When Do You Capitalize Earth
Use Earth with the capital E if youre referring to the specific planet and earth for the soil or surface of a stratum. You can also put the before the common noun earth. In English, proper nouns (nouns which signify a particular person, place, or thing) are capitalized.
Following this rule, when Earth is discussed as a specific planet or celestial body, it is capitalized: It takes six to eight months to travel from Earth to Mars. Learn when to use "Earth" or "the earth" as a proper noun or a common noun. See the definitions, meanings, and usage examples of both terms with a quiz to test your knowledge.
Learn when to capitalize Earth as a proper noun or a common noun depending on the context and usage. See examples of sentences with capitalized and lowercase Earth in different situations. Capitalize Earth when you use it as a proper noun or to talk about our planet astronomically.
The article the is optional, but left out in NASAs style guide. Use lowercase earth to talk about the ground or soil. Use the article the as needed to make grammatical sense.
Whether youre writing about the Earth as a celestial body, the earth as soil, or using it metaphorically, the rule is simple: capitalize when its a proper noun (the planet), and lowercase when its a common noun (something else). Learn when to capitalize earth and other planets in your writing according to MLA style. See examples, exceptions, and sources from Merriam-Webster and The Chicago Manual of Style.
Learn how to capitalize Earth and other astronomical bodies in different contexts. See examples and explanations from the Chicago Manual of Style. Should you capitalize the words "Earth," "Sun," and "Moon"? If so, when? And what about other celestial objects? Check out our guide to find out.
The Chicago Manual of Style says that we usually lowercase "sun", "moon", and "earth", but when "the" does not precede the name of the planet, when "earth" is not part of an idiomatic expression, or when other planets are mentioned, we capitalize "earth."
