Imagine you’re ideating on the perfect title for your thesis, academic paper, or article. Your fingers hover over the keyboard as you type “your” and pause. Is “your” capitalized in a title, and is it universal across all style guides? Spoiler alert: it usually is. Keep reading to learn when and why you should capitalize “your” in a title and if there are any deviations when writing in a specific style.
Related:
- Is “About” Capitalized in a Title?
- Is “And” Capitalized in a Title?
- Is “That” Capitalized in a Title?
Title Capitalization Rules per Style Guide
Let’s clarify a few points before we go into the specific style guides. “Your” is a pronoun and the possessive form of “you.” Fundamental style guides treat it as a major word in titles, meaning it should be capitalized. Specifically, you should always capitalize “your” when it’s the first or last word in a title, after a colon, or as part of a proper noun or book title within your title or headline.
Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition dictates that “your” should be capitalized in titles. Chicago style uses “headline-style” capitalization, where major words, including possessive pronouns like “your,” are capitalized. For example:
- “Your Guide to Chicago’s Hidden Architectural Gems”
- “Finding Your Voice: A Writer’s Journey Through Your Past”
- “The City Is Yours: Exploring Your Urban Environment”
These examples demonstrate how “your” and “yours” are consistently capitalized in different contexts and positions within titles.
American Medical Association (AMA Style)
The AMA Manual of Style 11th edition follows similar rules to Chicago. “Your” should be capitalized in titles as it’s considered a major word. This applies to main titles, subtitles, and titles after colons or em dashes. The following examples: “Your Health Matters: A Guide to Wellness” or “The Future of Medicine Is in Your Hands” are correct AMA title capitalization.
Associated Press Style (AP Style)
AP Style, as outlined in the AP Stylebook, articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (three letters or fewer) are in lowercase. “Your” should be capitalized in AP Style titles. An example using correct title capitalization is “Your Guide to AP Style Capitalization.”
Modern Language Association (MLA Style)
The MLA Handbook 9th edition considers “your” a major word that should be capitalized in titles. This applies to book titles, article titles, and other works. For example: “Your MLA Style Guide: What You Need to Know.”
American Psychological Association (APA Style)
APA style uses “title case” capitalization. In this style, “your” should be capitalized in titles as it’s a major word (a pronoun). You should also always capitalize words of four more letters, per APA style. “Your” meets multiple criteria for capitalization in APA Style: it’s a pronoun (major word), and it’s four letters long. The headline “Your Research Methods: A Comprehensive Guide” is one correct example.
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
“Your” should be capitalized in NY Style as well. The headlines “3 Simple Ways to Test Your Health and Fitness” and “The Worst Foods and Drinks for Your Teeth” are two real-life examples from the New York Times using correct capitalization.
Bluebook
The Bluebook, a style guide for legal citation, considers “your” a major word that should be capitalized in titles. This applies to case names, article titles, and other legal documents. For example: “Your Rights Under the Law.”
Wikipedia Manual of Style (Wikipedia Style)
In Wikipedia, all words except for certain short words (like articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions) are capitalized. As such, Wikipedia capitalizes all pronouns, nouns, adjectives, subordinating conjunctions, and adverbs, meaning “your” should always be capitalized. For example, in the title “Protecting Your Privacy Online: What You Need to Know —”your” should be capitalized per Wikipedia Style.
When Should You Capitalize “Your”?
Is “your” always capitalized in a title? Yes, it is. According to all style guides, whenever “your” functions as a pronoun in a title—which is always—it should be capitalized. This rules applies if “your” is the first word of the title, the second word, or in the middle of title. There are no exceptions across Chicago, AMA, AP, MLA, APA, The New York Times, Bluebook, and Wikipedia styles for capitalizing “your” in a title, subtitle, book title, or headline.
When Shouldn’t You Capitalize “Your“?
Given that all major style guides, including Chicago, MLA, APA, AP, AMA, Bluebook, and even Wikipedia, recommend capitalizing “your” in titles, there are very few instances where you shouldn’t capitalize it. However, there is one scenario to keep in mind. If “your” is part of a company name or product that intentionally uses distinct capitalization styling (e.g., “Your Truly Hotel, “Your Super®”), you should maintain the original capitalization when mentioning it in a title.
Final Thoughts
So, is “your” capitalized in a title? All major style guides capitalize pronouns like “your” in titles. Even if “your” is the first word of a subtitle or the second word, you should capitalize it. While this universal treatment makes this an easy rule to follow, don’t sweat it if you ever find yourself in a capitalization conundrum! Hop over to our handy and free capitalization tool to simplify your headline capitalization process and ensure every title follows the correct guidelines.
