When Do You Use French Capitalization? Laura K. Lawless

French and English capitalization are quite different, as it is much less common in French. Many words that must be capitalized in English cannot be in French, so read through this lesson to make sure that you're not over-capitalizing your French. Also, find an answer to the debate about whether French capital letters can/should/must be accented.

WORDS THAT ARE CAPITALIZED IN ENGLISH BUT NOT IN FRENCH:

1.	First person singular subject pronoun (lesson), unless it's at the beginning of the sentence.
	He said, "I love you."			Il a dit « je t'aime ».
	Je suis prêt.			I'm ready.
2.	Days of the week, months of the year (lesson)
	Monday, Tuesday...			lundi, mardi...
	January, February...			janvier, février...
3.	Geographical words
	Molière Street			rue Molière
	Victor Hugo Ave.			av. Victor Hugo
	Pacific Ocean			l'océan Pacifique
	Mediterranean Sea			la mer Méditerranée
	Mont Blanc			le mont Blanc
4.	Languages (list of languages)
	French, English, Russian			le français, l'anglais, le russe
5.	Nationalities (list of nationalities) French adjectives that refer to nationalities are not capitalized, but proper nouns are.
	I'm American.			Je suis américain.
	He bought a French flag.			Il a acheté un drapeau français.
	She married a Spaniard.			Elle s'est mariée avec un Espagnol.
	I saw an Australian.			J'ai vu un Australien.
6.	Religions The names of most religions, their adjectives, and their adherents (proper nouns) are not capitalized in French.
Religion			Adjective		Proper Noun
	Christianity	le christianisme	Christian	chrétien	Christian	un chrétien
	Judaism	le judaïsme	Jewish	juif	Jew	un juif
	Hinduism	le hindouisme	Hindu	hindou	Hindu	*
	Buddhism	le bouddhisme	Buddhist	bouddhiste	Buddhist	*
	Islam	*	Muslim	musulman	Muslim	un musulman
*Exceptions			a Hindu - un Hindou a Buddhist - un Bouddhiste Islam - l'Islam

by Laura K. Lawless