Can someone explain me....

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Can someone explain me something about spelling? As English is only my 3rd language, there are several things I doubt about.

My question: do I write capitals on names of seasons, days, directions(east, south, etc...), and months?? I'd really like to know :)

[Kfamr]

Oh gosh am I going to blush if I get this wrong. :o

Okay, the things you're asking about are nouns.

There are proper nouns which refer to a specific person, place, or thing - Monday, Sunday, April, May, Winter, Abraham Lincoln, Jamaica - as some examples. ALL proper nouns are capatalized.

Also, there are "common nouns" which is referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense, such as...
"town, sign, boy, girl, people, moose, road, mustard."
Those things are only capitalized if they are at the beginning of a sentence.
Words like north, south, east, and west are common nouns and are only to be capitalized when a part of a name such as "Western Europe."


The one I'm unsure about are the seasons - I don't think seasons are to be capitalized, but I'm not sure if that's correct or not.

Hopefully I didn't confuse you at all. :o

[Samantha Puppy]

Dang Kay, you said it much better than I could have!

And no, seasons aren't capitalized but a lot of people do it anyway (myself included, sometimes).

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Thanks, this helped me a lot!!
Please pm me if you notice other important mistakes, I would appreciate that VERY much!!

[Rachel]

Oh, it is so confusing, even for those of us for whom English is our first language.

There is a case where a season would be capitalized and that is if it was personified. *Come, gentle Spring, with your blessed showers.* One does not capitalize the names of decades or centuries, unless they are special expressions such as the Roaring Twenties. Capitalize north, south, east, and west only when they designate a definite region, i.e. the Middle West, the Deep South, the West Coast.