When do we capitalize directions

I assumed they were always capitalized because of this. This is why you never want to rely exclusively on spell checkers and grammar checkers. They have a difficult time distinguishing between directions and proper nouns with north, south, east, and west. Just look it over. Very clear explanation, btw!

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. Surely not one word Southeast? Hi, Victoria. Whichever version you use, then, we'd suggest not capitalizing the direction, just the country name. Consistency is the most important thing, though, so you should be fine as long as the form chosen is clear and you use it each time.

Hope all that helps! The street is named Bolton Avenue. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton. Thank you. Hi, Kelly. As explained in the post, there is no need to capitalize these words when used generically only when they're part of a proper noun. And "north" in that sentence refers to a direction i. Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous.

Do you capitalize north? Hi, Chris. As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. However, it is only compulsory to do so when "North" is part of a proper noun. There's not enough context in your example to offer any solid advice e. I often have to write north, west in reference to an entrance or exit, for example, the patron exited through the north turnstile. Stop the car! In this case, we at Proofread NOW.

Well-recognized regions are usually described as such online. Also, let context be your guide. Because of the numerous stylistic variations, coming up with one right answer for questions beyond those relating to compass directions or obvious regions is difficult.

The key here is to be consistent and, when appropriate, to let context guide you. Topics: capitalization. Customer Login Create New Account. However, understanding them is unavoidable thanks to their regular usage in sentences. As such, it is necessary to understand, do you capitalize cardinal directions? When and when not to. Well, you should capitalize cardinal directions in cases where you use them as proper nouns.

In such cases, they depict definite regions and form an integral part of proper names. On the other hand, do not capitalize them where they merely refer to a general location or direction.

However, this is only partially helpful. There are also other rules guiding their capitalization. You need to understand the capitalization of their derivatives — words like eastern, northern, western, and southern.

As such, in this post, we will explore these rules while providing illustrative examples. Like we already explained, various rules guide how you capitalize cardinal directions. In case you are not sure what we are talking about, it is simple. Cardinal directions are words that indicate general geographic locations or compass directions.

These words are primarily four — north, west, south, and east — although there are derivatives. Now, to understand these rules, you must place them under two categories. The first rule involves those guiding when to capitalize.