Capitalization

proper nouns --- Robert F. Kennedy
proper adjectives --- American, Asian, Canadian, Roman
historical events --- World War II, the Bill of Rights, the Middle Ages, the Jurassic Era
abbreviations --- U.S.A., FBI, NATO, Ph.D.
organizations, associations, and teams - Holmdel Parent-Teacher Organization, the New Jersey Nets, American Heart Assosciation
names of specific courses (NOT the names of general subjects EXCEPT for all languages) ---- French, Trigonometry I, math, science, Biology I
first word of a sentence --- Rocks don't do much.
particular sections of the country --- He grew up on the West Coast.
names of languages, races, nationalities, and religions --- Arabic, Hispanic, Turk, Judaism
words used as names (such as uncle, aunt, mom, dad when they do NOT follow a possessive pronoun [my, his, our]) --- Uncle Jim was yelling, but then my aunt came into the room, and Uncle zipped his lip.
days, months, holidays (NOT seasons) --- Thursday, October, Groundhog Day
official names --- The Gap, Crest toothpaste, Microsoft Internet Explorer
titles used with names or the abbreviations for those titles --- Pres. Grover Cleveland, Senator John Glenn, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
titles:
- capitalize the first word of a title, the last word, and every word in between except articles, short prepositions, and coordinate conjunctions --- Motor Trend (magazine) "Year Round School?" (magazine article) "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" (song title)

for most nouns ending in a consonant, just add an s --- player - players
for nouns ending in ch, sh, s, z, and x, add es --- business - businesses dish - dishes
for nouns ending in o with a vowel before the o, just add s --- radio - radios
for nouns ending in o with a consonant before the o, add es --- hero - heroes
- exceptions - musical terms --- alto - altos solo - solos
for nouns ending in ful, add s at the end of the word --- two cupfuls
for common nouns ending in y with a vowel before the y, just add s --- donkey - donkeys
for common nouns ending in y with a consonant before the y, add es --- fly - flies
for proper nouns ending in y, just add s - There are three Best Buys in this area.
for compound nouns, add s or es to the main word in the compound --- sisters-in-law --- secretaries of state --- maids of honor
Some words have irregular plurals --- child - children --- goose - geese --- hippopotamus - hippopotami
for symbols, letters, figures, and words discussed as words, add an apostrophe and an s --- I earned three 100's in a row. --- There are two t's in that word. --- You have too many except's in your essay.

the following abbreviations are acceptable in any kind of writing:
- Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., a.m., p.m., A.D., B.C., B.A., M.A., Ph.D., M.D., Ed.D.
DO NOT abbreviate the names of states, countries, months, days, or units of measure in formal writing; also, do not use symbols (%, &) in place of words
acronyms do not use periods between the letters --- SCUBA, IVAN CAPP
initialisms are the same as acronyms, except that they do not form words --- MTV, FBI, PBS

write out any number smaller than ten in words --- eight
numbers larger than ten may be written as numbers --- 12 --- 106
for very large numbers, you may use a combination of numbers and words --- 7 million
use words, not numbers, to begin a sentence --- Twelve people shared the prize.
use numbers to express money, decimals, percentages, chapters, pages, time, telephone numbers, dates, identification numbers, ZIP codes, addresses, and statistics
when comparing numbers, write them all as words or all as numbers --- Students from 9 to 14 years old are invited --- Students from nine to fourteen years old are invited.
numbers that come before a compound modifier that includes a numeral should be written as words --- We need fifty-three 8-foot long planks to build the tree house.