英语写作中必然遇到字母大小写(CAPITAL LETTERS),这是一个细节问题,其中有许多规定。我很早就注意到这个问题,可惜当年我的老师没有完全解答我的问题,我也没有深入研究。
阅读 How to Speak and Write Correctly 一书时,我发现作者做了较好的归纳总结,虽然谈不上是包罗所有情况的完全手册,但基本上涵盖了英语写作中常见的字母大小写规则:
- 句子第一个字母要大写:
“Time flies.” “My dear friend.”
- 直接引语应以大写字母开始:
Dewey said, “Fire, when you are ready.”
- 直接疑问句:
Let me ask you, “How old are you?”
- 诗句:
Breathes there a man with soul so dead?
- 带数字序列的从句:
The witness asserts: (1) That he saw the man attacked; (2) That he saw him fall; (3) That he saw his assailant flee.
- 文章的标题和章节名称要全部大写:
CHAPTER VIII –RULES FOR USE OF CAPITALS
- 书籍名称中,名词、代词、形容词、副词都应该大写:
Johnson’s Lives of the Poets
- 罗马数用大写字母表示:
I II III V X L C D and M mean 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 respectively.
- 姓名、地名等专属名词以大写字母开头:
Jones, Johnson, Caesar, England, Pacific, China, Beijing. 像river这种普通名词用在特定环境中也要用大写,比如Mississippi River. 此外,像north, south, west, east形容一个地区的南北区域时,也要大写,比如:The North fight against the South. 当专属名词和普通名词通过连字符号相联时,只需合成词的第一个字母大写:Sundy-school, Post-hometric.
- 从专属名词衍生出来的词要大写,包括党派名称,宗教部门,思想流派等:
American, Irish, Chistrianize. Republican, Democrat, Catholic, Free Thinkers.
- 荣誉称号:
President Obama, Chairman Mao, Governor.
- 学位缩写、大学名称:
LL. D., M.a., B.S., Harvard University, Manhattan College, etc.
- 专属名词前的亲属称呼也应大写:
Father Abraham, Mother Eddy, Brother John, Uncle Jacob, Aunt Eliza.
- 基督教中与神有关的单词要大写首字母,常规写作中一般不会碰到:
Father, God, Lord, Creator, Holy One, His work, The work of Him, Old Testment, Holy Writ, Water of Life, Hope of men, Help of Christians, etc.
- 形容历史上重大事件的短语用大写首字母,以示区别:
The Revolution, The Civil War, The Middle Age, The Age of Iron, etc.
- 星期、月份、季节、年份名称使用大写首字母:
Monday, March, Autumn.
- 人称代词 I 永远用大写,插入性的语气感叹词应大写:
Ah! I pitied him.
- 采用拟人化写法时,无生命的对象使用大写字母加以表示:
The starry Night shook the dews from her wings.
为了强化自己的学习效果,我将这些知识总结分享在此,希望有朋友用得上。