. The Web uses the Internet. I disagree that "Web site" should not be capitalized; although, I do think it would be more attractive not capitalized. Web is a proper noun, and I have only found Web site listed in dictionaries as two separate words, with Web capitalized. Saying that "Web site" should be written as "web site" would be equivalent to saying that "a Word document" should be written as "a word document" because there are many Microsoft Word documents. And as far as I can tell, the result of removing the space between Web and site hasn't been recognized by dictionaries as a word. That would be equivalent to writing "a worddocument" for "a Word document."

Grammar Girl Says:
9/9/2007 12:00:00 AM

I'm sorry the poll isn't working properly; we're aware of the problem and working on it.

Nancy Says:
9/8/2007 9:16:32 PM

I think the I(i)nternet is a phenomenon that began as a proper noun but is moving toward common noun territory. I decided that an analogous phenomenon would be the I(i)nterstate highway system. This was a proper noun when it was created but a cursory Google search revealed, as I suspected, that today the capitalization is all over the place. So--my head says internet but my heart says Internet--a function, no doubt, of my age. I would, however, use lower-case "i" for the adjective: my internet service provider. Hmmm--does the adjective lead and the noun follow? Small "i" is the wave of the future. Depends on whether you want to be trendy or retro.

Gabriel Says:
9/8/2007 3:11:32 PM

I disagree with your statement that the Web is just another name for the Internet. The Web is a part of the Internet, but not all of it. For example, email, FTP, and many services are transmitted via the Internet, but they are not the Web. In fact, GoToMyPC is a perfect example of something that uses the Internet but is not the Web. If you want to be fussy about it, it would be more correct to say that the Web is transmitted through the Internet because the Internet is really a communications system or network, whereas the Web is a collection of data (pages) stored on computers connected to the Internet. It's like saying that a highway system is the same as a collection of cities. They are related, but they are different.

Maria Says:
9/7/2007 10:20:53 PM

The poll does not seem to be working.