PE-82: Capital Letters and Spelling Rules
Where English uses capitals that Uzbek doesn't, the spelling rules worth knowing, and the twenty words learners misspell most.
PE-82: Capital Letters and Spelling Rules
English capitalises far more than Uzbek does. In Uzbek you write ingliz tili with a small letter; in English it is English — always. And there is one word that takes a capital everywhere it appears, in the middle of a sentence or anywhere else: the pronoun I. These details are small, but they are exactly what a reader notices first.
In this lesson you will learn
- Everything English capitalises — and the things it doesn't
- The spelling rules you have met, gathered in one place
- Twenty words that learners misspell most often
- British vs American spelling
1. What takes a capital letter
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| the pronoun I | Yesterday I saw him. |
| names of people | Afsona, Jasur Karimov |
| places | Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Navoi Street |
| nationalities & languages | Uzbek, English, Korean |
| days & months | Monday, September |
| holidays | Navruz, New Year |
| titles before names | Mr Karimov, Dr Ahmedova |
| book & film titles | The Little Prince |
On Monday I have an English lesson, and in March we celebrate Navruz.
Dushanba kuni ingliz tili darsim bor, martda esa Navruzni nishonlaymiz.
Compare the Uzbek line — dushanba, ingliz, mart are all lower case there.
2. What does NOT take a capital
✗ Lower case in English
- seasons: summer, winter
- school subjects: maths, history, biology
- directions: north, south-east
- family words alone: my mother, his uncle
✓ But capital when…
- the subject is a language: English, Russian
- a direction is a region: the Middle East
- a family word replaces a name: Thanks, Mum!
In winter I study maths and English; my mother teaches history in the north of the country.
Qishda matematika va ingliz tilini oʻqiyman; onam mamlakatning shimolida tarixdan dars beradi.
Only English takes a capital — it is a language. Season, subjects, family words and directions stay lower case.
3. The spelling rules, gathered
- Doubling: short verb, one vowel + one consonant → double it before -ing or -ed: stop → stopped, sit → sitting, plan → planned. (PE-12, PE-20)
- Consonant + y → i: study → studies/studied, happy → happier, easy → easily. Vowel + y keeps the y: play → played. (PE-3, PE-9)
- Drop the silent e before a vowel ending: make → making, nice → nicer, use → using. Keep it before a consonant ending: nice → nicely.
- -ful and -fully: the adjective has one l (careful), the adverb has two (carefully).
- i before e after most letters (believe, friend, piece) but e before i after c (receive, ceiling).
He studied carefully, believed in himself and received the best mark.
U sinchkovlik bilan oʻqidi, oʻziga ishondi va eng yaxshi bahoni oldi.
4. The twenty words learners misspell most
| ✓ Correct | ✗ Common error | ✓ Correct | ✗ Common error |
|---|---|---|---|
| because | becouse | beautiful | beatiful |
| necessary | neccessary | definitely | definately |
| receive | recieve | believe | beleive |
| tomorrow | tommorow | which | wich |
| friend | freind | government | goverment |
| business | bussiness | restaurant | restourant |
| interesting | intresting | different | diffrent |
| a lot | alot | usually | usualy |
| writing | writting | foreign | foriegn |
| surprise | suprise | Wednesday | Wenesday |
5. British or American?
| British | American |
|---|---|
| colour, favourite, neighbour | color, favorite, neighbor |
| centre, theatre, metre | center, theater, meter |
| organise, realise | organize, realize |
| travelled, cancelled | traveled, canceled |
| practise (verb) | practice (both) |
6. Common mistakes
i study english on mondays.
I study English on Mondays.
In Summer we go to the village.
In summer we go to the village. (seasons are lower case)
She is an Uzbek and speaks uzbek and Russian.
She is Uzbek and speaks Uzbek and Russian.
I have alot of homework.
I have a lot of homework. (two words)
He is writting a letter.
He is writing a letter. (drop the e, don't double the t)
Practice
1 Add capitals: next tuesday i have a maths test and an english test.
Show answer
Next Tuesday I have a maths test and an English test.
Maths stays lower case, but English is a language — capital.
2 Spell correctly: becouse · beatiful · definately · recieve
Show answer
because · beautiful · definitely · receive.
Receive follows the "e before i after c" rule.
3 Add the ending: stop + ing · study + ed · make + ing · care + fully
Show answer
stopping · studied · making · carefully.
Double, y → i, drop the e, and two l's in the adverb.
4 Which is British? colour / color · center / centre
Show answer
colour and centre are British; color and center are American. Both are correct — just be consistent.
5 Correct it: my Mother speaks three Languages and loves History.
Show answer
My mother speaks three languages and loves history.
Only the first word takes a capital — mother, languages and history are ordinary nouns.
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Capital letterbosh harf
- Lower casekichik harf
- Spellingimlo
- Nationalitymillat
- Title (Mr, Dr)murojaat shakli
- Seasonfasl
- Consistentizchil
- To misspellxato yozmoq
- To celebratenishonlamoq
- Foreignchet, xorijiy
🎯 Remember this
- I is always a capital letter, anywhere in a sentence.
- Capitals for nationalities, languages, days, months — unlike Uzbek.
- No capitals for seasons, school subjects (except languages), or directions.
- Spelling: double the consonant · y → i · drop the silent e · -fully has two l's.
- British or American — either is fine, but be consistent.