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Writing Prompt

Writing Prompt ~ The Word “English”

Writing Prompt: The word English is always capitalized, even when it is used as an adjective to describe a person, thing, nationality or country. In English, languages, nations and nationalities are always capitalized. Not using a capital E in the word English (or when referring to other languages in English) makes your writing seem careless. Demonstrate your understanding of this important rule of English capitalization by writing a short paragraph using the word English as many times as you can. Try to use other language words and nationalities in your paragraph, too.


I am an English language teacher. I have a pet peeve that relates to my English language students. It doesn’t matter if they are Spanish, Korean, or French, they often forget to use capital letters in their writing. This is especially true when they write the word English. I don’t know if forget is the right word. I think that these English learners may not realize how important this rule is in English. Or, maybe they think that if they use English as an adjective, it should not be capitalized. This isn’t true. English is always capitalized. It’s a simple rule. Some teachers like the term “proper adjective”. They teach their students that an adjective that is derived from a proper noun (e.g., Hawaiian dancing, Shakespearean plays) is a proper adjective and should also be capitalized. I did not learn that in English class when I was a student, but maybe it’s a good way to think of it. Maybe I should have my English learners write this sentence out 100 times in English: The word English is always capitalized.

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