What word do you read without

A. Fill in the missing word. There are three words you do not need to use.

designing, artistic, still, portray, starring, stunts, spray, private, set, miniature, plots, remain

1. … pieces of art are called micro sculptures.

2. You can’t imagine adventure films and blockbusters without any … .

3. Some people choose to … anonymous because they are afraid of being in the spotlight.

4. The film is … in medieval times.

5. While the photographer was taking our picture we stayed perfectly … .

6. Crime novels always have interesting and mysterious … .

7. What do his paintings … ?

8. … creativity is an essential part of life of humans.

9. That house is his … property.

B. Choose the correct answer.

10. Tim … see a science fiction film than a comedy.

a) would sooner b) would prefer c) sooner

11. We … go to a classical music concert than go to a rock concert.

a) would prefer b) would to c) would rather

12. Jane … to take photography classes than learn how to paint.

a) would b) would prefer c) would rather

13. Olga … going to the cinema on a weekday, when it’s not so crowded.

a) prefers b) would rather c) prefer

C. Complete the sentences with verbs formed using the prefixes re-, dis-, mis-, under- , over-.

14.My parents usually ….. about which film to go and see. (agree)

15.They ….. us in the restaurant but they gave us some money back.(charge)

16.The foreigners are difficult to understand because they ….. many Russian words.(pronounce)

17.You should ….. your composition because you made many mistakes. (write)

18.We were sorry to realize that we ….. in the shop. (pay)

D. Fill in the gaps with the correct preposition.

19.Pushkin is one of the best poet ….. all time.

20.He is popular ….. fans of art cinema.

21.This director is famous ….. his comedies.

22.Who stars ….. Pirates of the Caribbean?

23.The paintings add value ….. the house.

E. Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

WEEKEND ARTS REVIEW: FILMS

A The Class

The Class is about a young teacher who works at a school in a poor area of Paris and his difficult students. The story was originally a book written by Frangois Begaudeau. The film tells the sad story of how a teacher tries to teach his class of teenage students but fails, because the students don’t respect education or teachers, and because they have no desire to learn. Everyone who stars in the film (including Begaudeau, who plays himself) is a non-professional. People expect The Class to be boring because the teacher-student theme has appeared in films many times before, but it isn’t. It is an absolutely brilliant film and no one should miss it.

B Slumdog Millionaire

Director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal, a poor boy in India, who goes on the TV show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’. The story was originally a prize-winning novel by Indian author Vikas Swarup. Jamal wins the TV show. But before he does, they take him to a police station because the police think that he is cheating. While the police ask Jamal questions, we see events from Jamal’s life which explain why he knows the answers.

At one point, the creators of Slumdog Millionaire had decided not to show it in film theatres, and just make it into a DVD. Luckily, they changed their minds, because this film is now an international hit!

C American Teen

American Teen is a documentary film by director Nanette Burstein. Burnstein filmed the lives of five teenagers, who go to a school in Indiana, USA. She followed the students filming their everyday lives for a year, because she wanted to show what it is like to be a teenager in America today.

American Teen is an enjoyable documentary, but sometimes it doesn’t feel true to life. In fact, some film critics think that Burstein gave the teens lines to learn. But in interviews, the teenagers have always said that the film is 100% real-life and no one is acting.

Whether real-life or not, American Teen is an entertaining look at young people today.

Which film (A, B, or C) …

24. was not going to play in cinemas at first?

25. does not seem realistic to some people?

26. is interesting even though the plot is not original?

27. is extremely popular all over the world?

28. is about someone trying but not succeeding?

29. was first a very successful book?

30. is about daily life experiences?

Very few people (writers) know which words to or not to capitalize in a title or section headings. Usually, people just write the full title in caps or capitalize words which have three or more letters.

Post on social media and blogs usually get away with such mistakes, after all, who has time to police people on platforms where everyone just wants to have fun?

But as a professional writer or somebody writing academic papers, your knowledge and application of capitalization rules is of the essence. There are a lot of styles that have their title capitalization rules, and I recommend you know one style at the least (one applicable to your writing).

There is no mystery attached to these rules; they are simple and frequently used by most professional writers (you might even have used some of them unknowingly). 

Among the many areas that I have covered, I have introduced the major title capitalization styles to help you understand the basics. So, there’s no need for any crystal balls; no more wandering around the world wide web, searching for the perfect title capitalization formula.

Why Do We Not Capitalize Every Word in A Heading?

There are a couple of reasons—three, actually—why we don’t capitalize each and every word in a title or heading.

Capitalizing every word makes the text less legible and readable. We actually capitalize words to indicate emphasis and provide clarity, so if we capitalize each and every word regardless of their importance or the intended message, we’re flinging this clarity.

You could decide to switch to all caps if you have that liberty. As a matter of fact, a lot of writers have done it this way, but capitalizing each and every word only makes the text have a rough tone and appear obnoxious.

We usually use all-caps to indicate shouting or a bossy tone, so it would be appropriate when that’s the intention. Otherwise, it isn’t a good way to capitalize your titles.

How Do You Know What to Capitalize and What Not to?

If you are just writing your titles without following any rule, then it all boils down to preference—does the word feel that important for you to capitalize or not? Perhaps you just like to write your entire title in capital letters?

But as I have iterated already, there are capitalization rules which people use depending on preference or requirement. Some writers prefer the NY Times style because they’re journos or the APA style because they are writing an academic research paper and are required to use it.

Word processors usually have most of these rules programmed into them and all you have to do is indicate that a particular sentence is a title, the word processor identifies the words that you should and should not capitalize.

Examples of Correct Title Capitalization

To show you how correctly written titles look like—using generally accepted rules—I have listed a couple of examples.

They might be titles for books, poems, news articles, headings of a passage in a book or newspaper, etc.

The Seventh Sea: A Perilous Journey by the World’s Greatest Pirates.

When Curiosity Failed to Kill the Cat.

If you’re the title inside a paragraph or sentence, these are correct ways to write them:

Best of Dana was a famous book by Gina Lewinski.

“The Truth Behind the Helsinki Murders” is the only horror story in her collection.

He loves sitcoms and his favorite is Two and a Half Men.

There are a lot of different correct ways to capitalize, and I couldn’t fit all of them in this post but as long as you are following rules appropriate for the type of text that you’re writing, you’re good.

List of Words Not Capitalized in Titles

Although we have different capitalization styles, there are words which are generally capitalized and others not generally capitalize in titles.

The words in this bracket include:

• Articles (a, an, the)
• Short words (fewer than 4 letters)
• Prepositions (at, by, to, etc.)
• Coordinating Conjunctions (and, but, for)

Here’s the full list:

And, as, as if, as long as, at, but, by, even if, for, from, if, if only, in, into, like, near, now that, nor, of, off, on, on top of, once, onto, or, out of, over, past, so, so that, than, that, till, to, up, upon, with, when, yet.

Why Are Capitalization Rules Important?

For professional writers, reputation is—to a great extent—contingent on producing tidy work which conforms to generally accepted linguistic rules.

There are different styles of title capitalization rules for different genres, agencies, and associations. For example, if you are editing a page on Wikipedia, there are rules you must follow for your page to be legible.

Capitalization rules indicate tidiness, legibility, and professionalism.  Therefore, in many scenarios, they are usually one of the things that stand between you and success as a writer.

Different Styles of Title Capitalization Rules

There are four main title capitalization styles, namely Chicago style, APA style, MLA style, and AP style. I have also added NY times and Wikipedia styles in case one of my readers is a journo or edits Wikipedia pages.

It must also be noted that the title case capitalization or sentence case capitalization rules in each of these capitalization styles fractionally differ.

Here are the title capitalization rules classified by style.

Chicago Manual of Style Capitalization Rules

The Chicago Style is one of the most employed and venerated headline capitalization styles in journalism.

These are the title case rules according to this style:

• Capitalize the first and the last word.
• Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions.
• Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
• Lowercase the ‘to’ in an infinitive (I want to play guitar).

MLA Style Capitalization Rules

The MLA style requires that you capitalize:

• The first word of the title or subtitle.
• All major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns).
• The second part of hyphenated words (e.g., Self-Doubt)
• All words of four letters or more.

APA Style Capitalization Rules

Capitalization of APA style titles follows these rules:

• The first word of the title or subtitle should be capitalized.
• All nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns should be capitalized.
• Both parts of major hyphenated words (e.g., Self-Doubt).
• Words with four letters or more should be capitalized.

AP Style Capitalization Rules

This is a style used by writers for the Associated Press. However, AP style capitalization rules are also employed by many other journalists.

The rules demand that you capitalize words with three or more letters, the first and last words, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions should be lowercase.

Wikipedia Style Capitalization Rules

The following are the title capitalization rules that Wikipedia editors must follow:

• All major words should be capitalized.
• The first and last words should be capitalized.
• Capitalize subordinate conjunctions.
• Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions should be lowercase.
• The word “to” in an infinitive (e.g., I Want to Leave) should be lowercase.

NY Times Style Capitalization Rules

The capitalization for the NY Times style—which is, for the most part, used by writers for the NY Times—requires that you capitalize major words (e.g., nouns, pronouns, verbs), the first and last words, and subordinate conjunctions. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions should be lowercase.

Style Guide Differences and Exceptions Between the Major 3 Styles of Title Capitalization

Although the styles have a lot of similarities, they also have their differences, and it’s crucial to pay attention to these differences.

AP Stylebook

When you use the AP Stylebook, you’re supposed to use lowercase for all words with three letters or fewer in a title. But, if any of those short words happen to be verbs (like “is,” “are,” “was,” “be”), you should capitalize them.

Chicago Style

The Chicago style requires that you use lowercase for all prepositions except when they are the first or last word of the title. The length doesn’t matter in the case of prepositions and you have to use lowercase for words as lengthy as “between,” “throughout,” and other prepositions. 

MLA Style

MLA style has its own exception; words with three letters or fewer should always be in lowercase except when they are the first or last word of the title.

Write Your Titles the Write Way

There’s no need for you to memorize all the different capitalization styles, but you at least need to be aware of the generally accepted rules.

If it’s not compulsory for you to follow a particular style of capitalization, use the general rules provided by an established writer in your genre and make sure that you are consistent with your chosen style.

With consistency, everything becomes easier.

9. 1 What word is being defined?

(The first letter has been given to you.

) 1 Give an answer without knowing the facts g.

2 Eat less in order to lose weight d.

3 Wait in a line of people q.

4 Kill someone m.

5 Telephone r.

6 Press your lips against another person’s lips k.

7 Have a casual conversation c.

8 Images in your mind when you are sleeping d.

9. 2 Rewrite these sentences using the underlined nouns as verbs.

Change or add words if necessary.

Example There was a lot of rain yesterday.

It rained a lot yesterday.

1 We had a long wait.

We . 2 This apple has got a strange taste.

This .

3 We waited in the queue for half an hour.

We . 4 The cost of the holiday was about £500.

The .

5 I wrote a reply to his letter yesterday.

I . 6 She gave me a smile this morning.

She .

9. 3 Rewrite these sentences using the underlined verbs as nouns.

The meaning must stay the same.

Example They want to rest for a bit They want to have a rest for a bit.

1 I’ll ring him this evening.

I’ll .

2 I’ll diet if necessary.

I’ll .

3 If you don’t know, just guess.

If you don’t know, just .

4 I braked but I still couldn’t stop in time.

I . 5 I dreamt about my mother.

I . 6 Did you look in the paper?

Did you ?

9. 4 Sometimes the same word can be a verb and noun but the meaning changes.

Read these pairs of sentences.

Do the verb and noun have a similar meaning, or are they different in meaning?

1a We had a long wait for the bus.

B If we wait any longer, we may miss the train.

2a I gave him the book.

B Did you book the table in the restaurant?

3a They take a break after an hour’s work.

B Did he break his arm skiing?

4a I go for a run most mornings.

B I was late so I had to run to get to school on time.

Take a look at this paragraph. Can you read what it says? All the letters have been jumbled (mixed). Only the first and last letter of ecah word is in the right place:

I cnduo’t bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

Show Correct Paragraph >>

Lesson Do you think you can answer this riddle?

• #1

Hi All

If someone asks me ‘What did you do yesterday?’ and all my answer is ‘I read a book.’ Do I mean I finished reading a book yesterday, or not necessarily?

What if I want to express that it was something I did for some time and that was the «highlight of the day» as nothing else really happened and therefore I don’t want to add any other info, but I didn’t actually read the whole book? Should I say ‘I was reading a book.’ in this case?

(Sorry if I sound schizophrenic

• #2

I read a book means you read some of the book, but not necessarily all of it.

• #3

I see. And «I was reading a book.» would not be possible as an answer to say I only read some of it?

• #4

The first thought that comes to my mind is that you read the entire book if you say, «I read a book.» This si because English lacks inflections and grammatical cases — or my knowledge of the language isn’t good enough . I’m interested in hearing natives’ opinions!

I would say either: «I was reading a book,» or perhaps I would try to mould «I read a book» by adding something to it, like: «I read part of a book.» (That sounds rather un-English, though!)

• #5

You could say something like, «I was reading a book when my friend called me» or something like it. «I read a book» sounds somewhat more natural than just «I was reading a book».

• #6

Yes, but I was referring to a situation where the only thing I say is «I read/was reading a book.» Thanks anyway.

The first thought that comes to my mind is that you read the entire book if you say, «I read a book.»
— I thought the same about it, but according to MJSLondon, who’s a native speaker, we were wrong.

• #7

I wouldn’t automatically think someone read an entire book if they told me, «I read a book yesterday.»

The more I analyze the logic behind my answer, though, the more it sounds wrong.

I still stick with it, anyway.

AngelEyes

• #8

Perhaps I can help a little more. Both replies — «I read….» and «I was reading…» are OK, but I would suggest that the difference can be summarised like this:

If the question had been «What were you doing yesterday?» then the most natural reply would be » I was reading a book».

If the question is «What did you do yesterday?» then the most natural reply would be «I read a book».

Neither reply implies that you read the whole book. The difference in the two replies is very slight.

I hope this helps.

• #9

If the question is «What did you do yesterday?» then the most natural reply would be «I read a book».

Neither reply implies that you read the whole book.

Very interesting. If you wanted to imply that you did read the whole book without using the word «whole», what would you say? If you reply «I read a poem,» does that imply that you read part of the poem or all of it?

If someone asks me: «What did you buy yesterday?» and my reply is: «I bought a newspaper,» does that mean that I bought the whole newspaper or just part of it?

• #10

«Our plane was delayed for so long yesterday that I was able to read a complete book/a whole book/every page of a book while waiting at the airport» Of these I would probably use «a whole book».

Note that I wrote earlier «Neither reply

implies

that you read the whole book». You might have read the whole book, or you might not. The sentence » I read a book» does not indicate whether or not you read the whole book.

Few books are read in one sitting. Most poems (not all!) are much shorter and are almost always read in one sitting! I think this is a bit of a red herring!!

• #11

If someone asks me: «What did you buy yesterday?» and my reply is: «I bought a newspaper,» does that mean that I bought the whole newspaper or just part of it?

It means you bought the whole newspaper, of course.

Note, however, if you said, «I read the/a newspaper» it would not imply that you read every last word in the newspaper.

• #12

The first thought that comes to my mind is that you read the entire book if you say, «I read a book.» This si because English lacks inflections and grammatical cases — or my knowledge of the language isn’t good enough . I’m interested in hearing natives’ opinions!

I would say either: «I was reading a book,» or perhaps I would try to mould «I read a book» by adding something to it, like: «I read part of a book.» (That sounds rather un-English, though!)

«I read part of a book» could be used in response to the OP’s question, but I think it would only work well in some cases.

I’m afraid I don’t see what the lack of inflections—of course, English does not completely lack inflection—and grammatical cases has to do with the discussion at hand.

Last edited: Mar 10, 2009

• #13

If someone asks me ‘What did you do yesterday?’ and all my answer is ‘I read a book.’ Do I mean I finished reading a book yesterday, or not necessarily?

It is ambiguous.

Whyme: What did you do yesterday, cuchuflete?
Cuchu: I played baseball.

Could this mean that I played for the entire day? Doubtful.
Could this mean that I played an entire game? Maybe
Could this mean that I played part of a game, during part of the day, and that this was the most memorable and significant part of my otherwise dull existence? Quite possibly.

• #14

You could also say, «I read some in my book» (very casual) or «I read a few chapters in a/my book» or «I read a book for a few hours.»

«My book» here means «the book I am currently reading» if you’re the type that usually reads one at a time.

• #15

The first thought that comes to my mind is that you read the entire book if you say, «I read a book.» This si because English lacks inflections and grammatical cases — or my knowledge of the language isn’t good enough . I’m interested in hearing natives’ opinions!

I would say either: «I was reading a book,» or perhaps I would try to mould «I read a book» by adding something to it, like: «I read part of a book.» (That sounds rather un-English, though!)

I am a native speaker and I agree that the first thought that comes to mind is that someone read a whole book. Maybe it can mean both but I would consider it to mean that the book is finished. In my opinion if you use the simple past it implies that the action is finished.

If someone asked me:
» What did you do last night?» I would answer «I did some reading» (providing I hadn’t finished the book) because it was an action in progress.

• #16

You could also say, «I read some in my book» (very casual) or «I read a few chapters in a/my book» or «I read a book for a few hours.»

That is a valid point. Often a qualifying phrase will be used to let the listener know that the entire book was not read.

I still maintain that the original is definitely ambiguous.

• #17

The activity «reading a book» is like «playing a game», «cutting my dog’s hair», or «hiking a trail». Such expressions do not necessarily imply reading a whole book, playing an entire game, cutting all the hair off the dog, or hiking a trail from each trail head to each possible end. Past tense is used because yesterday is entirely behind us.

«I was reading a book» does not answer the question «What did you do?»

• #18

There are two formats for asking questions like that — (a) What did you do yesterday? (b) How did you spend yesterday?

Your answer would be like that- «Yesterday I was reading a book», » I read the entire book»

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 10, 2009