Which capitalization of a title is correct?

Which capitalization of a title is correct?

• A. A Tale of two Cities
• B. A tale Of Two Cities
• C. a Tale of Two Cities
• D. A Tale of Two Cities

Answer: (D)

In this title, the rules of title case say to capitalize the first and last words and to capitalize major words, while keeping short prepositions and articles in lowercase. A is the first word, so it’s capitalized. Tale is a noun, so it’s capitalized as a major word. of is a short preposition, so it stays lowercase. Two is a number acting as a descriptive word, which is treated as a major word and thus capitalized. Cities is a noun, so it’s capitalized. This combination follows the title-case pattern, so it is the correct form. If a version were to capitalize the short preposition or fail to capitalize a major word, or lowercase a number word, it would not follow the standard title-case rules.

In this title, the rules of title case say to capitalize the first and last words and to capitalize major words, while keeping short prepositions and articles in lowercase. A is the first word, so it’s capitalized. Tale is a noun, so it’s capitalized as a major word. of is a short preposition, so it stays lowercase. Two is a number acting as a descriptive word, which is treated as a major word and thus capitalized. Cities is a noun, so it’s capitalized. This combination follows the title-case pattern, so it is the correct form.

If a version were to capitalize the short preposition or fail to capitalize a major word, or lowercase a number word, it would not follow the standard title-case rules.