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Mayúsculas
The use of capital letters (las mayúsculas) is far less common in Spanish than in English. Take a look at this summary of words that are capitalized in English but not in Spanish.
I. Calendar Words
Days of the week and months of the year are not capitalized in Spanish.
lunes, martes… | Monday, Tuesday… | |
enero, febrero… | January, February… |
II. Languages
In Spanish, languages are never capitalized, whether used as nouns or adjectives.
Ella habla español y francés. | She speaks Spanish and French. | |
La gramática griega es muy difícil. | Greek gramamr is very difficult. |
III. Nationalities
Likewise, nationalities are not capitalized.
Soy americano. | I’m American. | |
Compró una bandera española. | He bought a Spanish flag. | |
Se casó con un mexicano. | She married a Mexican. | |
Vi a un australiano. | I saw an Australian. |
IV. Titles
For titles of books, songs, etc., capitalize the first word (and of course proper names, if any).
Cien años de soledad | One Hundred Years of Solitude | |
Como agua para chocolate | Like Water for Chocolate | |
Volveré siempre a San Juan | I’ll Always Come Back to San Juan |
V. Religions
Whether used as nouns or adjectives, words related to the names of religions are not capitalized in Spanish (one exception in bold).
el budismo | Buddhism | ||
un budista | una budista | a Buddhist | |
un templo budista | Buddhist temple | ||
el cristianismo | Christianity | ||
un cristiano | una cristiana | a Christian | |
una iglesia cristiana | Christian church | ||
el hinduismo | Hinduism | ||
un hindú | una hindú | a Hindu | |
un templo hindú | Hindu temple | ||
el Islam | Islam | ||
un musulmán | una musulmán | a Muslim | |
una mezquita musulmán | Muslim mosque | ||
el judaísmo | Judaism | ||
un judío | una judía | a Jew | |
un templo judío | Jewish temple |
VI. Subject Pronoun yo / I
The first person singular subject pronoun is always capitalized in English. Not so in Spanish.
Dijo «yo te amo». | He said, "I love you." | |
Sé que yo puedo hacerlo. | I know I can do it. |
Related lessons
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