Title Case Rules — Which Words Get Capitalized?

Title Case capitalizes the first letter of most words in a headline, book title, or heading. But "most words" is doing a lot of work there — the exact rules differ by style guide, and small words like "a," "the," and "of" usually stay lowercase.

Use our free case converter to instantly convert any text to Title Case. Then read this guide to know when to override it manually (because the rules have exceptions most tools don't handle).

What Gets Capitalized in Title Case

The core rule: capitalize nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other major words. Don't capitalize short prepositions, articles, and conjunctions — unless they're the first or last word.

Always capitalize:

• First word of the title
• Last word of the title
• Nouns (cat, freedom, Python)
• Verbs (run, is, be)
• Adjectives (blue, complex, free)
• Adverbs (quickly, always, never)
• Proper nouns (Google, Paris, Marie)

Usually lowercase (unless first or last):

• Articles: a, an, the
• Short prepositions (under 5 letters): in, on, at, by, for, of, to, up
• Coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, yet, so, for

How Different Style Guides Handle Title Case

Different style guides make different calls on edge cases:

Style Guide	Short Prepositions	"Is" / "Be"	Hyphenated Words
AP Stylebook	Lowercase under 4 letters	Capitalize	Capitalize first element only
Chicago Manual	Lowercase under 5 letters	Capitalize	Capitalize both elements
APA 7	Sentence case for references	N/A (uses sentence case)	N/A
MLA	Lowercase prepositions	Capitalize	Capitalize first element

For most blog and marketing writing, you're not bound by any style guide. Pick a consistent rule — like "capitalize everything four letters or longer" — and apply it everywhere. Consistency matters more than which rule you pick.

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Five Title Case Mistakes People Keep Making

• Lowercasing "Is" and "Are." These are verbs. They get capitalized: "How Old Is the Universe?" not "How Old is the Universe?"
• Capitalizing long prepositions when they shouldn't be. "About," "between," "through" — style guides disagree. Chicago capitalizes them; AP doesn't. Pick a guide and stick to it.
• Capitalizing "to" in infinitives. "How to Write Better" — "to" stays lowercase. But "What to Aim For" — "For" at the end gets capitalized.
• Inconsistency within a document. "How to Save Money" on one page, "How To Save money" on another. Pick one approach.
• Using title case in body text. Title case is for titles and headings. It looks wrong in paragraph text. Switch to sentence case for running prose.

When Title Case Is the Right Choice

Title case works best in specific contexts:

• Article and blog post titles — If your publication's style calls for it. Many news outlets (AP-style) and publishing houses use title case for headlines.
• Book, film, and album titles — Standard for creative works: The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind.
• Job titles on business cards and email signatures — "Senior Product Manager" reads more formal than "Senior product manager."
• Navigation items and tab names — Some UI design systems use title case for menus: "My Account," "Contact Us."

Not sure whether to use title case or sentence case for headings? Our comparison guide lays out the decision for common use cases.

Using the Free Title Case Converter

Our free case converter applies the most common title case rule automatically: capitalize the first letter of every word. This handles 90% of cases. For edge cases like articles and short prepositions, you can manually adjust after the fact.

Three ways people use it:

1. Blog post titles: Paste a headline draft → click Title Case → review for any short words that should stay lowercase → done.
2. Email subject lines: For formal newsletters or PR emails where title case is the brand standard.
3. Data cleanup: Pasting a list of product names, categories, or entries that are in ALL CAPS or lowercase and need to be normalized to Title Case for display.

The tool processes everything in your browser. Paste 500 words, get Title Case results in under a second. No file upload, no account needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you capitalize "the" in a title?

"The" is an article and stays lowercase unless it is the first word of the title. "The Great Gatsby" — "The" is capitalized because it is the first word. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" — "the" stays lowercase in the middle.

Is "vs" capitalized in title case?

"vs" is a preposition and typically stays lowercase in the middle of a title: "Dog vs Cat — Which Is Better?" Some style guides capitalize it; check yours. If you are not following a specific guide, lowercase "vs" is the most common choice.

Do you capitalize prepositions in title case?

Short prepositions (in, on, at, by, for, of, to, up, as) typically stay lowercase unless they are the first or last word. Longer prepositions (about, between, through, without) are capitalized by some guides (Chicago) and not by others (AP). Pick one rule and stay consistent.

Should I use title case or sentence case for blog headings?

Both are common and acceptable. Sentence case ("How to build a portfolio") reads as more conversational; title case ("How to Build a Portfolio") reads as more formal. Most tech companies and SaaS products lean toward sentence case; traditional publishing tends toward title case. Pick one and use it consistently across your site.