Capital letters

Italian grammar

The rules for capitalizing letters in Italian are not the same as English.

Capital letters in Italian titles

You only need to capitalize the first letter of a title, whether it’s the title of a book, a movie or an organization.

Il piccolo principeThe Little Prince
Unione nazionale consumatoriNational Consumers Union

However, this rule can be bent, so it’s not set in stone.

Il Signore degli AnelliThe Lord of the Rings
Organizzazione delle Nazioni UniteUnited Nations Organization
Il Corriere della SeraIl Corriere della Sera (newspaper)
hobbit house

Weekdays and months are NOT capitalized

This is another difference from English: the Italian months and days of the week don’t begin with a capital letter.

Oggi è lunedì. Domani sarà martedì.Today is Monday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.
Sono nato a marzo. Mia sorella, invece, è nata a gennaio.I was born in March. My sister, on the other hand, was born in January.
newborn baby crying

The same goes for cardinal points: they are never capitalized, regardless of their function in the sentence, unless we’re talking about the name of a country. Countries always begin with capital letters in Italian.

Il sole sorge a est e tramonta a ovest.The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Dove si trova la Corea del Nord?Where is North Korea?

Nationalities are NOT capitalized

Adjectives of nationality and names of languages are never capitalized in Italian.

Sono italiano e parlo francese, spagnolo e tedesco.I am Italian and I speak French, Spanish and German.

Romani, with a capital letter, is used to address the ancient Romans, while romani, with a lowercase letter, means modern people living in Rome!

God is capitalized, but with a caveat

God, which is Dio in Italian, is capitalized when you’re talking about the God of Christianity (speaking of which, the adjective Christian, cristiano, is never capitalized!).

Lode a Dio.Praise to God.
internet god

This behavior is also reflected in the pronoun Lui, He, as it also happens in English.

If you’re talking about a pagan deity, however, you don’t need a capital letter.

Odino e Thor sono dèi della mitologia norrena.Odin and Thor are gods of Norse mythology.

Lei… or lei?

Unless you want to sound overly formal in your cover letter, you don’t really need to capitalize the formal pronoun Lei anymore.

Signor Rossi, posso chiederle (chiederLe) un favore?Mr. Rossi, may I ask you a favor?

Other than that, the Italian rules for capitalization are pretty much the same as the English rules: always remember to capitalize proper nouns (first names, places, rivers, national holidays such as Natale, Christmas…) and the first letter of any sentence after a period and an exclamation/question mark.


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