Title case is the capitalisation used for titles of books, articles, songs and headlines: the important words start with capitals while small connecting words stay lowercase. Everyone agrees on the big picture – capitalise the first word and every noun, verb, adjective and adverb, keep “a”, “an” and “the” lowercase – but style guides disagree on the small words.
AP and APA lowercase only short words (three letters or fewer), so “With” and “About” are capitalised. Chicago and MLA lowercase every preposition regardless of length (“with”, “about”, “between”), Bluebook lowercases prepositions of four letters or fewer, and the New York Times uses its own short list but capitalises short verbs like “Is”. Chicago, AP, MLA, AMA and the NYT also always capitalise the last word; APA and Bluebook only require the first word and the word after a colon.
Pick the guide your publisher, school or newsroom uses. The table under the result shows the first line in all seven styles at once, so you can see exactly where they differ. Note that software decides by word lists, not grammar: “up” in “Set Up” is an adverb and should be capitalised, so give the result a final read.
How to use the Title Case Converter
- Text to convert
- Case type
- Title case style guide
- Keep words already in ALL CAPS (NASA, Q3)?
Everything is calculated in your browser, so results appear instantly and nothing you type is sent to a server.
How it works
The title is split into words; the first word, the word after a colon or dash and (for most styles) the last word are always capitalised. Every other word is checked against the selected guide’s list of minor words – articles, coordinating conjunctions and prepositions with the guide’s length limit – and set in lowercase if it matches; all remaining words get an initial capital. Both parts of hyphenated major words are capitalised.
Worked example
Title: “a guide to living with less: why less is more for you and the planet”. Chicago, MLA and Bluebook give A Guide to Living with Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet; AP, APA, AMA and the NYT capitalise the four-letter preposition: A Guide to Living With Less: …. All styles capitalise “Why” after the colon and the verb “Is”, and keep “to”, “for”, “and” and “the” lowercase.
Rules by style guide
| Style | Lowercase | Last word |
|---|---|---|
| AP | articles; conjunctions and prepositions of ≤ 3 letters | capitalised |
| APA 7 | articles, short conjunctions and prepositions of ≤ 3 letters | no rule |
| Chicago | articles, and/but/or/nor/for, all prepositions, to, as | capitalised |
| MLA | articles, all prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, to | capitalised |
| AMA | articles, coordinating conjunctions, prepositions of ≤ 3 letters | capitalised |
| Bluebook | articles, conjunctions and prepositions of ≤ 4 letters | no rule |
| NYT | a, and, as, at, but, by, en, for, if, in, of, on, or, the, to, v., via, vs. | capitalised |
Formula
Capitalise: first word, last word (most styles), the word after a colon, and all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns)
Lowercase: articles, short conjunctions and prepositions – the length limit depends on the style
Worked example
Inputs — Text to convert: a guide to living with less: why less is more for you and the planet; Case type: Title Case (style guide); Title case style guide: Chicago Manual of Style; Keep words already in ALL CAPS (NASA, Q3)?: No – lowercase everything first.
Results — Converted text = A Guide to Living with Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet; Your title in every style guide = Style Title (first line)
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
AP A Guide to Living With Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
APA A Guide to Living With Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
Chicago A Guide to Living with Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
MLA A Guide to Living with Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
AMA A Guide to Living With Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
Bluebook A Guide to Living with Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet
NYT A Guide to Living With Less: Why Less Is More for You and the Planet; Characters = 68; Words = 15; Characters changed = 10.
Key terms
- Title case
- Capitalising major words of a title and leaving minor words lowercase.
- Major word
- Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb or any word of four or more letters (APA).
- Minor word
- Article, short conjunction or preposition.
- Style guide
- A rule book such as AP Stylebook, APA Publication Manual or the Chicago Manual of Style.
Frequently asked questions
What words are not capitalised in title case?
Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for) and prepositions – in AP and APA only those of three letters or fewer, in Chicago and MLA all prepositions.
Is “is” capitalised in a title?
Yes, in every major style – it is a verb, even though it is short.
Do you capitalise “with” in a title?
AP, APA, AMA and NYT: yes (four letters). Chicago, MLA and Bluebook: no (it is a preposition).
Is the last word always capitalised?
In AP, Chicago, MLA, AMA and NYT yes; APA and Bluebook have no last-word rule, so a final short preposition can stay lowercase.
Do I capitalise after a colon?
Yes, all styles capitalise the first word of a subtitle after a colon.
Which style should I use for a school essay?
MLA in humanities, APA in social sciences and Chicago in history are the most common; ask your teacher.
How are hyphenated words treated?
Major words after a hyphen are capitalised (Self-Driving Cars); short minor words after a hyphen stay lowercase (Mother-in-Law).