Capitalization in Titles, Names, and Sentences | Russian Grammar

If you bring English capitalization habits into Russian, you will over-capitalize constantly — and it reads as visibly foreign. Russian uses capital letters more sparingly and along different lines: it capitalizes proper names generously but categories (days, months, peoples, languages, faiths) not at all, and it does not use English-style title case. The single rule to internalize is capitalize less than you think, and only the first word of a title. This page sorts out exactly where the capital goes and, just as importantly, where it doesn't.

Sentences and proper names: same as English

Start here because it's the part that matches your instincts. A capital letter begins every sentence, and proper names — people, cities, rivers, countries, brands — are capitalized just as in English.

Ива́н прие́хал из Москвы́ на по́езде.

Ivan arrived from Moscow by train. — Ива́н, Москва́ capitalized as proper names.

Мы плы́ли по Во́лге до Каза́ни.

We sailed along the Volga to Kazan. — Во́лга (river) and Каза́нь (city), both capitalized.

Росси́я грани́чит с Кита́ем и Каза́хстаном.

Russia borders China and Kazakhstan. — country names capitalized.

So far, no surprises. The divergence from English begins with everything derived from those names.

Titles of works and organizations: only the first word

This is the biggest single difference from English. English uses title case — capitalizing most words in a title (War and Peace, The Bolshoi Theatre). Russian capitalizes only the first word of a title (and any proper name that happens to fall inside it). Everything else stays lowercase.

Russian (first word only)	English (title case)
Война́ и мир	War and Peace
Преступле́ние и наказа́ние	Crime and Punishment
Большо́й теа́тр	The Bolshoi Theatre
Тре́тьяковская галере́я	The Tretyakov Gallery

В шко́ле мы чита́ли «Войну́ и мир».

At school we read War and Peace. — only Война́ is capitalized; мир stays lowercase.

Биле́ты в Большо́й теа́тр сто́ят до́рого.

Tickets to the Bolshoi Theatre are expensive. — Большо́й is the first word; теа́тр is lowercase.

Достое́вский написа́л «Преступле́ние и наказа́ние».

Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment. — only the first word капитализируется.

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For any Russian title — a book, film, play, company, museum, newspaper — capitalize the first word and nothing else, except proper names inside it. «Война́ и мир», not «Война́ И Мир». Russian also wraps titles in « » guillemets rather than italics or quotation marks in most contexts.

Lowercase categories: days, months, peoples, languages, faiths

Here English speakers reach for a capital and Russian refuses. The following are all written lowercase in Russian:

Days of the week: понеде́льник, вто́рник, среда́, четве́рг, пя́тница, суббо́та, воскресе́нье
Months: янва́рь, февра́ль, март, апре́ль, май, ию́нь, ию́ль, а́вгуст...
Nationalities / peoples: ру́сский, англича́нин, неме́ц, францу́з, япо́нец
Languages: ру́сский (язы́к), англи́йский, неме́цкий, кита́йский
Religions and their adherents: правосла́вие, исла́м, христиани́н, мусульма́нин, буддизм

Дава́й встре́тимся в понеде́льник.

Let's meet on Monday. — понеде́льник lowercase, unlike English Monday.

Мой день рожде́ния в ма́рте.

My birthday is in March. — март lowercase.

Она́ ру́сская и свобо́дно говори́т по-англи́йски.

She's Russian and speaks English fluently. — ру́сская (nationality) and англи́йский both lowercase.

Он изуча́ет кита́йский язы́к в университе́те.

He's studying Chinese at university. — кита́йский lowercase.

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A useful mental rule: Russian capitalizes names, not categories. A specific person or place is a name (Ива́н, Москва́) → capital. A category you could belong to — a weekday, a month, a nationality, a language, a religion — is a common noun in Russian → lowercase. English treats many of these categories as quasi-names; Russian does not.

The polite capitalized Вы

One Russian-specific capitalization has no English parallel: in formal letters and direct address to one person, the polite "you" (Вы, Вас, Вам, Ваш) is often capitalized as a sign of respect. This is a courtesy convention, used when writing to a particular individual (a letter, an email, a formal questionnaire) — not when addressing a group, and not in ordinary running prose.

Благодарю́ Вас за бы́стрый отве́т.

Thank you for your quick reply. — Вас capitalized in a formal letter to one person. (formal)

Поздравля́ем вас с пра́здником!

We congratulate you on the holiday! — addressing a group / general audience → lowercase вас. (informal/neutral)

The distinguishing insight

Almost every Russian capitalization error an English speaker makes traces back to a single false assumption: that English's generous, semi-arbitrary capital letters carry over. They don't. Russian's logic is tighter — only true proper names, plus the first word of a sentence or title — and it deliberately leaves whole classes of words lowercase that English capitalizes out of habit. When in doubt, the safer bet in Russian is almost always lowercase. The exceptions (the polite Вы, the proper names embedded inside a title) are few and learnable.

Common Mistakes

❌ Дава́й встре́тимся в Понеде́льник.

Incorrect — days of the week are lowercase in Russian.

✅ Дава́й встре́тимся в понеде́льник.

Let's meet on Monday. — понеде́льник lowercase.

❌ Мой день рожде́ния в Ма́рте.

Incorrect — months are lowercase in Russian.

✅ Мой день рожде́ния в ма́рте.

My birthday is in March. — март lowercase.

❌ Она́ Ру́сская и говори́т по-Англи́йски.

Incorrect — nationalities and languages are lowercase in Russian.

✅ Она́ ру́сская и говори́т по-англи́йски.

She's Russian and speaks English. — both lowercase.

❌ В шко́ле мы чита́ли «Война́ И Мир».

Incorrect — Russian titles capitalize only the first word, not every word.

✅ В шко́ле мы чита́ли «Войну́ и мир».

At school we read War and Peace. — only Война́ capitalized.

❌ Биле́ты в большо́й теа́тр сто́ят до́рого.

Incorrect — Большо́й is the first word of the proper name of the theatre and must be capitalized.

✅ Биле́ты в Большо́й теа́тр сто́ят до́рого.

Tickets to the Bolshoi Theatre are expensive. — Большо́й capitalized, теа́тр lowercase.

Key Takeaways

Russian capitalizes less than English: a capital begins a sentence and every proper name (Ива́н, Москва́, Во́лга), and that's largely it.
In titles of books, films, theatres, and organizations, capitalize only the first word (plus any embedded proper name): Война́ и мир, Большо́й теа́тр, Преступле́ние и наказа́ние.
Lowercase: days (понеде́льник), months (март), nationalities (ру́сский), languages (англи́йский), religions (правосла́вие).
The polite Вы / Вас / Ваш is capitalized in formal letters to one person (a courtesy), lowercase when addressing a group.
The transfer trap is English habit — capitalize names, not categories; when unsure, prefer lowercase.

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