QÂ Â Â Â Do you know whether there were any left? AÂ Â Â Â Â No. And the attorney tries to clean up the mess he has created: QÂ Â Â Â Â So “No,” you don’t know? Or, “No,” there weren’t any left?Since he is focusing on the word used, the quotes are correct. Since “no” stands for a complete thought, it is capped. You could use a …
Directions: “North,” “South,” “East,” “West”
The rule for capping north, south, east, and west is that these words are capped when they represent a “recognized” geographical region and are not capped when they simply indicate direction. …He lives in the South. …He lives south of the intersection of Main and Broadway. So in California, if I say I am going to “Northern California” on vacation, you …
Directions with “North,” “South,” “East,” and “West”
The direction words — “north,” “south,” “east,” and “west” — are capped when they refer to a recognized region and not capped when they simply indicate a direction.In CA, for example, we have “Northern CA” and “Southern CA” as recognized regions; we have no region that is recognized as “eastern CA.” …He lives in Northern California. …He lives in eastern …
Commas with the State and the Year
The English rule is that the year is surrounded by commas when it follows the date and that the state is surrounded by commas when it follows the city. …happened on May 4, 2013, near Tulsa. …lived in El Paso, Texas, for many years. The confusion often comes when these combinations are used as adjectives before a noun. The rule …
A.M. and P.M.
When the question is “Was that A.M. or P.M.?” the problem with the way the answer looks is solved if you cap both letters. The dictionary gives you an option for caps or lowercase. Choosing caps all the time resolves any issues. QÂ Â Was that A.M. or P.M.? AÂ Â Â A.M. Happy punctuating! Margie
Capping Titles in Front of the Name
A rule of thumb, perhaps: When trying to discern whether something is a “title” in front of a name, think of whether it sounds “normal and usual” to walk into a room and say, “Good morning, —–.” We would walk in and say, “Good morning, Doctor (Officer, Sergeant, Judge, Counsel).” These are titles. We would probably not walk in and …
Capping the Word “Court” (Part 1)
When the formal name of the court is used, it is capitalized. …tried in the Superior Court… …sent to the Court of Appeal… The partial or informal name of the court is not capped. …sent to trial court… …heard in appellate court… …testified in court this afternoon… Happy punctuating! Margie
Words for Directions
Remember that the words that represent directions — north, south, east, west — in any form are capitalized when they represent a recognized geographical area. This presumes that you might have to have some information about a region to know whether it is “recognized.” Here in Los Angeles, for example, people would recognize “West L.A.” and “East L.A.,” but we …
Capping the Words for the Directions
The words for the directions — north, south, east, west — and any “combined” forms of those are capped when they represent a “recognized” geographical area. There are those we would all recognize. …lived in South America for a while… …visited the North Pole… …vacationed in the South of France… …moved to Northern California… These words are not capped when …
Parties to the Lawsuit
These parties to the lawsuit — plaintiff, defendant, defense — are not capped in general context in the transcript. …spoke with plaintiff on the phone… …sent to the defense… …saw the defendant at the scene… These parties to the lawsuit — city, county, state, government — are capped in general context in the transcript. …accused the City of not maintaining …