Variable French Capitalization
Differences between capitalization in French and English
In French, capitalization sometimes depends on how a given word is used.
| Direction words | |
| Points on the compass are not capitalized. | |
| Nous avons roulé pendant 5 kilomètres vers le nord. | We drove north for 5 kilometers. |
| La ville est située au sud de la frontière. | The town is south of the border. |
| Except when they are the name of a place. | |
| Il habite dans le Nord. | He lives in the north. |
| Je vais au Sud de la France. | I'm going to the south of France. |
| Nationalities | |
| Nationalities used as adjectives are not capitalized. | |
| Je suis américain. | I'm American. |
| Il a acheté un drapeau français. | He bought a French flag. |
| Nationalities used as nouns are capitalized. | |
| Elle s'est mariée avec un Espagnol. | She married a Spaniard. |
| J'ai vu un Australien. | I saw an Australian. |
| Proper Nouns | |
| Proper names that refer to places are capitalized. | |
| Il habite à Bordeaux. | He lives in Bordeaux. |
| J'ai visité la Hollande. | I visited Holland. |
| Proper names that refer to products are not capitalized. | |
| J'aime bien le bordeaux. | I really like Bordeaux (wine). |
| Je n'ai jamais goûté le hollande. | I've never tried Dutch cheese. |
| Organizations and Long Titles | |
| Normally only the first word of a long title is capitalized. | |
| le Fonds monétaire international | International Monetary Fund |
| Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques | Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development |
| Except when two words are linked by a hyphen or the word "and," or the name begins with an adjective. | |
| le ministère de l'Industrie et du Commerce | Department of Industry and Commerce |
| la Petite Ourse | the Little Dipper / Ursa Minor |
| Titled Persons | |
| When speaking to a titled person, the title is capitalized. | |
| Monsieur Gueldry, attendez, s'il vous plaît. | Mr. Gueldry, please wait. |
| Docteur Martin, comment allez-vous ? | Dr. Martin, how are you? |
| When speaking about a titled person, the title is not capitalized (but is preceded by the definite article). | |
| Le général Dubois vient d'arriver. | General Dubois just arrived. |
| Le docteur Martin habite à côté. | Dr. Martin lives next door. |
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1. Introduction to Capitalization 2. Variable Capitalization 3. Accented Capitals 4. Capitalization of Titles |
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