“With” is a common word used in titles and might leave you wondering, “Is with capitalized in a title?” The short answer is yes if it is the first or last word of a title and if it appears after a colon. But if it is in the middle of a heading, the rules and exceptions can vary per style guide.
For instance, in Chicago Manual Style, you shouldn’t capitalize “with” in the middle of the title unless it’s part of a phrasal verb. Read on to learn about the capitalization rules of “with” per style guide.
Title Capitalization Rules per Style Guide
As mentioned earlier, all style guides require you to capitalize “with” if the word appears at the start and end of a title or if it appears after a colon. However, there are a few exceptions that you should be aware of.
Chicago Manual of Style
If you are following the Chicago Manual of Style, you don’t have to capitalize “with” if it appears in the middle of the title or heading. However, there are three instances in which you should capitalize “with”:
- If it is the first and last word of a title.
- If it’s part of a phrasal verb.
- Appears after a colon (as the first word of a subtitle).
American Medical Association (AMA)
In AMA, it doesn’t matter if “with” appears at the beginning, middle, and end of a title. This style guide calls for the capitalization of prepositions that are four letters in length or more.
Associated Press Style (AP Style)
If your professor asked you to follow AP Style, you should capitalize the preposition “with.” Similar to AMA, AP requires you to capitalize words that are four words or longer.
American Psychological Association (APA Style)
In APA, words fall into two categories: major and minor.
All major words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and verbs) are capitalized. So, how about “with,” which is a preposition? Technically, you should also capitalize “with” because the APA style dictates that words that are four letters long (or more) should be capitalized, even if they appear in the middle of a title.
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Under MLA style, you should only capitalize “with” if it appears at the beginning and end of a title and after a colon. If “with” falls somewhere in the middle, keep it in lowercase because prepositions (along with articles and coordinating conjunctions) are never capitalized, according to the MLA handbook.
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
In The New York Times style, you must capitalize “with” because the style guide requires capitalizing words that are four or more letters long.
Wikipedia Manual of Style
As you may have noticed, many style guides (except for Chicago Style and MLA) ask you to capitalize “with” because it falls under the “four-letter” capitalization rule. However, in Wikipedia style, you need at least five letters! So, with Wikipedia, you should never capitalize “with” unless it is the first word and last word of the title and after a colon.
In addition to these rules, you should also keep in mind that words that look like a preposition but aren’t used as one will have the capitalization treatment, specifically when:
- Particles of phrasal verbs
- First word in a compound preposition
Bluebook
Surprisingly, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation also follows Wikipedia’s five-letter rule. Since “with” is shorter than five letters, you should have it in lowercase.
When Should You Capitalize With?
Generally, there are four instances you should always capitalize the preposition “with”:
- It is the first word of the title,
- Part of a proper noun
- It is the first word after a colon, and
- If it is the last word of a title
However, as you might already know by now, there are specific rules that you should follow per style guide. Let’s take a closer look when you should capitalize “with.”
Prepositions with Four or More Letters
Many style guides say to capitalize prepositions if and only if they are our or more letters long. If you count the letters of the word “with,” that’s four, so you should capitalize it.
You Are Following APA, NY, AMA, or AP Style Guides
If you are following any of these styles, then capitalize “with,” regardless if “with” appears in the middle of a title. This is because these guides all follow the four-letter capitalization rule.
When Used at the beginning of a Title and After a Colon
No matter what style guide you are following, “with” is always capitalized. This rule applies to other words, regardless of the part of speech. If “with” or other words appears after the colon, you should also capitalize it.
Tip: Remember, the first letter of the first word of a title (whether it be a movie title or a book title) is always capitalized.
When Used at the End of a Title
Similar to the previous rule, different style guides call for the capitalization of the last word of a title, no matter what part of speech it is.
When Shouldn’t You Capitalize With?
Now that you know when to capitalize “with,” let’s talk about when you should use lowercase the word “with.”
- Wikipedia and Bluebook require the preposition to be longer than four letters. So, if you are following any of these two style guides, keep “with” in lowercase if it appears in the middle of the title.
- For the Chicago Manual of Style and MLA, you shouldn’t also capitalize “with” if it’s in the middle of a title. The only time that you should capitalize it if: (1) it appears at the beginning and end of the title, (2) if it is part of a phrasal verb, and (3) after a colon.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, our guide helped you know the answer to the question, “Is with capitalized in a title?” Generally, the only time you should capitalize “with” is when the word appears at the beginning and end of the title and after a colon. If “with” is in the middle of a title, only AMA, AP, APA, and NY Style style guides ask for capitalization.
If you are still confused with the capitalization rule of “with,” you can always double-check using a title capitalization tool.
