What is the difference between title case and sentence case?

In title case, major words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are capitalized, while minor words like short articles and prepositions are lowercased. In sentence case, only the first word of the title or heading and any proper nouns are capitalized.

Are four-letter words capitalized in APA title case?

Yes. Under APA Style guidelines, all words of four letters or more are classified as major words and must be capitalized, including prepositions like 'With', 'From', and 'Between'.

Is the last word of a title always capitalized in title case?

It depends on the style guide. AP, Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, New York Times, and Wikipedia require the last word of a title to be capitalized regardless of part of speech, whereas APA, AMA, and Bluebook allow minor words to remain lowercase at the end.

How are hyphenated words handled in APA title case?

In APA title case, you must capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound if they are major words, such as writing 'Self-Report' instead of 'Self-report'.

Should prepositions like 'in', 'on', or 'by' ever be capitalized in title case?

Yes. Prepositions are capitalized if they serve as the first word of a title or subtitle, or if they function as adverbs or adjectives in context, such as 'On' in 'It’s On Again' or 'By' in 'Stand By for Action'.

What Is Title Case? Capitalization Rules, Examples, and Guidelines

Title case is a capitalization style used for titles, headings, and headlines where major words are capitalized and minor words remain lowercase. Unlike sentence case, which capitalizes only the first word and any proper nouns, title case gives equal visual weight to principal words throughout a title.

Defining Title Case and Core Capitalization Principles

Title case, also referred to as headline style, is traditionally used for titles of books, movies, songs, plays, articles, essays, and newspapers. It is also standard for headings, subheadings, tables, figures, and named academic paper sections.

To understand title case, writers must distinguish between major and minor words. Major words are generally capitalized regardless of their position in the heading, while minor words are written in lowercase unless they appear in specific prominent locations.

Major Words

According to style standards such as the American Psychological Association (APA) seventh edition manual (Section 6.17 and Concise Guide Section 5.7), major words include the following parts of speech:

Nouns: Standard nouns and proper nouns.
Pronouns: Words taking the place of nouns, including short pronouns such as it, my, and our.
Verbs: All action verbs and linking verbs, including short forms of to be such as is and am.
Adjectives: Words modifying nouns or pronouns.
Adverbs: Words modifying verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Long Words: Any word consisting of four letters or more (in styles like APA, AMA, and AP).

Minor Words

Minor words are short functional terms that connect major elements. In standard title capitalization, minor words are lowercased when they are three letters or fewer, provided they do not start a title or subtitle. Minor words comprise:

Articles: The words a, an, and the.
Short Prepositions: Prepositions of three letters or fewer, such as as, at, by, for, in, of, off, on, per, to, up, and via.
Short Conjunctions: Conjunctions of three letters or fewer, including coordinating conjunctions such as and, as, but, for, if, nor, or, so, and yet.

Title Case vs. Sentence Case

The distinction between title case and sentence case centers on capitalization scope. In title case, the headline “The Mystery of the Missing Red Ruby” capitalizes every noun, adjective, and starting article. In sentence case, that same title is written as “The mystery of the missing red ruby”, where only the initial word is capitalized because no proper nouns are present.

Title case is routinely applied across formal and professional publication components. These include paper titles, periodical names (such as Journal of Latinx Psychology or Chicago Tribune), test titles and subscales (such as Beck Depression Inventory–II), section headings from Level 1 through Level 5, table titles, figure titles, axis labels, and figure legends.

Step-by-Step Title Case Conversion Example

Converting a raw string of text into proper title case requires classifying each word by its part of speech, letter count, position, and surrounding punctuation. Below is a complete worked example analyzing an uncapitalized book title and subtitle under APA style guidelines.

Raw Input Text: train your mind for peak performance: a science-based approach for achieving your goals

Step 1: Structural Parsing

Identify structural breaks such as colons, em dashes, or end punctuation. The colon divides the text into a main title (train your mind for peak performance) and a subtitle (a science-based approach for achieving your goals).

Step 2: Capitalize Mandatory Positions

First word of main title: train → Train (always capitalize the first word of a title).
First word after colon (subtitle start): a → A (always capitalize the first word of a subtitle, even if it is an article).

Step 3: Evaluate Main Title Words

your: Pronoun → Capitalized → Your
mind: Noun → Capitalized → Mind
for: Preposition (3 letters) → Minor word → Lowercase → for
peak: Adjective → Capitalized → Peak
performance: Noun (11 letters) → Capitalized → Performance

Main Title Result: Train Your Mind for Peak Performance:

Step 4: Evaluate Subtitle Words

a: Article (first word of subtitle) → Capitalized → A
science-based: Hyphenated major words → Capitalize both parts → Science-Based
approach: Noun → Capitalized → Approach
for: Preposition (3 letters) → Minor word → Lowercase → for
achieving: Verb → Capitalized → Achieving
your: Pronoun → Capitalized → Your
goals: Noun → Capitalized → Goals

Subtitle Result: A Science-Based Approach for Achieving Your Goals

Final Formatted Output

Train Your Mind for Peak Performance: A Science-Based Approach for Achieving Your Goals

When formatting extensive body text, manual grammatical tagging can become tedious. Writers looking to automate this process across various style manuals can rely on a free Case Converter to apply accurate rules instantly.

Capitalization Rules Across Major Style Guides

Title case is not governed by a single universal mandate. Major style manuals—including APA, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the Associated Press Stylebook (AP), the MLA Handbook, Bluebook (BB), the American Medical Association (AMA), the New York Times, and Wikipedia—maintain distinct rules regarding prepositions, conjunctions, subordinating terms, and final words.

Style Manual	Preposition Lowercase Threshold	Coordinating Conjunction Rules	Subordinating Conjunctions (as, if)	Final Word Rule
APA	3 letters or fewer (in, on, for)	Lowercase FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)	Lowercase as and if	Lowercase if minor word
AMA	3 letters or fewer	Lowercase FANBOYS	Capitalize as and if	Lowercase if minor word
AP	3 letters or fewer	Lowercase FANBOYS	Lowercase as and if	Always capitalize
CMOS	4 letters or fewer (from, with)	Lowercase for, and, nor, but, or; Capitalize yet, so	Lowercase as, Capitalize if	Always capitalize
MLA	All prepositions regardless of length	Lowercase FANBOYS	Capitalize as and if	Always capitalize
Bluebook	4 letters or fewer	Lowercase FANBOYS	Capitalize as and if	Lowercase if minor word
NY Times	Selected 2–3 letter prepositions (at, by, in, for)	Lowercase for, and, but, or; Capitalize nor, yet, so	Lowercase as and if	Always capitalize
Wikipedia	4 letters or fewer	Lowercase FANBOYS	Capitalize as and if	Always capitalize

Key Differences Highlighted

Prepositions: APA, AMA, and AP only lowercase short prepositions up to 3 letters (capitalizing words like With, From, or Between). CMOS, Bluebook, and Wikipedia lowercase prepositions up to 4 letters (lowercasing from, with, over, like). MLA lowercases all prepositions regardless of length. The New York Times lowercases specific 2-to-3 letter prepositions (at, by, in, for) while capitalizing others of equal length (Up, Off, Out) and all prepositions over 3 letters.
Coordinating Conjunctions: Most styles lowercase all seven FANBOYS conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). CMOS capitalizes Yet and So. The New York Times capitalizes Nor, Yet, and So.
Subordinating Conjunctions: AP, APA, and the New York Times lowercase as and if (e.g., Do as I Do, What if We’re Wrong?). CMOS lowercases as but capitalizes If. AMA, Bluebook, MLA, and Wikipedia capitalize both As and If.
Last Word Rule: AP, CMOS, MLA, New York Times, and Wikipedia enforce a rule that the final word of a title must always be capitalized. APA, AMA, and Bluebook do not have this requirement, allowing titles to end in lowercase minor words (e.g., Be Careful What You Wish for).

Grammatical Context and Edge Cases in Title Case

A common mistake in applying title case is relying on fixed word lists. Capitalization rules depend on a word’s specific part of speech in context rather than spelling alone. Short words that typically act as prepositions must be capitalized when they function as adverbs, adjectives, or nouns.

Prepositions vs. Adverbs and Adjectives

When short words like on, in, out, up, but, or by shift grammatical roles, their capitalization changes:

on:
Preposition (Lowercase): Lay It All on Me
Adjective (Capitalized): It’s On Again
Adverb (Capitalized): I Could Go On Singing
in:
Preposition (Lowercase): The Catcher in the Rye
Adverb (Capitalized): Give In to Me
out:
Preposition (Lowercase): Fresh out the Oven
Adjective (Capitalized): School’s Out Forever
up:
Preposition (Lowercase): Crawling up a Hill
Adverb (Capitalized): Picking Up the Pieces
but:
Preposition (Lowercase): Nothing but the Truth
Adverb (Capitalized): Life Is But a Dream
a:
Article (Lowercase): Let’s Make a Deal
Noun (Capitalized): The A to Z of TV Gardening
by:
Preposition (Lowercase): Stand by Me
Adverb (Capitalized): Stand By for Action

Hyphenated Compounds

Style manuals differ on hyphenated compound capitalization. Under APA Style, both parts of a hyphenated major word are capitalized (e.g., Self-Report, rather than Self-report). Paying close attention to contextual grammar, style requirements, and structural position ensures titles remain accurate across professional disciplines.