Capitalization
Capitalized nouns are often a marker of formality. Using capitalization can help clarify that you’re speaking about a specific, official thing (such as a form, office or person). Overuse can cause users stress by implying formality or officialness where it doesn’t exist.
- Do capitalize proper nouns, including names of individuals, places, and agencies
- Use sentence case capitalization for headlines and subheads, which means the first word in the phrase is capitalized but not the rest, unless they are proper nouns.
- Do not use all-caps for emphasis.
Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it’s a proper noun or the phrase following is a complete sentence.
Example:
MnDOT supports several modes of transportation: car, rail, air and bicycle, among others.
Avoid capitalizing phrases simply because they are followed by initials. For instance, total maximum daily load (TMDL) doesn’t need capital letters.
Department
Only capitalize as part of the full name, not in other references. Minnesota Department of Transportation, but the department is headquartered in St. Paul. If length is a concern, “Dept.” is permissible.
Districts
Capitalize names of MnDOT districts, e.g., District 6, Metro District, Central Office.
Program names
Capitalize the names of MnDOT programs, e.g., State Aid for Local Transportation.
Titles of reports or documents
Reports written by MnDOT or referred to on our website or in communications should be rendered in sentence case without quotation marks.
Example:
Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Nicollet transit development study
Minnesota regions
Capitalize established region names.
Examples:
- Greater Minnesota
- the Arrowhead
- the Iron Range
Don’t capitalize directional names.
Examples:
- southwest Minnesota
- central Minnesota
Race and nationality
Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, peoples, races, tribes, etc. . When possible, be precise and use the name of the tribe." The Office of Tribal Affairs can offer guidance.
Examples:
- Arab, Ojibwe, Jewish, German, Indigenous
- Per AP style, capitalize Black when referring to race, but do not capitalize white
Contrary to AP style, we capitalize “Tribal” when mentioning Minnesota’s Tribal communities.
Example:
Minnesota’s 11 Tribal communities
Government
City
Capitalize “city” only when it refers to a city’s government, but not when referring to the place.
Examples:
- The City of Duluth was fined for stormwater violations.
- Duluth is a historic city.
Legislature/legislative
Capitalize when referring to the Minnesota governing body, but don’t capitalize the adjective.
Governor’s office
Capitalize full formal name, but don’t capitalize when referring to the “governor’s office.”
Example:
Office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
Capitol
Capitalized when it refers to the state or federal Capitol buildings.
Lists
Capitalize the first word of each item in a bulleted list. Don’t use punctuation at the end, unless it’s a complete sentence.
Example:
MnDOT employees can watch a holiday movie about several types of transportation, including:
- Planes
- Trains
- Automobiles
Example:
The following guidelines will help you communicate more clearly:
- Proofread anything you write before you publish it.
- Avoid jargon unless you are sure your audience will be familiar with the phrases.
- Make your text as concise as possible.
Headings
MnDOT uses sentence case capitalization for headlines and subheads, which means the first word in the phrase is capitalized but not the rest, unless they are proper nouns.
Titles
For book, lecture and other composition titles, capitalize the principal words and enclose the title in quotation marks.
Boards and committee names are not capitalized.
Examples:
- MnDOT’s equity committee is meeting today.
- She served on the MnDOT’s citizen review board.
Job titles
Capitalize titles that appear before names. Lowercase titles that appear after names.
Examples:
- Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger
- Nancy Daubenberger, commissioner