Where these mistakes come from
Most capitalization errors are not random: they come from three understandable instincts. Writers capitalize by word length (short word, so it must be minor), by visual rhythm (this looks like it should be capitalized), or by over-generalizing one rule they learned once. Title case actually runs on part of speech — what a word is doing in the sentence — which is why the instincts misfire in such predictable places. Each fix below names the underlying rule so the correction sticks.
1. Lowercasing short verbs like “is” and “be”
Wrong: Why Remote Work is Here to Stay
Right: Why Remote Work Is Here to Stay
This is the single most common error in title case. Is feels like a minor word because it is two letters long, but it is a verb — a form of to be — and verbs are always capitalized. The same applies to Am, Are, Was, Be, Do and Go. Length never makes a verb minor.
2. Lowercasing the last word of the title
Wrong: The Team I Was Waiting for
Right: The Team I Was Waiting For
Every major style guide capitalizes the final word of a title no matter what it is — even a preposition or article. The edges of a title are always capitalized; only the middle is negotiable.
3. Lowercasing the first word after a colon
Wrong: Deep Work: the Case for Focused Effort
Right: Deep Work: The Case for Focused Effort
A colon starts a subtitle, and a subtitle starts with a capital letter in APA, Chicago, AP, MLA and AMA alike. Even a lowly article like the gets promoted when it opens the subtitle.
4. Capitalizing coordinating conjunctions
Wrong: Pride And Prejudice And Zombies
Right: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The seven coordinating conjunctions — and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet — stay lowercase in the middle of a title in every style. Capitalizing And is the classic tell of capitalize-every-word tools that ignore real title case rules.
5. Capitalizing every single word
Wrong: A Guide To The Best Coffee In The City
Right: A Guide to the Best Coffee in the City
“Start case” — capitalizing literally every word — is not title case, and to an editor it reads as instantly wrong. Articles (a, an, the) and short prepositions (to, in, of, on, at, by) stay lowercase mid-title. If you want every word capitalized deliberately (some brands do), that is a different convention: our capitalize each word tool exists for exactly that, but do not label the result title case.
6. Applying one guide's preposition rule to another guide
Wrong (in APA): Working with Difficult Clients
Right (in APA): Working With Difficult Clients
Both versions are “correct” — in different styles. Chicago and MLA lowercase every preposition, so with is right there; APA, AP and AMA capitalize prepositions of four or more letters, so With is required. Mixing the camps is how a technically careful writer still loses marks. Our style comparison guide maps the two camps in detail.
7. Mangling hyphenated compounds
Wrong: Long-term Thinking for Short-term People
Right: Long-Term Thinking for Short-Term People
In a hyphenated compound, capitalize both parts when both are major words: Long-Term, Self-Esteem, Well-Being. The common error is capitalizing only the first element. (Minor words inside a compound, like the to in Day-to-Day, stay lowercase.)
8. Lowercasing subordinating conjunctions like “if” and “as”
Wrong: What to Do if Your Site Goes Down
Right: What to Do If Your Site Goes Down
Writers lump if, because, although and while in with and and or, but they are subordinating conjunctions, and most guides capitalize them. Two-letter If being capitalized while three-letter and stays lowercase feels inconsistent — which is exactly why part of speech, not length, is the rule to internalize. (One caveat: as is a special case that Chicago and MLA lowercase; see the tricky cases guide.)
9. Writing headlines in ALL CAPS for emphasis
Wrong: HUGE SUMMER SALE STARTS FRIDAY
Right: Huge Summer Sale Starts Friday
All-caps text is slower to read because it removes word shape, screams in email clients (and can hurt deliverability), and pushes readers away rather than pulling them in. If a line arrives in caps, run it through the uppercase to lowercase converter and then apply proper title case. Reserve capitals for acronyms that are genuinely spelled that way.
10. Being inconsistent across a document or site
Wrong: Getting Started With Widgets … followed two headings later
by … Working with advanced widgets
Right: pick one convention and apply it to every heading.
This is the mistake readers actually notice. Nobody emails you about a lowercase with; plenty of people subconsciously downgrade a page whose headings switch style midway. Consistency is also what human reviewers — editors, professors, and yes, site quality raters — use as a proxy for care. Decide once (title case or sentence case, and which style guide), write it in your style notes, and apply it mechanically.
The pattern behind all ten
Look back over the list and one principle fixes almost everything: capitalize by part of speech, not by length or feel. Verbs and subordinating conjunctions are always major, however short. Articles and coordinating conjunctions are always minor, wherever they sit. Prepositions are the only genuinely negotiable class — and your chosen style guide settles them for you. Add the two positional rules (first and last word always capitalized, first word after a colon always capitalized) and you can correctly case nine titles out of ten from memory.
For the tenth — the weird hyphenated brand name, the phrasal verb, the proper noun that insists on a lowercase letter — use the title case converter to get an instant baseline in your chosen style, then check the tricky cases guide for the judgment calls a converter cannot make for you.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the most common capitalization mistake in titles?
- Lowercasing short verbs — writing 'Remote Work is Here to Stay' instead of 'Remote Work Is Here to Stay'. 'Is' is a verb, and verbs are always capitalized in title case regardless of length.
- Is it wrong to capitalize every word in a title?
- Under the major style guides, yes. Capitalizing every word (start case) capitalizes articles, conjunctions and short prepositions that should stay lowercase. Some brands use start case deliberately, but it is not title case.
- Should the last word of a title always be capitalized?
- Yes. APA, Chicago, AP, MLA and AMA all capitalize the final word of a title even when it is a preposition or article — for example, 'The Team I Was Waiting For'.
- Why is 'If' capitalized in titles when 'and' is not?
- Because they are different parts of speech. 'If' is a subordinating conjunction, which most style guides capitalize; 'and' is a coordinating conjunction, which every guide lowercases mid-title. Title case runs on grammar, not word length.