Quick Reference
Default: Sentence case
Capitalise only:
- First letter of the first word
- Proper nouns (names, brands, trademarks)
- Formal titles preceding names
Title case: Page/tab titles, H1 & H2 headings only
Capitalise
- Main words (4+ letters)
- First and last words
- Proper nouns
Don't capitalise (unless first/last)
- Articles, prepositions, conjunctions (3 or fewer letters)
What to avoid:
- All caps (except country names in addresses)
- Subjective capitalisation based on "importance"
- lowerCamelCase in user-facing text
- Random capitalisation
Sentence Case
Use sentence case for all UI text elements by capitalising the first letter of the first word and proper nouns only.
When to use
- All UI labels and instructions
- Button text
- Form fields
- Navigation items (except page/tab titles)
- H3, H4, H5, H6 headings
- Body text
- Lists
- Table content
Examples
- Energy consumption on the rise
- Save changes
- Enter your email address
- Carbon footprint data
- Energy Consumption On The Rise
- Save Changes
- Enter Your Email Address
- Carbon Footprint Data
Title Case (Limited Use)
Use title case only for page titles, tab titles, and H1 & H2 headings.
Rules
Capitalise
- First and last words (always)
- Main words with 4 or more letters
- Proper nouns (always)
- Major verbs (regardless of length)
Don't capitalise (unless first/last)
- Articles: a, an, the
- Prepositions of 3 or fewer letters: at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up
- Conjunctions of 3 or fewer letters: and, but, or, nor, yet, so
Examples
|
Type |
Example |
|---|---|
|
Page title |
Energy Consumption in Belgium: 2014–2024 |
|
H1 |
Getting Started with the Nova Design System |
|
H2 |
How to Write Effective Microcopy for Modern Apps |
|
H3 (sentence case) |
Energy consumption on the rise due to AI popularity |
Comparison
|
Sentence case (H3, body, UI) |
Title case (Page, H1, H2) |
|---|---|
|
Carbon footprint |
Average German's Carbon Footprint in 2022 Has Gone Up |
|
New project overview |
Creating Your First Project in the Nova Platform |
|
Save and continue |
Save Your Work and Continue to the Next Step |
Proper Nouns & Trademarks
Always capitalise proper nouns and trademarked names as they officially appear.
Examples
- SolarEdge is a leading provider of solar inverters.
- The update will be released on all Android devices.
- Elia Group operates across Belgium and Germany.
- Sign in with your Microsoft account.
Respecting trademark styling
Some brands intentionally use non-standard capitalisation. Respect their official styling, even when it breaks grammar rules.
Examples
- iPhone, iPad, eBay (lowercase initial, uppercase second letter)
- macOS, iOS (lowercase initial in specific contexts)
- LinkedIn, YouTube (internal capitals)
When in doubt
- Check the brand's official website
- Use the capitalisation shown in their logo or official communications
- Be consistent throughout your content
Titles & Professions
How you capitalise job titles depends on whether they're used formally or generically.
Formal titles (capitalise)
Capitalise titles when they directly precede a person's name as part of a formal reference.
Examples:
- Chief Engineer John Smith will manage the project.
- Contact Director Sarah Johnson for approval.
- Professor Marie Curie revolutionised physics.
Generic usage (don't capitalise)
Don't capitalise titles used generically, descriptively, or following a name.
Examples:
- John Smith, the department's chief engineer, will manage the project.
- Sarah Johnson is the director of operations.
- We're hiring a new project manager.
- The engineers are working to solve the issue.
Comparison
|
Formal (capitalise) |
Generic (don't capitalise) |
|---|---|
|
Chief Engineer John Smith |
John Smith, our chief engineer |
|
President Maria Garcia |
Maria Garcia is the president |
|
Team Lead Anna Weber |
Anna Weber leads the team |
What to Avoid
All caps
Don't use all caps in UI text. It's difficult to read and often perceived as shouting.
Examples
- Please review your submission
- Important notice
- BELGIUM (in address only)
- PLEASE REVIEW YOUR SUBMISSION
- IMPORTANT NOTICE
- WARNING: SYSTEM ERROR
Subjective capitalisation
Don't capitalise words based on perceived importance, emphasis, or "specialness." Use bold or other formatting for emphasis instead.
Examples
- This feature is important for security.
- This feature is important for security.
- This feature is Important for Security.
- This Feature is important for security.
CamelCase in UI text
Avoid CamelCase in user-facing content. Use spaces and proper sentence or title case instead.
Examples
- Real-time data (hyphenated compound)
- Project status
- RealTimeData (technical tag/label only)
- realTimeData (lowerCamelCase in UI)
- Real Time Data (no connection between words)
- project_status (underscores in UI)
Common Mistakes
- Click The Button Below (random title case)
- save changes (missing initial capital)
- The System is Processing your Request (random capitals)
- E-Mail Address (unnecessary hyphen capital)
- Click the button below (sentence case)
- Save changes (sentence case)
- The system is processing your request (sentence case)
- Email address (sentence case, no hyphen)