Words That Should Not Be Capitalized In A Title | Rules

Writers run into trouble with title case all the time. One headline follows one pattern, the next headline looks different, and both still seem correct at a glance. The main source of confusion is a small group of short words that often stay lowercase, even when every other word starts with a capital letter.

If you understand which words stay lowercase, you can write cleaner titles, avoid copy edits, and keep your work in line with the major style guides your readers trust. This guide walks through the groups of words that usually stay lowercase, how the big style guides treat them, and a simple checklist you can use on any headline or title.

Quick Guide To Common Lowercase Words

Most style guides agree on the broad idea. The first and last words in a title use capitals. So do nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. Smaller connecting words stay lowercase in the middle of the line unless a special rule applies. The table below sums up the most common groups.

Word Group	Typical Lowercase Words	When They Stay Lowercase
Articles	a, an, the	In the middle of the title in every major style guide
Short Prepositions	at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up	When they are three letters or fewer in AP and APA style, any length in Chicago and MLA style
Coordinating Conjunctions	and, but, or, nor, so, yet, for	When they join two parts of the title but do not start or end it
“To” In Infinitives	to write, to learn	Lowercase in Chicago, MLA, and APA; capitalized in AP when it is part of an infinitive
Short Adverbs In Some House Styles	as, yet, off	Only in house styles that treat them as minor words
Short Subordinating Conjunctions	as, if, than	Often lowercase in Chicago; treated as major words in some other guides
Second Part Of Some Hyphenated Compounds	e.g., “Follow-Up Call” vs “Follow-up Call”	Lowercase when the second part is a short minor word and not equal in weight

This table gives a quick snapshot. Real usage depends on the style guide you follow and on the role each word plays in the sentence. Still, if you spot a tiny preposition or article in the middle of a title, you can safely guess it often stays lowercase.

Words That Should Not Be Capitalized In A Title: Core Rules

When writers ask about words that should not be capitalized in a title, they almost always mean these minor words. They link the important words together but do not carry the main meaning. Because they are so common, capitalizing all of them would make titles look noisy and harder to scan.

The foundation rule stays simple. Lowercase articles, most short prepositions, and short coordinating conjunctions when they appear in the middle of the title. Use capitals for them only when they appear as the very first or very last word in the line, or when a style guide treats them as major because of length or special use.

Many editors lean on reference works to keep these rules straight. A short FAQ from the Chicago Manual of Style explains why prepositions and similar short words often stay lowercase in titles and headlines.

Words Not Capitalized In A Title Case Style

The phrase “title case” simply means that major words in the title take an initial capital. Minor words stay lowercase, except at the edges. Different style guides draw that line in slightly different places, but they agree on the broad shape of the rule.

Articles That Stay Lowercase

Articles are the short words that point to nouns. In English, the main ones are “a,” “an,” and “the.” Every major style guide agrees that these articles stay lowercase in the middle of a title. So you would write “The Art of the Deal,” not “The Art Of The Deal,” because “of” and “the” work as minor words in that phrase.

Even when an article feels weighty in the phrase, the rule stays the same. A book titled “A Study of Time” still keeps the “a” lowercase in the middle, because the word simply marks the noun rather than adding meaning of its own.

Short Prepositions In The Middle

Prepositions show relationships in time, space, or logic. Common ones include “in,” “on,” “at,” “to,” “of,” “for,” and “by.” In Chicago and MLA style, prepositions stay lowercase regardless of length, unless they act like adverbs or part of a phrasal verb.

Other guides use length as a quick test. APA and AP style advise writers to lowercase prepositions of three letters or fewer and to capitalize longer ones, as in “The Road Through Town” but “The Road through the Town.”

Because length rules vary, many editors default to Chicago style for book titles and MLA style for academic work, where nearly all prepositions stay lowercase in the middle. This keeps the line tidy and avoids second guessing edge cases like “around” or “between.”

Coordinating Conjunctions And “FANBOYS”

Coordinating conjunctions link parts of a sentence that carry equal weight. A common memory aid is “FANBOYS”: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. In Chicago, MLA, and many house styles, these words stay lowercase when they fall in the middle of the title.

AP and APA treat them as lowercase when they have three letters or fewer but allow capitals for longer ones in some cases. In practice, many newsrooms still keep the whole FANBOYS set lowercase except at the beginning or end of a line, simply because that feels more familiar to regular readers.

“To” In Infinitives

The little word “to” causes plenty of debate. Some guides say to lowercase it every time. Others say to capitalize it when it stands before a verb as part of an infinitive, as in “How To Train Your Dog.” AP and some headline tools follow that pattern. Chicago, MLA, and APA tend to leave “to” lowercase in that spot in book and article titles.

Because practice varies, follow the guide that rules your project. If you write for an outlet that uses AP style, you may need to capitalize “to” in infinitives. If you write academic work that follows APA or MLA, the same word may stay lowercase even when it feels like part of the main action.

How Major Style Guides Treat Lowercase Words

To apply these lowercase rules in a consistent way, you need to know which guide your editor or teacher follows. Four names show up again and again: The Chicago Manual of Style, the Associated Press Stylebook, APA Style, and the MLA Handbook.

Chicago Manual Of Style And MLA

Chicago and MLA share a similar view. Both guides capitalize the first and last word in the title plus all nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. They keep articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions lowercase, no matter how long they are, unless a word moves into a new role as part of a phrasal verb or another major structure.

A Chicago commentary on headlines points out that prepositions and similar words stay lowercase because they are not treated as central to the meaning of the title. This applies to short forms like “on” and “by” and to long forms like “throughout.”

APA Style

APA title case rules shift the focus slightly. They ask writers to capitalize the first word, all major words, and every word of four letters or more. Shorter words of three letters or fewer stay lowercase unless they start the line.

Under this pattern, “over” and “into” take capital letters, while “in” and “on” stay lowercase in the middle. Articles and short coordinating conjunctions still use lowercase almost every time.

AP Stylebook

AP style, used in journalism and many news sites, aims for quick reading online and in print. It tells writers to capitalize principal words in titles and to use lowercase for articles and short prepositions and conjunctions. Prepositions and conjunctions of four letters or more, such as “with” and “from,” usually take capitals.

The AP Stylebook also calls for capitalizing “to” when it forms part of an infinitive in a title. So a headline might read “How To Write Press Releases That Work” in AP style, while a Chicago style version might keep “to” lowercase in that spot.

Typical Lists Of Words That Stay Lowercase

To make these rules easier to use, many editors keep quick lists on hand. While the details change from guide to guide, the same core words appear again and again. Here is a sample grouped by type rather than by style guide.

Type	Lowercase Words In Titles	Notes
Articles	a, an, the	Always lowercase except at the beginning or end of the title
Short Prepositions	at, by, in, for, of, off, on, to, up	Lowercase in most styles; length rules vary in AP and APA
Coordinating Conjunctions	and, but, or, nor, so, yet, for	Stay lowercase in the middle under Chicago, MLA, and many house styles
Short Subordinating Conjunctions	as, if, than	Often lowercase; some guides treat longer ones as major words
“To” As Preposition	to the store, to school	Lowercase even in AP style when it does not mark an infinitive
Particles In Phrasal Verbs	up, out, off	Style guides differ; some capitalize them as part of the verb phrase
House Style Exceptions	as, yet, so	Some outlets keep these lowercase even when longer than three letters

Lists like this never replace your style guide, yet they save time when you need to check a headline in a hurry. Over time, repeated exposure to the same set of lowercase words trains your eye so that odd capitals stand out right away.

Step-By-Step Way To Check Any Title

When you need to decide which words should not be capitalized in a title, a short, repeatable process helps. Instead of guessing, run every headline through the same series of checks until the pattern feels natural.

Step 1: Identify The Style Guide

Start by asking which guide applies to the piece. A news site usually follows AP style. Academic writing often uses APA or MLA. Many book publishers and blogs follow Chicago. When in doubt, ask your editor or teacher which standard they prefer.

Step 2: Mark The First And Last Word

Next, write out the title and mark the first and last word. No matter what they are, these two spots almost always take capital letters. Even tiny words such as “in” or “to” gain a capital at the edges of the title line.

Step 3: Spot The Major Words

Then, underline the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. These carry the main meaning. Under every common guide, they have capitals in title case. At this stage, you do not worry about length or about special cases.

Step 4: Sort The Remaining Words

Whatever remains in the middle tends to be minor words. Go through them one by one and check whether they are articles, prepositions, or conjunctions. Compare each one with the rules for your guide. Use a quick reference like the APA title case capitalization page if you are working in academic style.

Step 5: Adjust For Role And Meaning

Some words move between roles. “Up” can be a preposition in “up the hill” or part of a phrasal verb in “wake up.” Many guides treat the second kind as part of the verb phrase, so they capitalize it. Look at how each small word functions in the sentence before you decide on the final pattern.

Common Capitalization Mistakes To Avoid

Even careful writers slip on minor words now and then. The same few errors appear in classrooms, manuscripts, and newsrooms again and again. Once you learn to spot them, they are easy to fix.

Capitalizing Every Short Word

The most common mistake is treating title case like “every word gets a capital.” That rule only fits a simple start case pattern, not the standards used in style guides. When every tiny word gains a capital, the title looks busy and distracts from the main terms.

Readers may not be able to explain why a line looks off, yet they sense that the rhythm feels wrong. Keeping articles, many prepositions, and short conjunctions lowercase gives the line a smoother rise and fall.

Lowercasing Long Prepositions In AP Or APA Contexts

Writers who learned Chicago or MLA first sometimes carry those habits into AP or APA work. In those contexts, long prepositions such as “under,” “within,” and “between” often take a capital letter. Short ones like “in” and “on” stay lowercase, but the longer set may not.

Before you send work that uses AP or APA, scan your titles for long prepositions and check whether the guide calls them major or minor. A quick pass like this keeps your headlines in line with the house rules.

Forgetting About Edge Positions

Another frequent slip is leaving the last word lowercase when it is a minor word. Style guides expect capitals there even when the word itself would normally be lowercase. So “How to Get to the Top” keeps “to” lowercase in the middle but capitalizes it at the end if the final word happens to be “to.”

This rule also applies when a subtitle follows a colon. The first word after the colon usually takes a capital, even if it would act as a minor word elsewhere in the line.

Bringing It All Together In Your Own Titles

By now, the phrase words that should not be capitalized in a title should feel more precise. It covers articles, coordinating conjunctions, and many prepositions, plus a few other helpers, that stay lowercase under most guides. Instead of guessing, you can point to a short list and a clear process.

When you draft or edit, glance at your title and run the step list in your head. First and last words: capitals. Major words: capitals. Minor words in the middle: usually lowercase, unless your guide says length or role brings them up. Over time, that rhythm turns into habit.

Used with care, these rules keep your titles sharp, readable, and consistent. They also signal respect for the style guide your readers and editors expect. Once your eye is trained, you will start to spot stray capitals everywhere, and fixing them will take only a few seconds each time.