The normal writing uses lower case letters, however, on certain occasions, words, phrases and entire texts can be written entirely in capital letters (as shown below);
but the usual use of the capital letters is to be used at the beginning of the word and only modified depending on different factors.Now, let's go and learn when we use capital letters in Spanish.
1. Use capital letters when it follows the rules of accent marks: ÁFRICA, África. Only when the abbreviation , that are written entirely in capital letters do not use an accent mark like in CIA, FBI, IBM, USA,etc.
2. When the letters ch, gu, ll and qu are used in capital letters at the beginning of the word for the first letter and the rest in lower case like in Chillida, Guinea, Llerena, Quevedo; but if the letters are part of a word which have been written in capital letters, then all the letters should be written in capital letters: CHILLIDA, GUINEA, LLERENA, QUEVEDO. When the letters are part of an acronym, then it is written with a capital letter the first letter of the word: PCCh (Partido Comunista de China).
3. When writing the capital form of the letters i and j do not place dots on top of them as in the lower case: Inés, Javier.
2. Using Capitals in Words and Complete Phrases
a. Written in its entirety in capital letters abbreviations and some acronyms: ISBN, OTI, ONG. Written in lower case, on the other hand, all the acronyms that by usage have become substantives like láser, radar, uvi. When the acronyms are proper nouns and have more than four letters, it is only written with a capital letter the first letter: Unicef, Unesco.
b. Use the capital letters when you want to point out certain phrases or words in a writing.
1) Words or phrases that appear on the covers of books and the titles inside the books indicating parts, chapters and scenes. .
2) Newspaper and magazine headings: EL UNIVERSAL, LA NACIÓN, TIEMPO.
3) Monuments and tombstones inscriptions.
4) Administrative and judicial writings —decrees, sentences, proclamation, edicts, certificates or instances—, verb or verbs which present the main objective of the document: CERTIFICA, EXPONE, SOLICITA.
c) In texts with informative content, the phrases contained express the main message of the document: Por
orden expresa de la dirección, se comunica a todos los empleados que, a
partir de ahora, ESTÁ PROHIBIDO FUMAR DENTRO DE LAS DEPENDENCIAS DE LA
EMPRESA. (Orders from the administration states to all employees that from now on, IT IS FORBIDDEN TO SMOKE INSIDE THE COMPANY'S PREMISES.)
d) The words in signs to ensure visibility: SE RUEGA NO FUMAR; PROHIBIDO EL PASO.
More about the usage of Capital Letters in Spanish in future posts. In the meantime, have fun learning Spanish!!!
