GED Reasoning Through Language Arts
Capitalization & Spelling
Capitals go on names — of specific people, places, days, titles-attached-to-names — and on nothing else. The trap is words that are sometimes a name and sometimes not: mom, president, south, spring. The question is always: is it working as a name RIGHT HERE?
The words first
- proper noun
- the name of one specific person, place, or thing — capitalized
- common noun
- a general category word — lowercase
- title
- capitalized when attached to a name: President Lincoln; lowercase alone: the president
- seasons
- never capitalized: spring, summer, fall, winter
The method
ALWAYS CAPITALIZED
specific people/places: Maria, Texas, the Rio Grande
days, months, holidays: Tuesday, August, Thanksgiving
languages, nations: Spanish, Brazilian
first word of a sentence
NEVER CAPITALIZED
seasons: this spring ✗ this Spring
directions: drive south (but: the South, as a region)
school subjects: history, algebra (but: Spanish — a language)
THE SOMETIMES WORDS — the name test
working as a NAME → capital
"Can I go, Mom?" (you could swap in "Lisa")
President Lincoln spoke.
working as a description → lowercase
"my mom said no" ("my Lisa said no" fails)
the president spoke.
Worked all the way through
The problem
Fix the capitals: "last Spring, my Mom and i drove South to visit aunt Rosa in texas."
- Step 1 — "last Spring".Seasons are never capitalized: last spring.
- Step 2 — "my Mom".Swap test: "my Lisa" fails, so it is a description here: my mom.
- Step 3 — "i".The pronoun I is always capitalized.
- Step 4 — "drove South".A direction of travel, not the region: drove south.
- Step 5 — "aunt Rosa" and "texas".Attached to a name, aunt becomes part of it: Aunt Rosa. Texas is a specific place: Texas.
On the board
Spring → spring
seasons lowercase
Mom → mom
"my" in front = description
i → I
always
South → south
direction, not region
aunt Rosa → Aunt Rosa · texas → Texas
names
Answer
Last spring, my mom and I drove south to visit Aunt Rosa in Texas.
A second one, in a different form
Which is correct: "the (President / president) will speak at (Lincoln High School / lincoln high school)"?
"the ___" — no name attached
lowercase president
Lincoln High School = a specific school's name
capitalize the full name
the president … Lincoln High School ✓
Answer
the president will speak at Lincoln High School
The usual mistake
Capitalizing seasons and job titles that stand alone.
Check yourself
For every sometimes-word, run the swap test: replace it with a personal name like Lisa. If the sentence still works, it is being used as a name — capitalize. If it breaks, lowercase.
Practice it
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