German spelling

upper and lower case

summary

upper case	lower case
rule G01: Beginning of a sentence rule G02: Names and proper names rule G03: Nouns rule G05: Adjective with an article or quantity-adjectives rule G08: Verbs with an article	rule G04: Adjectives rule G06: Noun+adjective rule G07: Verbs

rule G01: Write the beginning of a sentence with a capital letter.

example(s)

• Wir haben zwei Kinder. Sie heißen Nicole und John.
  (We've got two children. They are called Nicole and John.)
• Nicole geht bald in die Schule. John geht noch in den Kindergarten.
  (Nicole will attend school soon and John is going to kindergarden.)
• Sie ist 5 Jahre alt. Er wird bald 3.
  (Nicole is 5 years old and John will turn 3 soon.)

hint(s)

It's an easy rule. After a dot, a new sentence begins.
Always put a capital at the beginning of a sentence.

rule G02: Names and proper names always start with a capital letter.

example(s)

• example 1: Ich vermisse Cathy.
  (I miss Cathy.)
• example 2: Wir fahren ans Rote Meer.
  (We go to the Red Sea.)
• example 3: Der Zweite Weltkrieg endete 1945.
  (The Second World War ended in 1945.)

hint(s)

about example 1:

Names of people, animals, places and so on start with a capital letter.

about example 2:

Names start with a capital letter, even though if parts of the name are adjectives, you usually write in small letters.
Further examles for proper names are:

• Ich liebe den Stillen Ozean.
  (I love the Pacific.)
• Wir fliegen in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika.
  (We go to the United States of America.)
• Sie treffen sich Unter den Linden (=Straße in Berlin).
  (They met in Unter den Linden (=street in Berlin.)

about example 3:

Proper names start with a capital letter, even though if parts of the proper name are adjectives, you usually write in small letters.
Further examples for proper names are:

• Ich liebe Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
  (I love Black Forest Cake.)
• In Geschichte sprechen wir über den Westfälischen Frieden.
  (In history lessons we speak about the Peace of Westphalia.)
• Siehst du den Großen Bären? (=Sternzeichen).
  (Do you see Ursa Major? (=start sign))

rule G03: Nouns always start with a capital letter.

example(s)

• Tom will Cathy heiraten.
  (Tom wants to marry Cathy.)
• Tom will Cathy heiraten.
  (Tom wants to marry Cathy.)
• Das Mädchen ist hübsch.
  (The girl is pretty.)

hint(s)

Nouns are all things you can touch.
Typical endings of nouns are:

• -heit (die Gesundheit, die Freiheit, die Dummheit, ...)
• -keit (die Kleinigkeit, die Schwierigkeit, die Haltbarkeit, ...)
• -ung (die Erfahrung, die Meinung, die Werbung, ...)
• -schaft (die Freundschaft, die Herrschaft, die Meisterschaft, ...)
• -nis (das Hindernis, die Erlaubnis, das Geständnis, ...)
• -sis (die Basis, die Dosis, die Skepsis, ...)
• -tät (die Realität, die Qualität, ...)
• -ion (die Tradition, die Dimension, ...)

Nouns are words which have a definite article (der, die, das) or an indefinite article (ein, eine, ...).
Nouns can occur as subject or as object.

rule G04: Write adjectives in small letters.

example(s)

• Er liebt Gute gute Musik.
  (He loves good music.)
• London ist eine Teure teure Stadt.
  (London is an expensive city.)
• Die Kinder sammeln Braune braune Blätter.
  (The children collect brown leaves.)

hint(s)

An adjective is a word which describes a noun. It shows how something or somebody is (nice, fast, blue ...).

exception(s)

-> see next rule

rule G05 : Adjectives with an article or "quantity-adjectives" start with a capital letter.

example(s)

• Sie hat das Richtige getan.
  (She did just the right thing.)
• Das Beste daran ist die Schokolade.
  (The best of it is the chocolate.)
• Mir gefällt das Rot bei diesem Kleid.
  (I like the red of this dress.)

hint(s)

If an adjective starts with a capital letter we speak about the so-called "Substantivierung" (nominalisations).
The easiest way to recognize a noun are the articles (der|die|das).

Sometimes the preposition (e.g. bei) and article are joined together: in+das = ins.
Er hat ins Schwarze getroffen. (He hit the bull's eye.) In this case you can't recognize the article easily.

Besides articles you can recognize nominalisations with the help of words like viel, wenig, alles, etwas, nichts (adjectives, that describe quantities):

• Er wollte etwas Gutes tun.
  (He wanted to do something good.)
• Es war nichts Wichtiges, was er zu sagen hatte.
  (It was nothing of importance what he said.)
• Es passierte etwas Ungewöhnliches während der Zeremonie.
  (Something out of the ordinary happened during the ceremony.)

rule G06: If a word consists of a noun+adjective write the word in small letters.

example(s)

• Unsere Mannschaft ist Spielfrei spielfrei.
  (Our team need not play.)
• Ich bin so Urlaubsreif urlaubsreif.
  (I could do with a holiday. / I desperately need a vacation.)
• Die Stadt war Menschenleer menschenleer.
  (The city was deserted.)

hint(s)

Sometimes, you have adjectives consisting of a noun and an adjective. Together, they form a new adjective and are written small.
If necessary, there might be an s in between to join them.

In the 3rd example Menschen is the noun (everything you can do). Leer is an adjective (=how is something?).

rule G07: Write verbs in small letters.

example(s)

• Der Lehrer Zeigt zeigt den Schülern die neuen Bücher.
  (The teacher is showing the books to the students.)
• Ich Beantworte beantworte gerne eure Fragen.
  (I'd like to answer your questions.)
• Sie Läuft läuft in die Stadt.
  (She is walking into the city.)

hint(s)

Zeigen, beantworten, laufen and so on are all verbs (=everything you can touch) => small letters

exception(s)

-> see next rule

rule G08: Verbs that follow an article start with a capital letter.

example(s)

• Das lachen Lachen tut ihm gut.
  (Laughing is good for him.)
• Dieses warten Warten macht mich noch verrückt.
  (That waiting drives me crazy.)
• Vom lesen Lesen bekomme ich Kopfschmerzen.
  (I get a headache reading the book.)

hint(s)

If a verb starts with capital letter we speak about the so-called "Substantivierung" (nominalisations).
The easiest way to recognize it are the articles (der|die|das).

Sometimes the preposition (e.g. bei) and article are joined together: bei+dem = beim.
Viel Spaß beim Bieten. (Happy bidding!) In this case you can't recognize the article easily.
Another example is: von + dem = vom. Vom Lesen bekomme ich Kopfschmerzen (I get a headache reading the book.).

 

	upper and lower case 1				solution
	upper and lower case 2				solution

	upper and lower case (theory, 4 pages)