Complete Guide to Title Case Rules and Conventions

What is Title Case?

Title case is a capitalization style where the first letter of each major word in a title is capitalized. However, different style guides have different rules about which words should be capitalized.

APA Style Title Case Rules

In APA Style, you capitalize:

• The first word of the title/heading and subtitle/subheading
• All major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns)
• All words of four letters or more

Words not capitalized in APA Style include:

• Articles (a, an, the)
• Short coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor, etc.)
• Short prepositions (as, at, by, for, in, of, on, to, etc.) when they are less than four letters
• To in infinitives (to Run, to Hide)

MLA Style Title Case Rules

MLA Style is similar to APA but with some differences:

• Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all principal words
• Principal words include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions
• Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or the "to" in infinitives unless they are the first or last word of the title or subtitle

Chicago Style Title Case Rules

Chicago Style recommends:

• Capitalize the first and last words of titles and subtitles
• Capitalize all other major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions)
• Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, unless they are the first or last word of the title
• Lowercase the "to" in infinitives

New York Times Style

The New York Times style capitalizes:

• All words with 5 or more letters, regardless of their part of speech
• The first and last words of the title, regardless of length
• All verbs, including "is," "are," "was," and "be"

Using Our Title Case Converter

Our Title Case Converter makes it easy to apply any of these style guides to your titles. Simply paste your text, select your preferred style guide, and get perfectly formatted titles instantly.