Small Letters

Small letters are also known as lower case letters. We use them when referring to common nouns and for every other part of the sentence that does not need to start with a capital.

Example

• The teacher wrote eight new words on the board.

In this sentence, "the" starts with a capital because it is the first word. Everything else begins with a lower case letter.

Example

• We go swimming on Mondays and Fridays.

"Monday" and "Friday" are days of the week and so they must begin with a capital letter. Every other word in the sentence is in the lower case.

• The rainy season starts in April.

Proper nouns/ the names of people, places, buildings and organisations always start with a capital.

Example

• We moved to New York when I was nine.

• My dad drove John to school today.

In these sentences, "New York" and "John" are proper nouns and must begin with a capital but everything else is in the lowercase.