Articles and Capitalization

An article is a special adjective that defines the noun being talked about. There are 3 kinds of articles: a, an, the.

"A" - is used when talking about nouns that start with consonants; this is non specific noun

ex: a car, a bike, a newspaper, a teacher

"An" - is used when talking about nouns that start with vowels; this is a non specific noun

ex: an egg, an orange, an apple

"The" - is used when talking about a specific noun; doesn't matter what kind of letter it starts with

ex: the car, the apple, the teacher

Capitalization is making the first letter in a word larger than the other letters in the word. 

ex: Mr. Williams

"I" is the name that you call yourself.

ex: I went to the store. I bought ice cream. I like to eat dessert.

The name you call a person must be capitalized. ALL parts - first, middle, last.

ex: Sarah Silva Stout, Kelly, Edgar Waller

When giving a title of respect with a name it is also capitalized, OR if you are using it in place of the name it is capitalized.

ex: Ms. Bean, Cousin Fred, my aunt, the president

When telling the exact name of a place and NOT the kind of place. This includes cities, states, and countries

ex: Haltom City, Texas, East Hills Mall, movie theater

When telling the exact name of an object and NOT the kind of object.

ex: Nike shoes, Versace glasses, sandals

When telling the name of the day of the week or the month of the year.

NEVER capitalize the seasons if they are not part of the name of something else - winter, spring, summer, fall

ex: Saturday, May 5th, Spring Break, spring flowers

When telling the name of a language (because most of the time it comes from the name of the country that speaks it)

ex: English, Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Kinyarwandan

When telling the name of a religious belief

ex: Catholicism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism

When telling the name of a holiday, doesn't matter if the holiday is religious or secular.

Small preposition words like "of" "in" "the" are not capitalized if they are in the middle of the name

ex: Christmas, Memorial Day, Dia de los Muertos, Tet, Martyrs of Independence

When telling the name of a book, article, magazine, tv show, movie, song, poem, etc. capitalize all but small preposition/article words like "of" "in" "the" are not capitalized if they are in the middle of the name

ex: Guardians of the Galaxy, Wonder Woman 1984, "Ode to a Greek Vase"

When writing a sentence, the first word must be capitalized no matter what that word is.

ex: The sandwich I had for lunch was peanut butter and jelly on white bread.

When writing an outline the first word of each line must be capitalized.

ex: I. Memories 

II. Types 

a. Long term 

b. Short term   

III. Reasons memories are important