When writing academic, informative and professional texts, a large number of grammatical doubts can assail us, since we want to write with an accuracy that, in general, does not concern us in our day to day life. One of these doubts is whether or not after writing two points in a sentence we should use the capital letter in the next word.
At oneHOWTO we will help you to clear up this grammatical doubt so that you can properly implement the spelling rule. Do youCapitalized after a colon? We will explain it to you in detail below.
Capital letter after colon: yes or no
The answer is that usually do not capitalize after a colon. Although it is true that in many texts we find a capital letter after a colon out of habit or by stylistic rule, the correct thing to do is to write a lower case letter after a colon.
But, as is almost always the case in these cases, There are exceptions to consider. Let’s see what are those cases in which it is recommended to start with a capital letter after writing a colon.
In journalistic texts
The media usually capitalize after a colon if it is before a direct date. For instance: During the press conference, Zidane said: “PSG has surpassed us”.
This rule is accepted by many journalistic style manuals in print, digital and media newspapers.
In academic texts
The new Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) suggests capitalizing sentences where colons are used to precede quotes and textual words. As we will see below, it is a case similar to the previous one: About, Tournier affirms: “The doctrine of being manifests itself as a result of introjection [castración] of language in the individual “.
In letters and legal documents
Likewise, the RAE recommends the use of capital letters after a colon in letters, administrative documents and legal texts. In these cases, the colon marks the end of the paragraph and, therefore, the first word on the next line must be capitalized.
In reports and forms
In schematic writings (reports, forms, resumes, etc.) capitalization is used after a colon as long as the next word is a proper noun. For instance:
- Name: Angelica María
- Surname: Martínez Lara
- Marital status: Single
If you have questions about how the colon is used, this other oneHOWTO article may be of great help to you.
Is it capitalized after a semicolon?
If you have ever wondered if it is capitalized after a colon, you may also have doubts with the semicolon or the ellipsis. Next, from a HOWTO, we give you the answer.
The new Spelling of the Spanish language establishes that, after a semicolon in a sentence, lowercase is always used. The reason is that, although the sign indicates a pause greater than that marked by the comma, it does not fix the closing of a sentence, since that function is only exercised by the period.
For this reason, in titles, epigraphs and in common narrative capital letters are not used, since the word that follows the colon is usually a verb or article that is part of the same sentence (except proper nouns and nouns).
According to the RAE, the only exception in which capitalization is used after a semicolon is in works of linguistic content in which it is common practice to separate the different examples offered with a semicolon. In this case, each example is placed in different sentences and therefore capitalization is used at the beginning of each sentence. This use, explains the RAE, “is exceptional and contrary to the rule that governs the general language.” Let’s an example:
Among the main informative genres of journalism are
- The report;
- The interview;
- The chronic
Wondering how to use the semicolon correctly in a sentence? Take a look at the following educational article.
Is it capitalized after the ellipsis?
According to the Royal Spanish Academy, after the ellipsis (…) a capital letter is used if the punctuation mark marks the closing of the sentence. Example: If I didn’t come back … Better not think about it.
However, if the ellipsis does not close the sentence, the word after the sign will be in lowercase:
- I must admit that … I mean yes; the time has come to take a risk.
- I would like to see you … but I don’t think that will happen.
This rule is because the function of the ellipsis is to mark a temporary pause. This pause often expresses fear, doubt, hesitation, or suspense.
Similarly, the ellipsis can be combined with other punctuation marks (except with the period). When combined with exclamation or question marks, the following word will be capitalized, as it is part of another sentence:
- If I told you that …! It’s useless, you never listen to anyone.
- Did he bring me the books? … Sure he did.
From UNCOMO we recommend you visit this other article on What are the uses of ellipsis points.
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