Tasnif Style Guide

Tasnif Style Guide — Page 85

Chapter 7 CAPITALIZATION General Introduction Capital letters are used to distinguish proper nouns. A proper noun is a specific or unique person, place, or thing. Capitalization is also used to punctuate and style sentences, titles, headings, and subtitles. Excessive capitalization can be distracting and may even defeat the very purpose of it; i. e. blurring the distinctions of nouns. Thus, attempts are sometimes made to minimize it. However, caution should be exercised lest it create ambiguity in situations where there are real differences and legitimate needs for capitalization. Failure to capitalize where it's truly warranted breeds greater con- fusion than clarity. Take the following as an example: ■ Man seeks the guidance of God, whose guidance is of the utmost importance. (Does the term whose refer to man or God?) Man seeks the guidance of God, Whose guidance is of the utmost importance (Capitalizing whose makes it clear the reference is to God. )