The word Vice President often confuses people when it comes to capitalization. Is it vice president or Vice President? When do you capitalize it?
The word “vice president” is a proper noun or a common noun depending on the context in which it is used, so the capitalization rules vary.
If Vice President is used to refer to a specific person with a title, then it is capitalized such as:
- Vice President Mike Pence
- Vice President Kamala Harris
If used as a common noun, then the word vice president is lowercased such as in the following sentences:
- The vice president will announce his candidacy this morning.
- Kamala Harris is the first woman vice president.
According to English capitalization rules, proper nouns are always capitalized. Therefore, when referring to a person with the title Vice President, always capitalize the word.
What About Vice Presidential? Should Vice Presidential Be Capitalized?
Vice Presidential is not a proper noun naturally, so it should be lowercased unless used in an official event title such as the “50th Vice Presidential Inauguration.”
To learn more about proper title capitalization rules, give our free title capitalization tool a try.