Stora bokstäver

The rules of usage of capital letters differs between different languages. This film focuses on the rules that apply for Swedish. Since language change over time and depends on the users there are also many exceptions. You might notice some "rule breaking" in the examples used in the film. Feel free to pose questions and I will explain more! Capitalisation has been used since at least The Middle Ages to mark the start of a new sentence or to mark a word in the text as special. In German ALL nouns are written written with an initial capital letter, whilst in Swedish and most other languages start common nouns with a lower case letter and save the capital, that in Swedish is also called "versal", for proper nouns, that is nouns that are names of people or pets (to which robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers possibly counts!) and brand names and titles of films, books or works of art. Generally in the Swedish language sentences always start with a capital letter UNLESS they start by a short form of a unit of measurement or a name that has a particle like of, bin or von. "McDuck Tower overlooked the whole of Duckburg." "mm is a practical abbreviation." Nationality words often pose a problem for Swedes as the rules differ from the English language. Countries' names starts with a capital, but other nationality words don't. You write Sverige but svensk and svenska, while you in English would write Sweden, Swede and Swedish. But if you speak of a school subject you use a capital to differentiate the word from the generic. "Many in the world speak English, and therefor all children in Sweden start English already in Primary" is in Swedish "Många i världen talar engelska och därför börjar alla barn i Sverige läsa Engelska redan på lågstadiet." Words that show affiliation or where you are from is also written using lower case letters. "stockholmare, italienare, socialdemokrat, black lives matter-sympatisör - Stockhomian, Italian, Social Democrat, Black Lives Matter sympathiser". Here there is a difference between the rules of Swedish language and those of English. But the place you are from or the organisation you belong is started with a capital letter. "Stockholm, Italien, Socialdemokraterna, Black lives matter" In English the days of the week, holidays and months are always started with a capital letter, while in Swedish ALWAYS a lower case letter, unless it is the initial word in a sentence. "23e juni 2021 - June 23rd 2021" "Jag älskar midsommarafton! - I love Midsummer Eve!" "I år infaller julafton på en tisdag andra veckan i december. - This year Christmas Eve falls om a Tuesday the second week of December." You don't capitalise professional titles i Swedish, while you in many other European languages are particular about highlighting titles out of respect for the person holding it. "Där professor Eriksson satt ville alla sitta. - Where Professor Eriksson sits, everyone likes to sit." "Jag träffade en greve när jag var hos doktor Berander. - I met a Count when I was at Doctor Berander's" Brand names are spelled with a capital letter, also when used in a compound, unless they are so well known that they have become generic, like "bankomat" (cashpoint) or "falukorv" (Falu sausage). Today we don't think of these as brands. This is the same in English and Swedes don't even think about that hoover, band-aid or zipper once were brands. "Jag köpte en Lux-tvål till mormor. - I bought Granny a Luxus soap" "Vi åker till McDonalds på lunchen. Let's go to McDonalds' at lunch break." In English you capitalise all important words in a title, but in Swedish it is only the initial word that is capitalised. The exception is if the title contains a proper noun. Names are always capitalised! Today it is common to keep the English title, but in a Swedish context you only capitalise the first word, although the original title might have an initial capital letter in each word. "I'm Not Ok With This = I’m not ok with this" "13 Reasons Why = 13 reasons why" "How I Met Your Mother" = How I met your mother" The rule is that only the initial letter is capitalised in compound names like Lunds universitet eller Döda fallen, Vinbergs kyrkby, Borrås skåra och Tjolöholms slott. Just as in titles the exception is that this rule doesn't apply if there is a proper noun in the compound. "Högskolan i Halmstad, Lilla Delsjön, Övre Ljungby, Astrid Lindgrens Näs". Most names have historically had another meaning and the capital letter has been away to differentiate a rock from Rock or marking June the person from the month. But the capital is also a sign of respect or self-worth. Sweden had until the 19th century an "I" too, that for grammatical reasons then turned into "ni" (you) and "vi" (we). In English it still exists and just as you always should write your own and other people's names with an initial capital letter, you should also always use a capital I in English! Show that you are proud of yourself!