| Capitalization Rules for English & Indonesian | |||
| by TruAlfa & Indodic.com | |||
| English Examples | Capitalization Rules the Same for Both Languages | Indonesian Examples (Contoh) | |
| Life is good. Aren't words fun? | Initial letter of first word in sentence | Aku cinta rupiah. | |
| God, Islam, Buddha, Jehovah | Initial letter of a religion, religious figure and religious objects | Tuhan, Al Quran, Islam, Yang Maha Esa; Hindu | |
| Sir Henry, Lord Nelson; Your Highness | Initial letter of title of respect when used with name | Haji Abdul Kadir, Pangeran Diponegoro, Iman Hanafi | |
| President Clinton, Speaker of the Senate | Initial letter of title when followed by name of person | President Soekarno, Gubernor Iman Utomo | |
| Joe, Bill, Sue, Nancy, IndoDic, TruAlfa | Initial letters of proper names | Gramedia, Insanuddin, Indodic, | |
| London, Germany, Spanish, Negro, Hispanic | Initial letters of names of places, languages, ethnic groups | Inggris, bahasa Indonesia, Batak, suku Jawa | |
| Monday, July, Halloween, Labor Day | Initial letter of days of week, months, holidays & historical events | Senin, Juli, Idul Fitri, Hari Lebaran, Hari raya | |
| Mount Vesuvius, Niagara Falls, Ayers Rock | Initial letters of geographic places when used with name itself | Gunung Merapi, Selat Malaka, Danau Toba | |
| Dr., Mr., Sr. | Initial letters of titles abbreviated | Dept. Pendidikan; Dr., Ir.,Prof. | |
| Mother Teresa | Initial letters of personal pronouns when used in respectful way | Pak Beng, Ibu/Bu, Paman, Saudara | |
| Dear Sir:, Sincerely Yours; Best Regards; | Salutations and closings of letters | Saudara | |
| TEFL, UN, APEC, NASA | Acronyms usually | ABRI, TNI, BUMN, PBB, KKN, ASEAN | |
| English-Only Rules | Indonesian-Only Rules | ||
| Personal pronoun "I" always capitalized | 1st letter of 1st word in direct quote in quotation marks | ||
| Personal pronoun "Anda" always capitalized | |||
| English Examples- Not Capitalized | Rules - When to Not Capitalize | Indonesian Examples Not Capitalized | |
| to, from, for, the, a, an, the | 1. certain short words in titles that aren't in first position | di, ke, dan, yang, untuk | |
| french fries, polish sausage | 2. names aren't capitalized when used in descriptive names | gula jawa, pisang ambon, bawang bombai | |
| 3. Capital letter not used for names that have prefixes added | mengindonesiakan | ||