Capitalization/Hoofdletters

When do I need to capitalize?
Knowing which types of words to capitalize is the most important part of learning English capitalization rules. Basically, there are three types of words you capitalize in English:

1. the pronoun I (persoonlijke voornaamwoord "Ik")
2. the first word in a sentence or line of a letter
3. proper nouns

 

What are proper nouns?

A proper noun is a noun that is the name of a specific place, person, or thing.

Example:

car is a common noun so lowercase (kleine letters)

Tesla is a proper noun since it's a specific car so capitalize it

Here are just a few cases of when to capitalize because they are proper nouns. Keep in mind there are more cases.

 

1. People’s names (namen van mensen)

First names, middle names, last names, nicknames, and suffixes (achtervoegsels) are capitalized.

Examples:

Martin Luther King Jr.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

 

2. Titles (Titels)
The title of any piece of work: books, movies, songs, poems, etc. needs capitalization, but only certain words in the title are capitalized.

The first word in a title is always capitalized. Nouns (zelfstandig naamwoorden), pronouns (persoonlijke voornaamwoorden), verbs (werkwoorden), adjectives (bijvoeglijk naamwoorden), and adverbs (bijwoorden) all need to be capitalized in titles as well.

Small words like articles (lidwoorden) and prepositions (voorzetsels) are generally lowercased, unless they’re the first word in a title.

Examples:

The Catcher in the Rye

Of Mice and Men

 

3. Places (Plaatsen/Locaties)
If you’re using the name of a place, capitalize it. This applies to everything from tiny Deer Creek to the massive planet Jupiter.

Examples:

New York City

Lake Victoria

 

4. Countries, nationalities, and languages (Landen, nationaliteiten, en talen)
Country names fall under the category of places, but also the names of the people who live there and the adjective form (bijvoeglijk naamwoord) of their culture are capitalized. This includes languages.

Examples:

Haiti                                       the Netherlands

a team of Haitians                 Dutch people

Haitian cuisine                      the Dutch language

 

5. Days, months, and holidays (dagen, maanden, en vakanties)
Example:

the first Sunday in April

When words like day or month are used normally, they are not capitalized. However, if they are part of a holiday name, they are capitalized.

Example:

What day is Father’s Day?

 

6. Job titles

Job titles, positions, or honorifics (eretitels) are sometimes capitalized and sometimes lowercased. When these titles are used as part of a proper name, they are capitalized; when they refer to the general job or position, they are lowercased.

Examples:

The next president may be from a different region than President Mujica.

Likewise, honorifics like Mr. and Ms. are capitalized when used before a name.

 

Capitalization rules