Sometimes I’m writing for an academic client—an actual university, not college student trying to con a writer into writing their essay. Or I’m writing about the coolest holiday of all—Halloween, when trees are at their most autumnal. Seasons. They come and they go. But when, oh when, do you make them proper with capitalization? Let’s take a walk down the seasonal lane, shall we?

Yes to Capitalize Seasons

To start, in general, you’re not going to capitalize the seasons. That’s the big, grammatical reveal today. However, there are times when to capitalize seasons. According to Grammarly, capitalize the seasons when the word, i.e., spring, summer, fall, etc., is part of a proper noun. Such as with a proper name or title. Here are some proper uses of when to capitalize seasons:

• Summer Olympic Games aka the Games of the Olympiad
• Winter Olympic Games
• Sad Summer Festival
• Duluth Fall Festival

Also, keep to the norm by capitalizing the season when it is the first word in a sentence or question, such as “Winter is your favorite season?” Finally, if you are calling someone a name according to a season, such as Summer, Winter, Autumn, or Spring, well, that’s going to be capitalized, too. Those are givens to us grammar hounds, but it’s good to know the seasonal capitalization rules—so you know when they are broken.

It’s easy to overthink these rules, especially if, like me, you start noticing them everywhere after writing one of these articles. You’ll spot “Spring Sale Blowout” in bold letters at the mall, but then in the next breath, someone emails about flowers blooming in spring—all lowercase. English just enjoys its double standards, apparently, and the people who try to keep it in line are probably drinking more coffee than they should. The trick is knowing when convention trumps instinct (or vice versa, if you’re feeling rebellious), which does make you slightly more annoying at dinner parties, but hey, that’s the price of knowledge.

There’s another little catch with capitalization: branded products and events seem to love sticking random capitals in places they don’t quite belong. I’ve seen things like “Springtime Fresh Collection” or “Winter Warmers Specials” blasted across ads, and even when the rules might say no, marketing teams just do what they want. Honestly, the world won’t collapse if someone capitalizes “summer specials” on a menu, but if you’re aiming for grammatical purity, you’ve got to be a little pickier. Call it a personality test for your inner editor.

Generally Not Capitalized

Yes, that’s the case—you generally do not capitalize the seasons. When talking about going on a summer road trip, fall leaf-peeping adventure, or spring break, it’s all common enough to keep to the lowercase leadership. For example:

• In Your Autumn Guide to Australia, From The New York Times (and Friends), The Australia Letter, a weekly report from the Australian bureau, states, “Below you’ll find a collection of informed tips for what to do, eat, see, drink and more over autumn in Australia, from Times journalists and local friends of The Times.”

Two primo examples of autumn in two different formats. Capitalized when part of the title, not capitalized when used in reference to a season.

More Grammar Fun for Writers

If you want more fun stuff for committed, and committable, grammar lovers, get on board with WriterAccess. Learn how to use neuroscience and branding for Peering Into the Brains of Your Customers or when and why to open links in new windows.

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