French Capitalization - La Capitalisation
Differences between capitalization in French and English
French and English capitalization are quite different, as it is much less common in French. Many words that must be capitalized in English cannot be in French, so read through this lesson to make sure that you're not over-capitalizing your French. Also, find an answer to the debate about whether French capital letters can/should/must be accented.
| Words that are capitalized in English but not in French: | ||||||
| 1. | First person singular subject pronoun (lesson), unless it's at the beginning of the sentence. | |||||
| He said, "I love you." | Il a dit « je t'aime ». | |||||
| Je suis prêt. | I'm ready. | |||||
| 2. | Days of the week, months of the year (lesson) | |||||
| Monday, Tuesday... | lundi, mardi... | |||||
| January, February... | janvier, février... | |||||
| 3. | Geographical words | |||||
| Molière Street | rue Molière | |||||
| Victor Hugo Ave. | av. Victor Hugo | |||||
| Pacific Ocean | l'océan Pacifique | |||||
| Mediterranean Sea | la mer Méditerranée | |||||
| Mont Blanc | le mont Blanc | |||||
| 4. | Languages (list of languages) | |||||
| French, English, Russian | le français, l'anglais, le russe | |||||
| 5. |
Nationalities (list
of nationalities) French adjectives that refer to nationalities are not capitalized, but proper nouns are. |
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| I'm American. | Je suis américain. | |||||
| He bought a French flag. | Il a acheté un drapeau français. | |||||
| She married a Spaniard. | Elle s'est mariée avec un Espagnol. | |||||
| I saw an Australian. | J'ai vu un Australien. | |||||
| 6. |
Religions The names of most religions, their adjectives, and their adherents (proper nouns) are not capitalized in French. |
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| Religion | Adjective | Proper Noun | ||||
| Christianity | le christianisme | Christian | chrétien | Christian | un chrétien | |
| Judaism | le judaïsme | Jewish | juif | Jew | un juif | |
| Hinduism | le hindouisme | Hindu | hindou | Hindu | * | |
| Buddhism | le bouddhisme | Buddhist | bouddhiste | Buddhist | * | |
| Islam | * | Muslim | musulman | Muslim | un musulman | |
| *Exceptions |
a Hindu - un Hindou a Buddhist - un Bouddhiste Islam - l'Islam |
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The differences between French and English capitalization don't end there:
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1. Introduction to French Capitalization 2. Variable Capitalization 3. Accented Capitals 4. Capitalization of Titles |
| Writing lessons Typing French accents |
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