Spanish Language Style Guide & Glossaries: Capitalization
Titles in Spanish do not follow the capitalization style of the English language:
- Fraudes de trabajo en el hogar
- Work-at-Home Schemes
Words in Spanish are capitalized only when they are:
First word of a title:
- ¡Para qué sirven las amígdalas y las adenoides!
Names of people or places (proper nouns):
- Enfermedad de Still del adulto
- Evite problemas en las aduanas cuando regresa a los Estados Unidos
- Organización Internacional del Trabajo
Days of the week and months
In Spanish the days of the week and months of the year are written in lower case unless they are the first word in a sentence.
In addition, follow these capitalization guidelines:
- First word after a colon (:) when:
it is a quote (between quotations marks or not), or a list in several paragraphs, each one following a number or a letter - First word after an em (—) dash.
Enfermedad del corazón —Prevención - First word after a forward slash (/)
Impuestos/Tributación - Desvío de las arterias coronarias/Angioplastia
- Words in parentheses are not capitalized unless the text in parentheses is an acronym. Examples:
- TC (tomografía computada)
- Red Mundial para la Búsqueda de Niños Desaparecidos (en inglés)
- Culebrilla (herpes zoster)
Page Updated or Reviewed: February 1, 2007
