The GrammarPhile Blog

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North, East, South or West - Capitalize or Not?

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When proofreading or editing documents, we often find that writers are confused about when to capitalize these terms. Here are some rules to follow.

Capitalize north, south, east, west, and derivative words when they designate definite regions or are an integral part of a proper name.

• in the North
• down South
• the West Coast
• the Eastern Seaboard
• the Deep South

Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location.

• Many waterskiers have relocated from the Northeast to the South.
• BUT: We maintain a slalom course in the south of France.
• OR: Go north on I-95 and then west on Route 110.

Capitalize such words as Northerner, Southerner, and Midwesterner.

Capitalize such words as northern, southern, eastern, and western when they refer to the people in a region or to their political, social, or cultural activities. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region.

• Eastern bankers, but the eastern half of Colorado
• Southern hospitality, but southern temperatures
• Western civilization, but westerly winds
• the Northern vote, but a northern winter
• The Northern states did not vote as they were expected. (Political activities.)
• The drought has ended in the northern states. (Climate.)
• My sales territory takes in most of the southeastern states. (General location.)
• She was Southeastern Champion twice in a row.

NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them.

• The Western Region (referring to a part of the national sales staff) reports that sales are 12 percent over budget for the first six months.

When words like northern, southern, eastern, and western precede a place name, they are not ordinarily capitalized, because they merely indicate general location within a region. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized.

• northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts
• Northern Ireland, Western Australia

NOTE: Within certain regions it is not uncommon for many who live there to capitalize the adjective because of the special importance they attach to the regional designation. Thus people who live in southern California may prefer to write Southern California.

Source: The Gregg Reference Manual

Principal or Principle?

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When proofreading and editing our customers' business documents, we constantly come across the misuse of the words principal and principle.

Many use the phrase "the principal is my pal" to help them remember the difference between the -pal word and the -ple word. This mnemonic works when referring to principal used as a noun meaning "the chief person." It doesn't work for the principal use of principal, which is as an adjective, meaning main, chief, most important. A better rule is to remember that of the two forms, only principal can function as an adjective. Remember the 'a' in principal stands for adjective.

Principle can never be an adjective. It is a noun only, referring to a fundamental law or concept or to a code of conduct, often used in the plural, as in "moral principles."

Here are some examples of the correct usage of principal and principle:

• The principal sum of money on which one draws interest is the principal.
• The principal person in a school is the principal.
• David is a man of principle.
• In this experiment, the principle being applied is conservation of mass.

Once we grasp the principle that principle can never be an adjective, we are less likely to confuse these words!