Uppercase and lowercase letters are letters used daily for writing. The first is the capital letter (large), and the second is smaller in size (small).
A bit of history
Initially, when writing, only capital letters were used, in which the boundaries (upper and lower) were clearly defined. Over time, cursive writing developed, letters took on a more rounded shape. This is how the foundations of the so-called Carolingian minuscule writing, which was developed by the scientist Alcuin, arose. They used it at the court of Charlemagne, and over time this letter spread throughout Europe. So for the first time a single text began to contain lowercase and capital letters.
Uppercase and lowercase letters
The use of uppercase and lowercase letters is one of the most difficult problems of modern Russian spelling. A constant change in reality entails a change in the spelling of these letters. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly study new editions of reference books and dictionaries, which must necessarily reflect such innovations.
But, despite this, there are basic principles for the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. They help to understand the spelling of capital and small letters, even if some word is missing in the dictionary.
Capitalization Rules
With a capital letter are written:
- The first word at the beginning of the sentence and text;
- name, patronymic, last name, nickname and pseudonym (Maxim Gorky, Seraphim of Sarov);
- name of the animal (dog Ingvar, Teddy bear Borka, cat Vaska);
- common noun, which acts as a literary character (Little Red Riding Hood);
- own geographical name (Europe);
- common noun, name of titles, professions, titles that make up the geographical name (Sosnovy Bor);
- service word at the beginning of a geographical name (Los Angeles);
- individual astronomical name (Mercury, Milky Way, Southern Cross);
- all words that make up the names of political parties, enterprises, institutions, foreign firms, with the exception of official ones (UN Security Council, State Council, European Parliament);
- all words making up the official names of states (Chechen Republic, French Republic);
- the first word of the names of cultural institutions and entertainment enterprises (Moscow Operetta Theater);
- names of the highest honorary titles and senior posts, which are indicated in official documents (Vice-President of the Russian Federation, President of the United States);
- names of historical events and eras (Renaissance, Renaissance, July commune);
- words at the beginning of the names: Central, State, All-Russian, International, Russian, World (International Monetary Bank);
- words Fatherland, Motherland, Man, Hope, Wisdom, Center, etc., which are in a special stylistic use;
- You (your) pronoun as a form of polite treatment;
- names of cult books, church holidays (Bible, Easter, Trinity);
- abbreviations that are formed in their own names (United Nations - UN);
- possessive adjectives (the question "whose?") containing the suffix -in, s (s) , which are formed from the proper names and names of animals (Fedina books, Raphael Madonna, Odyssey wanderings);
- the name of the literary work, news agencies, press, in addition, they must be enclosed in quotation marks (the novel "Crime and Punishment");
- names and abbreviations of names of production brands of technical products ("Volga", ZIL);
- individual names of airplanes, ships, trains (Titanic ship).
Lowercase rules
A lowercase letter is written if it is a component:
- articles, prepositions, particles in Western European names and proper names (Ludwig van Beethoven);
- personal names that pursue the goal of an ironic or negative assessment (newly appeared puddles);
- nouns formed from surnames and personal names (Oblomovism);
- components of Turkic and Arabic names that indicate kinship or social status (al, zade, bey, yeah);
- names of units of measure that were given by the name of the scientist (amperes);
- the words earth, moon, sun, which are not astronomical names;
- names of adjectives containing the suffix -sk- , denoting affiliation, formed from proper names (Chekhov pages);
- titles and ranks (deputy minister, mayor);
- abbreviations formed from common names (university - higher educational institution).
Also, a lowercase letter is written in the names:
- geological eras and periods, archaeological cultures and eras (Mesozoic era);
- posts and titles, international organizations, as well as the highest foreign elected institutions (Emperor of Japan, Major General, Ambassador);
- plural authorities (ministries of Russia);
- animal breeds (keeshond dog);
- institutions whose names are not proper names (school No. 592).
Uppercase and lowercase principles
Having studied the above rules, you can identify the basic principles on the basis of which lowercase and uppercase letters are used. So:
- The allocation of specific segments of sentences (text) is a syntactic principle.
- Highlighting certain words in the text:
1) A lowercase letter is written in common names, a capital letter in proper names is a morphological principle.
2) The capital letter is written in common nouns, endowed with special symbols or pathetics (Man, Fatherland), in the names of the holidays (New Year, Victory Day) - the semantic principle.
3) A capital letter is used in abbreviations made up of the first letters.
Need to distinguish
As already mentioned, a lowercase letter is written in the names of adjectives that contain the suffix -sk- , denoting affiliation and formed from proper names. Therefore, "Pushkin's prose" is written with a small letter. But possessive adjectives with the suffix -sk- , meaning the name in honor of someone's memory, are written with capital letters. For example, "Lomonosov readings."
Word: lowercase and uppercase letters
In connection with the rapid development of information technology, Microsoft Office Word, which is almost indispensable in the labor and educational process, gained wide popularity. But few people know how to make lowercase letters from capital letters and vice versa with one click of certain keys.
So, write the following text in capital letters:
"LITTLE LETTERS OF RUSSIAN ALPHABET".
Now you need to select the text and press the Schift and F3 keys simultaneously. After that we will succeed:
"lowercase letters of the Russian alphabet."
After pressing the combination of these keys again, we get the following:
"Lowercase Letters of the Russian Alphabet".
And to return to the source text, you must press Schift + F3 again.