Chicago Title Capitalization
CMOS 17 capitalises all major words. Short prepositions (≤4 chars) are lowercase, but longer ones like "About" and "Between" are capitalised.
Word-by-word explanation
Chicago capitalization rules
- Capitalise all major words
- Lowercase: articles (a, an, the)
- Lowercase: coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)
- Lowercase: prepositions ≤4 letters (at, by, for, in, of, on, to)
- Capitalise: prepositions ≥5 letters (About, Above, Between…)
- Always capitalise first and last word
- Capitalise both parts of a hyphenated compound
Read the full Chicago title capitalization rules with examples.
When to Use Chicago Title Capitalization
Chicago title case is the standard for Books, Publishing, History, Arts & Humanities writing. CMOS 17 capitalises all major words. Short prepositions (≤4 chars) are lowercase, but longer ones like "About" and "Between" are capitalised. When your work will be reviewed, published, or cited within these fields, using the correct capitalization style shows attention to detail and compliance with professional standards.
Chicago Title Case vs Other Styles
Title capitalization is not universal. The same title formatted in Chicago style will look different from APA, Chicago, MLA, or AP — and each difference is intentional. Use the style comparison tool to enter your title and see all nine styles side by side. If you need to convert a large list of titles, the batch capitalizer handles CSV and TXT imports for bulk workflows.
How the Chicago Capitalizer Works
Paste your title into the tool above. Select Chicago as the active style and the result appears immediately. Click "Explain" to see the rule applied to each word. Use the copy button or press ⌘↵ to copy the output. Everything runs in the browser — no account, no signup, no data sent to a server.
Chicago capitalization FAQ
CMOS 17 capitalizes all major words. Short prepositions (≤4 letters) like "at", "by", "for", "in", "of", "on", "to" are lowercase, but longer ones like "About" and "Between" are capitalized.
No — "to" as an infinitive marker is lowercase in Chicago style (e.g., "How to Write a Book"). However, "To" as the first word would be capitalized.
Chicago capitalizes both parts of a hyphenated compound in most cases (e.g., "Self-Help Guide", "Well-Known Author").
They are similar but not identical. Chicago lowercases prepositions ≤4 letters; MLA lowercases all prepositions regardless of length.