Capitalization
MLA Style uses title-style capitalization, meaning the first word, last word, and all principle words are capitalized.
For example you should always capitalize:
- Nouns
- pronouns
- verbs
- adjectives
- adverbs
- subordinating conjunctions (e.g. after, because, if, that, until, where, etc)
Do NOT capitalize:
- prepositions (eg. against, as, between, in, of according to)
- coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or ,so, yet)
- the to in infinitives (How to Play Chess)
- articles (a, an, the)
For more information see the MLA Style Guide on Capitalization (2.90-2.98).
Abbreviations
Abbreviations are used in works cited and in parenthetical citations but rarely in prose. When using abbreviations in prose only use accepted forms.
For more information on common abbreviations and abbreviation punctuation see Appendix 1 in the MLA Style guide (pp. 293-301).