Text & writing
Capitalization After Colons, Quotes, and Parentheses
Inside a sentence, some punctuation marks raise the question of whether the next word gets a capital: a colon, an opening quotation mark, or a parenthesis. The answer depends on what follows the mark — a full sentence or just a phrase — and, for colons, on which style guide you follow. This guide covers the common rules for running text, not titles.
Ready to try the tool this guide describes?
After a colon
If what follows a colon is only a word, phrase, or list, it starts with a lowercase letter in every major style: “Bring three things: water, snacks, and a map.”
If a complete sentence follows, styles differ. APA capitalizes the first word: “They agreed on the outcome: Informed participants perform better.” Chicago’s 17th edition lowercased a single complete sentence after a colon and capitalized only when two or more sentences followed; the 18th edition (2024) changed this to capitalize any complete sentence after a colon.
Proper nouns and the pronoun “I” are capitalized after a colon in every style, because they are always capitalized.
Inside quotation marks
- Capitalize the first word of a quoted complete sentence: She said, “The meeting has moved.”
- Keep a quoted fragment in lowercase when it blends into your own sentence: He called the plan “a good start.”
- When a quoted sentence is interrupted, the second part continues in lowercase: “The meeting,” she said, “has moved.”
Inside parentheses
- A complete sentence that stands on its own in parentheses starts with a capital and has its end punctuation inside: (The results are in the appendix.)
- A parenthetical placed inside another sentence usually starts in lowercase and takes no final period: The results (see the appendix) were clear.
Checking automatic conversions
Rule-based sentence case tools usually start a new sentence only after end punctuation, so they leave the word after a colon, inside a mid-sentence quotation, or after an opening parenthesis in lowercase. After converting, scan for colons followed by full sentences and for quoted sentences, and capitalize them if your style requires it.
Capitalization After Colons and Quotes FAQ
- Do you capitalize after a colon?
- Not when a word, phrase, or list follows. When a complete sentence follows, APA and Chicago’s 18th edition capitalize the first word; Chicago’s 17th edition lowercased a single sentence.
- What changed in Chicago’s 18th edition about colons?
- Published in 2024, it recommends capitalizing any complete sentence that follows a colon. The 17th edition capitalized only when two or more sentences followed.
- Do quoted sentences start with a capital letter?
- Yes, when the quotation is a complete sentence. Quoted fragments that fit into your own sentence stay lowercase.
- Should a sentence in parentheses start with a capital?
- If it stands alone as its own sentence, yes, with the final punctuation inside the parentheses. A parenthetical inside another sentence usually starts in lowercase.
- Why did a converter lowercase the word after my colon?
- Most rule-based converters treat a colon as part of the same sentence. Capitalize the next word yourself when your style calls for it.
Related guides
- Proper vs. Common NounsThe difference between proper and common nouns, and how to capitalize job titles, seasons, directions, family words, and brand names.
- Fixing Text Typed in All CapsWhere all-caps text comes from, which capitalization to convert it to, what a converter cannot recover, and a safe workflow for restoring names and acronyms.
Open the tool
Jump into Sentence Case Converter when you are ready to process your files.
