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North, east, south, and west are not capitalized when they refer to a direction or general area.

I plan on attending the Summer Olympics next year.I plan on visiting New York in the summer.

However, the four seasons are common nouns and therefore not capitalized unless they appear as part of a proper noun. Impressionism was a pivotal artistic development in the nineteenth century.ĭays of the week (e.g., Wednesday), months of the year (e.g., August), and holidays and festivals (e.g., Christmas, Ramadan) are capitalized.The Great Depression affected virtually every country in the world.The Paleozoic Era began 541 million years ago.The Middle Ages were dismissed as backward by Renaissance thinkers.Specific periods and named events in history are proper nouns and thus capitalized. Words like democracy, government and authority refer to general concepts and categories rather than specific names.Ĭommon nouns often become proper nouns when used to name a specific entity: Common noun There are no proper nouns in the example above. Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy are forms of government classified according to which people have the authority to rule. Common nouns are not normally capitalized (unless they are the first word of a sentence or part of a title). Michelle Obama, the former first lady, was raised in Chicago and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.Ī common noun, on the other hand, refers to a general, non-specific category or entity. All proper nouns (as well as adjectives derived from them) should be capitalized.