What are the letters of the alphabet?
There are 26 letters in the alphabet. In lower case they look like this:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
In upper-case (or capital letters) they look like this:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Some letters look the same in capital letters - just bigger - but others look different.
The ones that are different have been highlighted for you.
Watch: When do you use capital letters?
Watch this video to learn about when you should use capital letters in your writing.
Learn about capital letters and have a go at using them in your writing.
(THEME MUSIC)
(SCHOOL BELL RING)
Hello, I'm Mrs Hudson and today we're going to be looking at when we use capital letters.
We can write all of the letters in the alphabet as a lowercase or an uppercase letter.
We usually call uppercase letters capital letters. These are used for names and also to start a sentence.
Can you remember how to write all of the capital letters? Before we try out using some capital letters, let's quickly remind ourselves of the alphabet. Also what all the capital letters look like.
Let's go through the alphabet together. If you want, you can put me on pause and write down each capital letter so you can remember what they look like.
Sometimes the lowercase version can look different than the uppercase.
Like the lowercase B is very different from uppercase B. However, lowercase C is very similar to uppercase C.
Are you ready? Let us go through the alphabet.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
Take a good look at those capital letters, because now we're going to use them.
OK, now we know how to write all the capital letters. It is time to think about how we use them.
We always start sentences with capital letters, but we also use capital letters when we're writing someone's name.
Have a look at this sentence.
My brothers Sammy and Freddie love playing football in the park.
Can you see or hear any words that are names?
Yes, Sammy and Freddie, they're both names. They will both need capital letters.
We use capital letters for days of the week, because they are names too.
Let's have a look at this sentence.
On Friday Levi and Amos are going swimming.
There was a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, but there are three more words that need to start with a capital letter. Can you tell which ones?
On Friday Levi and Amos are going swimming.
That's right - Friday needs a capital letter as it's the name of the day. Levi and Amos also need capital letters because they are both names of people.
OK, this time I'm going to show you four versions of the same sentence. And I want you to choose the one that is correct. Are you ready?
Look carefully to see where the capital letters are and if they're used correctly.
Jenny and Simon are going on holiday next Friday.
Take a really good look at how the capitals are used in each sentence. Which sentence do you think is right?
Yes, the sentence that uses capital letters correctlyis sentence three.
Jenny and Simon are going on holidaynext Friday.Let's look at the other sentencesand fix them.Sentence one, Simon needs a capital letter because it is his name.
Sentence two. This sentence have capital letters for Jenny, Simon and Friday, but there was an extra capital letter in "holiday", and that wasn't needed.
Sentence four, Jenny and Simon have capital letters, but we need a capital letter for "Friday" as it is also a name.
Now all of the sentences are correct. Well done.
There is another reason why we need a capital letter. See if you can guess from what I'm about to say.
I know that I am very important, so every time I write something about myself I need to write a capital I.
Did you get it?
Yes, that's right. When we're talking about ourselves and we write "I", it always needs to be a capital "I".
Have a look.
I walk to school with my friends.
You can have the apple and I will have the banana.
Can you see that even when "I" is in the middle of the sentence, we always use a capital "I"?
Here is a challenge for you to try. Write a sentence where you use "I", a friend's name and a day of the week. I bet you could do that.
Here is mine. On Tuesday, Luke and I are going to the cinema.
It's your turn now.
For more help, challenges and games on this subject, visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Top tip!
Here are some rules when to use capital letters.
Every sentence should start with a capital letter.
Use a capital letter for people’s names and the days of the week.
Use a capital letter when you write about yourself using ‘I’.
Watch: Using capital letters
Hello boys and girls! It’s your little old grandma here! But don’t be fooled…I’m actually the coolest hip-hop granny in town.
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Boppidity bop bop bop. Do the full stop!
Boppidity bop bop bop. Do the full stop!
B-b-b-b-b. Do the full stop!
Boppidity bop. Do the full stop bop!
Word space, word space.
Dancing around all over the place.
Word space, word space.
Moving my body to the groovy bass.
Word space, word space.
Bopping around I’m about to pop.
Word space, word space.
I finish my sentence with a big full stop!
Sentences start with a capital letter!
A capital letter I how they start.
Capital letters when we start at the beginning.
When we end the sentence, we put a full stop!
Names of the people start with capital letters!
Capital letter, it starts my name.
Like Peter or Jacob, Ayesha or Sarah.
The capital letter, it stays the same!
Word space, word space.
Dancing around all over the place.
Word space, word space.
Moving my body to the groovy bass.
Word space, word space.
Bopping around I’m about to pop.
Word space, word space.
I finish my sentence with a big full stop.
When I say ‘I’, it’s a capital letter.
It’s a capital letter when I say I.
The pronoun ‘I’ is a capital letter.
And when I finish my sentence, I put a full stop.
Months of the year have a capital letter, a capital letter!
When you’re writing a month like January, February, March, April, May!
It’s a capital letter for every day!
Names of the places have capital letters, capital letters they start place names.
Like London or Cardiff or Brighton or Blackpool!
A capital letters, it’s always the same.
So now you know how to use capital letters!
It’s really pretty easy when you know how!
Capital letters when we start at the beginning!
When we end the sentence we put a full stop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Bop! Bop! Do the full stop bop!
Boppidity bop bop bop. Do the full stop!
Boppidity bop bop bop. Do the full stop!
B-b-b-b-b. Do the full stop!
Boppidity bop bop bop. Do the full stop!
Word space, word space.
Dancing around all over the place.
Word space, word space.
Moving my body to the groovy bass.
Word space, word space.
Bopping around I’m about to pop!
Word space, word space.
I finish my sentence with a big full stop!
Activity 1
Choose the correct capital letters to fill in the spaces in the alphabet.
Activity 2
Read the sentences below and correct any mistakes.
You can write out the correct words or point to them and explain what is wrong.
The first one has been done for you.
- Do you know where cooper and sarah are?
Do you know where Cooper and Sarah are?
My best friends are called edie and ayla.
Are you going to see paul on Friday?
Next tuesday, luke is going on holiday.
We saw luca, simran, rachel and max at the park last night .
You can check your answers using this answer sheet.
Activity 3
When you are writing about yourself you always use a capital ‘I’, even if the word ‘I’ is in the middle of a sentence.
For example:
I went to the park with my friends.
or
My friends and I went to the park.
Write three sentences about yourself using a capital ‘I’ in each one.
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