English Title Capitalization Rules - How to Properly Capitalize a Title or Headline

We give you an overview of the primary title capitalization rules in English so that you know your title will look right.

Title capitalization rules are set by style guides. The four main style guides are:

-Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
-The Associated Press Stylebook (AP)
-Chicago Manual of Style
-Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)

Capitalization rules across these style guides share some common rules.
Rule 1: Always capitalize the first and last word in a title.

Rule 2: Lowercase the following words when they are not the first or last word:
-Articles (e.g., a, an, the, etc.)
-Coordinating Conjunctions (e.g., and, but, for, etc.)
-Short words (fewer than 4 letters)
-Prepositions (e.g., at, by, to, etc.)

Rule 3: Always capitalize important words in a title. This can include:
-Adjectives (e.g., tiny, large, etc.)
-Adverbs (e.g., quietly, smoothly, etc.)
-Nouns (e.g., tablet, kitchen, book, etc.)
-Pronouns (e.g., they, she, he, etc.)
-Proper nouns (e.g., United States, Pacific Ocean, etc.)
-Subordinating conjunctions
-Verbs (e.g., write, type, create, etc.)

[qokzz]

How to properly capitalize a phrase: "now playing the beach boys" ?
Should it be "the" or "The"?

[squirmypiggy]

Lol. Thanks for giving examples of proper nouns, but not subordinating conjunctions.