Sentence case is a capitalization style where only the first word of a heading or title is capitalized, while all other words are lowercase except for proper nouns.
Key points about sentence case:
- The initial word receives a capital letter
- All subsequent words are lowercase unless they are proper nouns (names of people, places, etc.)
- Proper nouns are always capitalized, even if not the first word
- Used frequently for lower-level section headings within documents
- Enhances readability for headings embedded within body text
Compared to Title Case, which capitalizes all principal words, sentence case has a lower profile that blends more seamlessly into running text when used for subheadings. Many style guides recommend using sentence cases for tertiary headings and below to avoid disrupting the reading flow with too many capital letters.
However, some conventions prefer applying sentence cases to all heading levels for simplicity and parallel structure. The MLA style is one example. The consistency of only capitalizing the first word and proper nouns lends sentence case a refined, understated formality well-suited for academic writing headings and titles.
How to use sentence case
When using the sentence case capitalization style for headings and titles in academic writing, follow these guidelines:
- Capitalize the first word
- Lowercase all other words except for proper nouns
- Capitalize proper noun names (people, places, organizations, etc.)
Example
- The secret to baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
- The secret to baking the perfect Toll House chocolate chip cookie.
In this example, “Toll House” is capitalized as a proper noun (referring to the brand name), while the rest of the words are in lowercase, following the sentence case formatting.
Sentence case vs. title case
Sentence case capitalizes only the first word, while the rest are lowercase (except for proper nouns). It’s used for regular sentences and paragraphs. The title case capitalizes the first letter of most major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives), while minor words (articles, prepositions) are kept lowercase. Title case is commonly used for titles, headings, and certain documents.
The main distinction is that sentence case has minimal capitalization, while title case capitalizes the important words to create a more formal, elevated style. Here are the key differences explained in a table:
| Characteristic | Sentence Case | Title Case |
| Capitalization of the first word | Capitalized | Capitalized |
| Capitalization of main words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) | Lowercase (except for proper nouns) | Capitalized |
| Capitalization of smaller words (the, a, and, etc.) | Lowercase | Usually lowercase |
| Common usage | Regular sentences and paragraphs | Titles, headings, certain document names |
| Example | The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. | The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog |
When to use sentence case
Organizational style guides often dictate the capitalization standards to follow. When writing academic or professional documents, it’s important to check the required style guide. In APA style, sentence case is the standard for citations and references, even if the original work used a title case. However, titles mentioned within the main text should be formatted in the title case.
Beyond academic contexts, sentence case is commonly used for:
- Regular sentences and paragraphs
- Captions, figure labels, and list items
- Subheadings and subtitles
- Web navigation menus and links
The key benefit of sentence case is its clean, readable style that avoids drawing excessive attention to capitalization. It’s a versatile choice for general writing and formatting needs.
Example: Sentence case and title case in APA style
Here is an example demonstrating the use of sentence case and title case in APA style:
- In the reference list: Smith, J. (2022). the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Journal of Animal Behavior, 15(2), 123-145.
- In the body of the text: According to a recent study in the Journal of Animal Behavior, “The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog” (Smith, 2022).
In the reference list, the article title uses sentence case (“the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”). However, when the article is cited within the body of the text, the title is formatted in the title case (“The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog”).
This is in line with APA style guidelines, which stipulate:
- Sentence case for references in the reference list
- Title case for in-text citations of published works
Sentence case examples
Here are some examples illustrating the basic guidelines for using sentence case capitalization.
| Example | Correct | Incorrect |
| 1 | I’m learning Python for my computer science class. | I’m learning Python for my computer science class. |
| 2 | The new iPhone has impressive camera capabilities. | The new iPhone has impressive camera capabilities. |
| 3 | My favorite TED Talk was about sustainable energy. | My favorite TED Talk was about sustainable energy. |
| 4 | The United Nations plays a vital role in global diplomacy. | The United Nations plays a vital role in global diplomacy. |
| 5 | Reading War and Peace is on my bucket list. | Reading War and Peace is on my bucket list. |
| 6 | Let’s meet at the Empire State Building at noon. | Let’s meet at the Empire State Building at noon. |
Sentence case converter
A sentence case converter is a tool that takes text formatted in various capitalization styles and converts it to the standard sentence case format. Sentence case is a writing style where only the first word of a sentence is capitalized, while all other words are in lowercase (except for proper nouns).
Here’s how the sentence case converter works:
- Input text: The user provides the text they want to convert, which can be in various capitalization styles – all uppercase, all lowercase, title case, etc.
- Capitalization analysis: The converter examines the capitalization of each word in the input text. It identifies:
- The first word, which should be capitalized
- Proper nouns, which should also be capitalized
- All other words, which should be in lowercase
- Conversion to sentence case: Based on the analysis, the converter reformats the input text to follow the sentence case conventions:
- Capitalizes the first letter of the first word
- Converts all other words to lowercase, except for proper nouns
- Output text: The converted text, now in proper sentence case format, is presented to the user.
For example, if the input text is:
THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.
The sentence case converter would analyze the capitalization and then output:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
In this conversion:
- “The” is capitalized as the first word of the sentence
- “quick,” “brown,” “fox,” “jumps,” “over,” “the,” and “lazy” are converted to lowercase
- “Dog” remains capitalized as a proper noun
Sentence case in Excel
To convert text to sentence case in Excel, you can use the PROPER() function. Here’s how it works:
- Select the cell(s) containing the text you want to convert.
- In a new cell, enter the formula: =PROPER(A1) (Replace A1 with the reference to the cell containing the text)
- Press Enter, and the text will be converted to sentence case.
For example, if cell A1 contains the text “THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.”, the formula =PROPER(A1) will output:
“The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog.”
