titles of works

Is Is Capitalized in Titles?

/ Erin Servais / 8 Comments
buff

This is my cat, Buff Buff.  He’s in a box!

Is, with just its two lovely letters, seems to confuse many people as they go about capitalizing chapter titles, article titles, subtitles, and so forth.

Should is be capitalized in titles? Let’s find out.

(Okay, if you’re looking for the quick answer, it’s: yes, you should capitalize is in titles. If you want to discover why it should be capitalized, read on. You can also find a full review of how to write titles here.)

First, let’s review which words get capitalized in titles (according to The Chicago Manual of Style).

  1. First and last words
  2. Nouns
  3. Verbs
  4. Pronouns
  5. Adjectives
  6. Adverbs

Is (like pillage, splatter, and giggle) is a verb. So, even though it’s a teeny tiny verb, it still gets the full capitalization treatment.

Let’s check out this example:

The Cat Is in the Box

The verb in this title is is, so it gets capitalized.

Here’s another:

The Cat Is in the Box, and He Looks Confused

Is and Looks are both verbs in this title. They both get capitalized.

And, when in doubt, you can always cheat. There is a handy dandy online tool named Capitalize My Title that will do the work for you. Simply type in the words of your title, and—voilà—it formats it for you in whichever style you wish.

Erin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of book editing, author coaching, and social media packages.

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Quotation Marks Within Quotation Marks

/ Erin Servais / 1 Comment

When you’re working with only one set of quotation marks, using them is simple. In American English, just surround the sentence or words in double quote marks.

Example:
Hannibal said, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

Quotes within quotes
When you have a quote within a quote, begin and end the main quote with double quotation marks. Surround the quote within a quote with single quotation marks.

Example:
Ronald said, “I can’t believe Hannibal said, ‘I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.’”

Note that the period goes before all three final quotation marks and that there is no space between the single quote mark and the double quote marks.

Here’s how it would look if the main quote continues after the quote within a quote:

Ronald said, “I can’t believe Hannibal said, ‘I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.’ That really creeped me out.”

Works of art
If a quote has reference to a title of a work of art that requires quotation marks (and not italics), the title also uses single quotation marks. (For a refresher on which require quote marks and which require italics, click here.)

Example:
Hannibal said, “I heard Ronald’s favorite song is ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ by the Rolling Stones.”

Erin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of editing, coaching, and social media packages.

Sign up for the Dot and Dash newsletter to get writing tips and tricks and exclusive deals.  

Follow Dot and Dash on social media.
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Titles of works: italics or quotation marks

/ Erin Servais / 12 Comments

Today we’re going to talk about titles of works (movies, books, articles, and more) and whether they should be in italics or quotation marks. You’ll learn the rules in The Chicago Manual of Style, which is the style guide people who edit books use. The Associated Press Stylebook, which is the style guide newspapers use, has a different set of rules. If you want to learn those rules, you can find a quick guide here.

Books, newspapers, and magazines
Titles of books, newspapers, and magazines should be italicized.

Examples:
I heard that the book A History of Princess Crowns is fascinating.
The astronaut had a subscription to the newspaper Mars Daily.
Marsha likes the magazine Cats Monthly because it has cute photos.

Articles and chapters
Titles of articles in newspapers or magazines and chapter titles in books should be in quotation marks.

Examples:
Did you read the article “Fun with Flesh-eating Bacteria” in the magazine?
My favorite chapter in the book was “Germs are gross.”

Movies, television shows, radio programs, and plays
Titles of movies, television shows, radio programs, and plays should be italicized.

Examples:
The gardener’s favorite movie is the documentary Plants Are Awesome.
The scientist watches the television show World’s Weirdest Germs every Tuesday night.
Sally’s mom loved listening to the radio show Stuff Old People Like.
The little girl’s favorite play was Cute, Fuzzy Animals in the Forest.

Poems and songs
Titles of poems and songs should be in quotation marks.

Example:
In high school, Sally wrote a poem called “Johnny Is Cute.”
She also wrote a song called “I Think I’m in Love with Johnny.”

Quiz
Test your skills with this quiz. Look at the titles in bold and choose whether they should be italicized or in quotation marks. The answers are at the bottom.

1. The most popular article in today’s City Tribune is Boy Rescues Cat from Tree.
2. Francis worked all week on his song That Jerk Stole my Heart.
3. Lacy was sad because she missed Sassy Girls’ Island on television last night.
4. Did you get to the chapter Workouts for the Lazy Man in the book The Lazy Man’s Guide to Life?
5. I tried not to fall asleep during the play The Calm and the Quiet because it was really boring.
6. Steve had to read the poem The Cat Eats Rats for school.
7. After Frank heard the movie review for Car Crashes and Blood on the radio show Watch these Movies, he couldn’t wait to see it.

1. italics, quotation marks 2. quotation marks 3. italics 4. quotation marks, italics 5. italics 6. quotation marks 7. italics, italics

Erin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of editing, coaching, and social media packages.

Sign up for the Dot and Dash newsletter to get writing tips and tricks and exclusive deals.  

Follow Dot and Dash on social media.
Twitter: @GrammarParty
Instagram: @dot_and_dash_llc
Facebook: facebook.com/dotanddashllc
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/dotanddashllc