Title Case Rules: 7 Rules for APA, AP and Chicago Style

These title case rules cover the three systems writers in the USA meet most often: APA, AP and Chicago. This guide explains each rule, compares the three styles side by side and gives you a free title case checker to try on your own headlines. If you only need a quick fix, our case converter does it in one click.

Key takeaways

• Title case capitalizes the first word, the last word and every major word in between.
• Articles and short conjunctions stay lowercase in every major style.
• APA and AP capitalize prepositions of four or more letters. Chicago (18th edition) lowercases prepositions of four letters or fewer.
• Short verbs such as “is” and “are” still get a capital.
• Pick one style and use it on every page.

What is title case?

Title case capitalizes the first letter of the important words in a title and leaves the small connecting words in lowercase. You see it in book titles, article headlines, report headings and many blog posts. Major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) take capitals. Minor words (articles, short conjunctions and short prepositions) usually do not.

Some guides call this headline-style capitalization or “up style”. The alternative, sentence case or “down style”, capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns. Neither is wrong. What matters is choosing one system and applying these title case rules consistently.

In the USA, publishers differ. News organizations often follow AP, academic writing often follows APA or Chicago, and many company blogs set their own house style. Your job is to know which one your reader or publisher expects.

Rule 1: Capitalize the first and last words

The opening and closing words of a title are always capitalized, whatever kind of word they are. An article such as “The” at the start gets a capital. So does a preposition at the end, which is why “What to Look For” keeps the capital on “For”.

Rule 2: Capitalize every major word

Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs all take capitals. The rule that trips people up is the verb. Short verbs count, including every form of “to be”, so write “What Is Title Case?” and “How It Works”, not “What is Title Case?”.

Rule 3: Lowercase articles

“A”, “an” and “the” stay lowercase in the middle of a title. They get a capital only when they open or close it, as in “The Art of Clear Writing”.

Rule 4: Lowercase short coordinating conjunctions

“And”, “but”, “or”, “for” and “nor” stay lowercase inside a title, as in “Writing and Editing for the Web”. Longer conjunctions such as “because” and “although” take a capital.

Rule 5: Treat prepositions according to your style guide

The title case rules for prepositions are where the styles split. APA and AP capitalize prepositions of four or more letters, such as “with”, “from” and “between”. Chicago (18th edition) lowercases prepositions of four letters or fewer and capitalizes longer ones. Table 1 below shows every case. The word “to” is short in all three styles, so it stays lowercase when it marks an infinitive, as in “How to Write a Report”.

Rule 6: Capitalize the first word after a colon

A subtitle always starts with a capital, even if the word is normally lowercase. For example: “Title Case: A Quick Guide”.

Rule 7: Capitalize hyphenated major words

The APA Style guidance on title case capitalizes the second part of a hyphenated major word, as in “Self-Report”. Minor words inside the term, such as “by” in “Step-by-Step”, stay lowercase.

Title case rules by style guide

The three styles agree on articles, short conjunctions and the first and last word. They split on prepositions of four letters or more. Table 1 sums it up.

Two sources are worth knowing. The Chicago Manual of Style’s Q&A on headline capitalization states that, starting with the 18th edition, prepositions of more than four letters are capitalized in titles, whereas earlier editions lowercased prepositions regardless of length. An earlier Chicago answer, written for the 17th edition, summarizes the contrast this way: AP and APA capitalize words of more than three letters, including prepositions, while Chicago and MLA lowercase all prepositions.

The AP column reflects how AP guidance is widely taught. The AP Stylebook is a paid reference, so confirm against your current edition before you publish. For more on how headlines fit into persuasive writing, see our SEO copywriting guide.

Title case examples in APA, AP and Chicago style

Table 2 applies the title case rules to four original titles. The only differences appear where a four-letter preposition shows up.

Notice that “from” and “with” change between the systems, while “Between” and “Before” are capitalized in both because they have more than four letters. The word “to” stays lowercase in every row.

Try the title case checker

Paste a title, choose a style and convert it. The checker follows the word lists in Table 1.

Type acronyms and brand names the way they should appear, for example SEO or WordPress. The checker leaves any word that already contains a capital letter after its first character unchanged. It cannot recognize prepositions used as adverbs, such as “Look Up”, so read the result once before you publish. We tested the checker against the titles in Table 2 and the word lists in Table 1.

Which title case style should you use?

Start with whoever sets the rules. If a publisher, instructor or client names a style, follow it. If you run your own site, choose one style and write it into your style guide. A length-based rule such as APA and AP is easy to remember, because you only count letters. A category-based rule such as Chicago asks you to recognize prepositions, which takes a little more practice.

Title case and SEO

Capitalization style is a presentation choice. What readers and search engines notice first is whether the title is clear and descriptive. Google’s guidance on title links explains that the title shown in search results is generated automatically from the page and from references to it, so it can differ from the title you wrote. A precise, descriptive title helps more than any capitalization pattern.

Nielsen Norman Group makes a related point in its guidance on writing page titles: keep titles concise and start with keywords, because shorter text is easier to scan.

To check a headline, run it through our headline analyzer. For title ideas, use the SEO title generator, then write the matching description with the meta description generator. Our guide on how to write a meta description covers the rest. Keep the address short with the SEO slug generator, and review your word choice with the power words highlighter.

How to track a title change in Search Console

1. Open Google Search Console and go to Performance, then Search results.
2. Add a Page filter for the URL whose title you changed.
3. Choose a date range that covers the change, and compare it with the previous period.
4. Note the date of the edit, so you can read the chart against it.

The chart below shows how such a report can look. The numbers are made up for demonstration and are not a real result.

A rise or fall in clicks can have many causes, including seasonality, ranking changes and new competitors. Treat one chart as a reason to investigate, not as proof that a title change worked.

Title case vs sentence case

Title case capitalizes the major words: “How to Write a Press Release”. Sentence case capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns: “How to write a press release”. Many blogs and websites use sentence case for headings because it reads like normal writing, while books, reports and some publications use title case. We follow a simple pattern on CopyWriter Content: headlines in title case and subheadings in sentence case. Whichever you choose, apply it to the page title, the headings and the social preview text, so your pages look consistent.

Common mistakes with title case rules

• Capitalizing every word, including “a”, “the” and “of”.
• Lowercasing short verbs, such as “is”, “are” and “be”.
• Forgetting to capitalize the last word.
• Capitalizing “to” in an infinitive, or applying the four-letter rule inconsistently.
• Forgetting the first word after a colon.
• Switching styles from page to page.
• Changing brand names that have their own capitalization, such as iPhone or WordPress.

After you fix the capitalization, check how easily the headline reads with the readability checker, and confirm that the title stays short with the word counter.

Title case rules checklist

• I know which style guide applies, or I have chosen one.
• The first and last words are capitalized.
• Articles and short conjunctions are lowercase.
• Prepositions follow the chosen style.
• Short verbs such as “is” and “are” are capitalized.
• The first word after a colon is capitalized.
• Brand names and acronyms are written correctly.
• Every title on the site follows the same rules.

Frequently asked questions

What are the basic title case rules?

Capitalize the first and last words and all major words. Lowercase articles, short coordinating conjunctions and, depending on the style, short prepositions.

Is “is” capitalized in a title?

Yes. “Is” is a verb, and verbs are major words, so it takes a capital in title case: “What Is Title Case?” The same applies to “are”, “be” and “was”.

Are “with”, “from” and “about” capitalized in a title?

“About” has five letters, so it is capitalized in APA, AP and Chicago (18th edition). “With” and “from” have four letters, so APA and AP capitalize them, while Chicago (18th edition) leaves them lowercase.

Is “for” capitalized in a title?

In the middle of a title, no. “For” is a short word with three letters, so it stays lowercase in APA, AP and Chicago, unless it is the first or last word.

Do you capitalize “to” in a title?

Not in the middle of a title. “To” stays lowercase as an infinitive marker and as a short preposition, unless it is the first or last word.

Which title case style do US publishers use?

It varies. Many news organizations follow AP, academic writing often follows APA or Chicago, and many companies use their own house style. Match the style your audience or publisher expects.

Does title case affect SEO rankings?

Capitalization style is mainly a presentation choice. A clear, descriptive title matters more, as Google’s guidance on title links suggests.

What is the difference between title case and sentence case?

Title case capitalizes the major words. Sentence case capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns.

Final thoughts

Title case rules are simple once you know where the styles agree and where they differ. Choose APA, AP or Chicago, apply it to every title, and check the first word, the last word and the words after a colon. For writers and businesses in the USA, a consistent system makes headlines look professional and saves time on every edit. Try the checker above on your next title.

This guide was written by Saba Sheikh at CopyWriter Content and last updated on 28 October 2026. The rules come from the APA Style and Chicago Manual of Style pages linked above. Confirm the AP column in your current AP Stylebook.