Chicago Style Title Case Converter
Chicago style title case is the headline-style capitalization in The Chicago Manual of Style. The 18th edition (2024) capitalizes major words and prepositions of five or more letters, and lowercases articles, shorter prepositions, and the conjunctions and, but, for, or, and nor. This converter applies those rules to each line you type.
Chicago Style Title Case Converter examples
| Case | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Four-letter preposition | the man with the golden gun | The Man with the Golden Gun |
| Five-letter preposition | much ado about nothing | Much Ado About Nothing |
| Subordinating conjunction | what dreams may come if we wait | What Dreams May Come If We Wait |
| "That" | tell me that you mean it | Tell Me That You Mean It |
| Colon | the road to: a study | The Road To: A Study |
| Acronym, brand, and apostrophe | NASA's plan for the iPhone era | NASA's Plan for the iPhone Era |
| Hyphenated compounds | anti-inflammatory diets for the mother-in-law | Anti-Inflammatory Diets for the Mother-in-Law |
| Title typed in all caps | THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG | The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog |
Chicago Style Title Case Converter rules
The rules, sources, known limits, and test cases behind this converter are on Title Case Rules by Style Guide.
- Capitalize the first and last words of the title and of a subtitle, and the first word after a colon (CMOS 18, 8.160).
- Capitalize nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions other than and, but, for, or, nor, and as, so If, That, Yet, and So are capitalized.
- Lowercase the articles a, an, and the, and the coordinating conjunctions and, but, for, or, and nor (8.160).
- Lowercase prepositions of four letters or fewer (at, by, from, in, into, of, on, over, to, upon, with) and capitalize prepositions of five or more letters (About, Between, According). This is new in the 18th edition; the 17th lowercased prepositions of any length.
- Lowercase "as" in any function and "to", including in infinitives (How to Win Friends).
- In hyphenated compounds, capitalize the first element and later elements unless they are articles, short prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions (Anti-Inflammatory, Mother-in-Law; 8.162).
- Acronyms and names with inner capitals (NASA, iPhone) keep their capitals, and a title typed in all caps is converted as if it were lowercase.
- Chicago lowercases a preposition only when it works as one. The converter cannot tell, so short words in its list (over, up) are always lowercased, and words that are usually other parts of speech in titles (down, like, near, out, past, than) are always capitalized.
Words kept lowercase (29)
aantheandbutfornororasamidatatopbyfrominintoofoffonontooverpertilltountoupuponviawith
How Chicago style differs from AP style
Chicago lowercases prepositions of four letters or fewer, so it writes "The Man with the Golden Gun" where AP writes "The Man With the Golden Gun". Among conjunctions, Chicago lowercases only and, but, for, or, and nor, plus "as" in any use, so it capitalizes If, So, and Yet, which AP lowercases. In a two-part compound, Chicago lowercases a short word after the hyphen (All-in) where AP capitalizes both parts (All-In). Try the same text in the AP Style Title Case Converter.
Full comparison with examples: AP vs Chicago Title Case: How the Rules Differ
Spotted a wrong capitalization?
How to use
Type or paste a title, or several titles on separate lines.
Press Chicago Style Title Case to convert the text in place; pasted text converts at once. Open Compare styles to see it in AP, Chicago, APA, and MLA, or Explain each word for the rule behind each capital.
Check prepositions that work as adverbs, such as "over" or "up", then copy the result.
When to use Chicago Style Title Case Converter
Book authors and editors
Book, chapter, and section titles in manuscripts that follow CMOS.
Historians and humanities students
Titles in papers and notes-bibliography citations written in Chicago style.
Publishers and magazine editors
Article titles and headings in publications whose house style is Chicago.
FAQ
Prepositions of five or more letters are now capitalized ("Much Ado About Nothing", "The Gospel According to Matthew"). The 17th edition lowercased prepositions of any length.
No. "From" has four letters, and Chicago lowercases prepositions of four letters or fewer unless they are the first or last word.
Yes. Among conjunctions, Chicago lowercases only and, but, for, or, and nor, plus "as" in any use, so "that" is capitalized.
No. "To" is lowercase, including in infinitives such as "How to Win Friends", unless it is the first or last word.
The first element is capitalized, and later elements are too unless they are articles, short prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions: "Anti-Inflammatory", "Mother-in-Law".
The conversion runs in your browser, so your text is not uploaded to a server to be converted.