How to Capitalize a Title in MLA Format | TitleCasePro

MLA title case follows the guidelines in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021). It is used for titles in literary criticism, language and linguistics research, cultural studies, and most English and humanities courses at the college level.

The defining rule: MLA lowercases all prepositions regardless of length — the same approach as APA. The key difference from Chicago is that there is no length threshold: about, between, through, and without are all lowercase in MLA.

MLA Title Case Rules

The MLA Handbook specifies these rules:

1. Capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle.
2. Capitalize the last word of the title.
3. Capitalize all principal words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.
4. Lowercase articles: a, an, the (unless first or last word).
5. Lowercase coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.
6. Lowercase prepositions of any length: at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up, about, between, through, without, and all others.
7. Lowercase “to” in infinitives: Treat it as a preposition.

⚠️ The critical detail: Rule 6 means that unlike Chicago — where About (5 letters) would be capitalized — in MLA, about stays lowercase regardless of how long it is.

MLA Capitalization Examples

Prepositions in action

Preposition	MLA	Chicago
of (2)	lowercase	lowercase
in (2)	lowercase	lowercase
about (5)	lowercase	Capitalize
between (7)	lowercase	Capitalize
without (7)	lowercase	Capitalize
through (7)	lowercase	Capitalize

Titles formatted in MLA

Prepositions and articles: A Study of the Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Communities

• of (×2), on, the → all lowercase (prepositions / article)
• Effects, Climate, Change, Coastal, Communities → capitalize (nouns/adjectives)

Title with subtitle: Language and Power: An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis

• An → capitalize (first word of subtitle)
• to → lowercase (preposition)
• Critical, Discourse, Analysis → capitalize

Verbs must be capitalized: Why Reading Is Essential for Cognitive Development

• Is → capitalize (linking verb)
• for → lowercase (preposition)

Book title example: Of Mice and Men

• Of → capitalize (it is the first word)
• and → lowercase (coordinating conjunction)
• Men → capitalize (noun)

⚠️ Remember: Of at the start of a title is capitalized even though it’s a preposition — because the first word is always capitalized.

MLA vs. APA Title Case

MLA and APA produce nearly identical output. Both lowercase all prepositions regardless of length.

Rule	MLA	APA
All prepositions	lowercase	lowercase
Articles	lowercase	lowercase
Coordinating conjunctions	lowercase	lowercase
Verbs (is, are, be)	Capitalize	Capitalize
First word after colon	Capitalize	Capitalize

The differences are minimal and mainly appear in edge cases involving hyphenated compounds. For practical purposes, a title correctly formatted in APA will almost always be correctly formatted in MLA as well.

See: APA vs MLA comparison.

MLA Capitalization in Works Cited

Works Cited entries use title case for book titles and journal names:

Book: Smith, John. The Art of Writing in the Modern Age. Oxford University Press, 2024.

Journal article: Jones, Anne. “Writing about Violence in Contemporary Literature.” Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, 2024, pp. 45–62.

Note: The article title (“Writing about Violence…”) uses title case. The journal name (Journal of Literary Studies) also uses title case. The key: about stays lowercase even in the article title because it is a preposition.

Step-by-Step: How to Capitalize a Title in MLA

1. Identify all articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), and prepositions (of, in, on, to, about, between, etc.) in your title.
2. Lowercase all of those words — unless they are the first or last word of the title or subtitle.
3. Capitalize all remaining words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns.
4. Check the first word after any colon or em dash — it must be capitalized.

For any title, the MLA title capitalizer applies these rules automatically and shows a word-by-word breakdown of why each word was capitalized or lowercased.