Capital

Also called: capital, large letter, upper case or upper case

A capital letter or capital is a larger version of a letter. Capital letters also differ from smaller letters in form. In typography, uppercase and lowercase letters are also referred to as upper case and lower case. In English, they are referred to as uppercase and lowercase.

Both variations are derived from historical manuscripts, in which they did not initially appear together. Several theories assume that lowercase letters were derived from more rapidly written manuscripts, in which the letters became simpler and rounder in shape.

Capital letters provide extra clarity. Correct use of capital letters makes texts easier to read and understand. In most fonts, the height of capital letters is the same as that of capitals.

When do you use capital letters?

Capital letters are mainly used at the beginning of sentences, at the beginning of names of people, companies and institutions and for some abbreviations. There are exceptions to this, which may vary by language.

In Dutch spelling and grammar, for example, in sentences beginning with a numeral or an apostrophe (as with the prefix 's), it is customary to capitalize just the second word. In some languages, including German, all nouns are capitalized at the beginning.

A capital letter also expresses respect. For this reason, proper names and references to biblical persons and writings (such as Jesus and His followers, the Holy Spirit and the Bible) are capitalized. The official names of holidays are also capitalized (i.e., Christmas and Easter, but Christmas and Easter weekend have lowercase letters).

The term upper case dates back to the days when printing letters were set in lead. The upper and lower case letters were often kept in two separate cabinets: the upper case, containing the capitals, and the lower case. When texts are written in capital letters whose size corresponds to the x-height of the typeface, we refer to them as small capitals.