MLA Title Capitalization - Free Modern Language Association Tool

Principal Words: The MLA Approach

Modern Language Association style (9th edition) uses title case for titles of works. MLA identifies "principal words" as the ones to capitalize: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions. Articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions stay lowercase, whether short or long.

MLA in the Works Cited Page

Every source on your Works Cited list requires consistent title formatting:

Books and websites: Italicize; apply title case
Articles, essays, and poems: Enclose in quotation marks; apply title case
First word after a colon: Always capitalize in titles

Example: García, María. "Magical Realism in Latin American Fiction." Comparative Literature Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 2024, pp. 88–102.

Foreign Titles and Special Cases

Non-English titles: Follow the capitalization conventions of the source language
Hyphenated compounds: Capitalize the second element when it's a principal word
Subtitles after colons: Capitalize the first word of the subtitle

MLA-formatted examples:

✓ "One Hundred Years of Solitude and the Myth of Latin America"
✓ "The Great Gatsby: Money, Love, and the American Dream"
✓ "How to Read a Poem Like a Critic"
✓ "Jane Austen in the Age of Film Adaptations"
✓ "From Homer to Virgil: Epic Tradition in Ancient Greece and Rome"

MLA vs Similar Humanities Styles

Chicago: Nearly identical; both lowercase all prepositions and emphasize major words
APA: Uses sentence case for article and book titles; MLA uses title case
AP: AP capitalizes prepositions of four letters or more; MLA lowercases every preposition

Practical Tips

Principal words get capitals; minor words stay lowercase
All prepositions are lowercase, including long ones like "through" and "between"
First and last words of a title are always capitalized
Apply the same rules across your Works Cited entries
Use the MLA title tool above to format titles automatically

Italics vs Quotation Marks: MLA's Title Treatment

MLA doesn't just govern capitalization—it dictates how you signal different types of works. Books, plays, whole albums, and websites get italicized. Articles, essays, poems, songs, and chapters get quotation marks. Both use title case. So when you cite a poem from an anthology, the poem title goes in quotes with principal-word capitalization, and the anthology title gets italics with the same rules. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" appears in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Consistency across your Works Cited page matters. One entry in title case, another in sentence case—that's an error instructors notice.

Common Student Mistakes in MLA Titles

First-year writers (and plenty of seniors) make the same blunders. Over-capitalizing prepositions: "From Homer To Virgil" is wrong; MLA lowercases all prepositions. Under-capitalizing the first word after a colon: "The Great Gatsby: money, love, and the American dream" should capitalize "Money" and "Love" and "And"—wait, "and" is a conjunction, so it stays lowercase. "Money" and "Love" get capitals. Confusing APA and MLA: APA uses sentence case for titles; MLA uses title case. If you're in a literature course, assume MLA until told otherwise. Forgetting the last word: "How to Read a Poem Like a critic"—nope, "Critic" is a noun, principal word, needs a capital.

MLA in the Humanities: Literature, Film, Cultural Studies

MLA style dominates English departments, comparative literature, film studies, and many humanities disciplines. Your syllabus might not spell it out, but if you're writing about novels, poems, or films, MLA is the default. Conference abstracts, senior theses, and journal submissions in these fields expect it. Works Cited formatting is non-negotiable. Get the capitalization right and you're halfway there.

Foreign Titles and Non-English Sources

When citing works in other languages, MLA says to follow the capitalization conventions of the source language. French titles might capitalize only the first word and proper nouns. German capitalizes all nouns. Spanish has its own rules. Don't force English title case onto a French poem. Use the conventions of the language you're citing. When the title appears in your English sentence, you still italicize or use quotation marks per MLA rules for the type of work.

Works Cited Consistency: The Full Picture

Every entry in your Works Cited list should follow MLA 9th edition formatting. That means consistent title case, consistent use of italics vs. quotation marks, and correct punctuation. A single sloppy entry undermines the rest. Run each title through Copylime's MLA tool before you finalize. Copylime applies principal-word rules so you don't have to second-guess "through" or "between." One less thing to worry about when you're on deadline.

MLA 9th Edition: What's New and What Stays the Same

The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook arrived in 2021. Capitalization rules for titles didn't change dramatically—principal words still get capitals, minor words stay lowercase. The emphasis on inclusive language and updated citation formats got more attention. But for title capitalization, MLA 9th continues the approach that made MLA the standard in literature and the humanities: think like a copy editor. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions are principal. Articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions are minor. All prepositions, no matter how long. That's the line.

Principal Words in Practice: Examples That Stick

Consider "From Homer to Virgil: Epic Tradition in Ancient Greece and Rome." Principal words: From (first word), Homer, Virgil, Epic, Tradition, Ancient, Greece, Rome. Minor words: to, in, and. Wait—is "From" a preposition? Yes, but it's also the first word. First and last words always get capitals. "To" and "in" are prepositions in the middle—lowercase. "And" is a conjunction—lowercase. "From" at the start gets a capital; "Rome" at the end gets a capital. The pattern holds. Once you see it, you can apply it to any title.

Italics vs Quotation Marks: The Full MLA Framework

MLA doesn't just govern capitalization. It dictates how you signal works. Books, plays, albums, websites, films—italicize. Articles, essays, poems, songs, chapters—quotation marks. Both get title case. So when you cite a short story from an anthology: the story title in quotes with principal-word caps, the anthology title in italics with the same rules. "A Rose for Emily" appears in The Norton Introduction to Literature. Your Works Cited entry needs both formatted correctly. Mixing sentence case and title case across entries is an error instructors notice. Consistency matters.

Common Student Mistakes: Why They Happen

First-year writers over-capitalize prepositions. They've seen "From" and "With" capitalized in headlines and assume MLA does the same. It doesn't. MLA lowercases every preposition. Another mistake: under-capitalizing the first word after a colon. "The Great Gatsby: money, love, and the American dream" is wrong. "Money" and "Love" are nouns—principal words. They get capitals. "And" stays lowercase. Confusing APA with MLA trips people up too. APA uses sentence case for titles; MLA uses title case. If you're in a literature course, assume MLA. Forgetting the last word: "How to Read a Poem Like a critic"—nope. "Critic" is a noun. Capitalize it.

MLA in Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies

English departments, comparative literature programs, film studies, and many humanities disciplines use MLA by default. Your syllabus might not spell it out, but if you're writing about novels, poems, or films, MLA is almost certainly expected. Conference abstracts, senior theses, and journal submissions in these fields demand it. Works Cited formatting is non-negotiable. Get the capitalization right and you're halfway to a polished paper. The other half is your argument. Don't let formatting distract from that.

Foreign Titles: When to Follow the Source Language

Quick MLA Reference

Principal words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subordinating conjunctions
Minor words: articles, coordinating conjunctions, all prepositions
First and last words always capitalized
First word after a colon always capitalized
Books and long works: italics. Short works: quotation marks. Both: title case.

Format MLA titles correctly.
The free MLA title capitalization tool above applies 9th edition rules to any title. Copylime has you covered.

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MLA Title Capitalization™

Free MLA Title Capitalization Tool & Guide