“Its” might be a short word, but different style guides consider it a major word worthy of capitalization. So, the quick answer to the “Is ‘its’ capitalized in a title?” question is a yes. Read on to find out if the style guide you are following has the same capitalization rule.
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Title Capitalization Rules Per Style Guide
Major style guides, including Chicago, MLA, and more, all instruct writers to capitalize “its” in titles. Why? “Its” is a pronoun, a possessive pronoun, to be specific, and different style guides consider pronouns as a major word that should receive the capitalization treatment. Let’s take a look at the title case rules of different style guides.
Tip: “Its” is different from “it’s.”
Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago Style)
The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, tells writers to capitalize the first and last word of the title, as well as all major words in between. So, in the case of the word “its,” it is capitalized in CMOS.
American Medical Association (AMA Style)
The American Medical Association also has the same “its” capitalization rule as the Chicago Style; you should always capitalize “its” when it is part of your title.
Other parts of speech that you should also capitalize are verbs, adjectives, subordinating conjunctions, adverbs, and prepositions that are four or more letters long.
American Psychological Association (APA Style)
You should have the first letter of the word “its” in uppercase if you are following APA Style Guide. On the other hand, Minor words (like short prepositions) are in lowercase.
Associated Press Style (AP Style)
In the Associated Press Stylebook, you should capitalize the first and the last word of a title. What if you have a subtitle? You should also capitalize the first word (after the colon) of the second part of your title.
For the word “its,” it also gets the capitalization treatment, regardless of where it appears in your title. For instance:
Incorrect: Exploring the City and its Hidden Gems
Correct: Exploring the City and Its Hidden Gems
Modern Language Association (MLA Style)
Professionals in the fields of humanities, language, and literature often refer to the MLA handbook . Similar to AP Style, major words, including verbs, adjectives, and nouns, should be capitalized in a title. For example, “Language and Its Evolution.”
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage (NYT Style)
As you might guess, this manual is for journalists and editors at the New York Times. According to NYT Style, you should capitalize “its” in a title because, similar to other style guides, it is a pronoun.
In general, you should not capitalize words that are not nouns, verbs, or pronouns and have fewer than five letters.
Bluebook
The Bluebook Style Guide is most often utilized by those in legal professions, such as lawyers and judges. According to this guide, ‘its’ is capitalized. So, what parts of speech are in lowercase when following Bluebook? Coordinating conjunctions, to in infinitives, and prepositions that are one to four letters long are in lowercase.
Wikipedia Manual of Style
Wikipedia’s Manual of Style guides the hundreds of thousands of people who contribute to and edit English Wikipedia articles. The manual says to capitalize “its” if it is a part of your title.
When Should You Capitalize “Its”
You should always capitalize the word “its” whenever it appears in your title. Remember to capitalize “its” when:
- It is the first word of the title.
- It is the last word of the title.
- It is the first word after a colon (or dash) or the first word of a subtitle.
- You are following any of these style guides:
- CMOS
- APA Style
- AMA Style
- NYT Style
- MLA Style
- AP Style
- Bluebook
- Wikipedia Manual of Style
Tip: If “its” is in the middle of your title (for instance, it is the second word), you should capitalize it too.
When Shouldn’t You Capitalize “Its”
As you can see, all major style guides ask you to capitalize “its.” So, there shouldn’t be an instance where you should have “its” in lowercase.
Final Thoughts
In summary, the answer to “Is ‘its’ capitalized in a title?” is always yes. If you need help with capitalization, you can use a free title case capitalization tool.
