Capitalising the names of places and geographic features

key notes :

Capitalise the names of cities, nations, countries and continents.

London Scotland Spain Africa

Capitalise the names of places built by people, including buildings, bridges and monuments.

Linden High School Clifton Suspension Bridge

Capitalise the names of bodies of water and other geographical features, such as mountains, deserts, forests and beaches.

Nile River Gobi Desert

Learn with an example

🥏Which sentence is correct?

  • My older brother is a zookeeper at Chester Zoo.
  • My older brother is a zookeeper at chester zoo.

The first sentence is correct. Chester Zoo is capitalised because it is the name of a place built by people.

My older brother is a zookeeper at Chester Zoo.

🥏Which sentence is correct?

  • The continent of Africa is much larger than it looks on most maps.
  • The continent of africa is much larger than it looks on most maps.

The first sentence is correct. Africa is capitalised because it is the name of a continent.

The continent of Africa is much larger than it looks on most maps.

🥏Which sentence is correct?

  • My mother used to teach at colby primary school.
  • My mother used to teach at Colby Primary School.

The second sentence is correct. Colby Primary School is capitalised because it is the name of a place built by people.

My mother used to teach at Colby Primary School.

let’s practice!