nouns - Correct Usage of Capital Letters


Suppose there is a Department of English (note: the name is not English Department) at Abc University. I want to know the correct use of capital letters in these sentences:




  1. The Department of English at Abc University is really old.

  2. The English Department of Abc University is really old.

  3. The English department of Abc University is really old.



I know 1. is correct, but I am not sure about 2 and 3. I am also confused about the appropriateness of the usage of of in 2 and 3.


Any help is appreciated.



Answer



Names should be capitalized, so if you refer to the department by its “official” name, The Department of English, you should capitalize the first word and all subsequent “non-connecting” words (so not and, or, of, in, etc).


However, if you’re just describing the department, in your case, The English department, you should capitalize only the names, so English, Abc, etc.


To answer you question, I believe (1) and (3) are good.


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