Capitalization in administrative documents of Vietnam according to the latest standards of 2019

File guiding the drafting of administrative documents

The specific regulations on standard capitalization rules are stipulated in Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV, including the following cases:

1. Capitalization for sentence construction

a. Capitalizing the first letter of the first syllable of a complete sentence when:

- After a period (.).

- After a question mark (?).

- After an exclamation mark (!).

- After an ellipsis (…).

- After a colon (:).

- After a colon in quotation marks (: “…).

- At the beginning of a new line.

Example: Article 23: State management responsibility for land

b. Capitalizing the first letter of the first syllable of a clause when:

- After a semicolon (;) and comma (,) when starting a new line.

Example: Based on the Law on Organization of the Government of Vietnam dated December 25, 2001;

At the proposal of the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Science and Technology,

2. Capitalization of proper nouns for people

The capitalization of proper nouns for people applies to both Vietnamese names and foreign names translated into Vietnamese. Specifically:

a. Vietnamese names

- Common names: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables of the proper noun referring to the person's name.

Example: Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap,...

- Titles, names of historical figures: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables.

Example: King Hung, Lady Trieu, Saint Giong,...

b. Foreign names translated into Vietnamese

- In cases of phonetic transcription through Sino-Vietnamese: Follow the rules for Vietnamese names.

Example: Kim Nhat Thanh, Thanh Cat Tu Han…

- In cases of direct phonetic transcription not through Sino-Vietnamese: Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable of each element.

Example: Phi-den Cat-xo-ro…

3. Capitalization of organization names

Similar to people's names, organization names are considered proper nouns. Therefore, capitalization of organization names includes the following cases:

a. Names of Vietnamese organizations

- Capitalize the first letter of words, phrases indicating the type, function, and field of activity of the organization.

Example: Office of the President; National Assembly Office; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Ministry of Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Ministry of Industry and Trade…

- Special capitalization cases:

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam; Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

b. Names of foreign organizations

- Names of foreign organizations that have been translated: Similar to the capitalization of Vietnamese organizations' names.

Example: United Nations (UN)…

- Names of foreign organizations used in documents in abbreviated form: Write in uppercase as the original language or transcribe into Latin if the original language is not in the Latin system.

Example: WTO; UNDP; UNESCO;...

Illustration (Source: Internet)

4. Capitalization of geographical names

Geographical names can be place names, locations, or names of border gate points in provinces. The capitalization of geographical names has specific distinctions.

a. Vietnamese geographical names

- Names of administrative units formed between a common noun (city, district, commune…) with the proper noun of that administrative unit: Capitalize the first letter of syllables forming the proper noun and do not use hyphens.

Example: Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province, Thu Duc district…

- Cases where the names of administrative units are formed between a common noun combined with a number, person's name, historical event: Capitalize the entire common noun indicating that administrative unit.

Example: District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Dien Bien Phu Ward…

- Special capitalization case: Hanoi Capital.

- Geographical names formed between a common noun indicating topography (river, mountain, lake, sea, estuary, dock, bridge, cove, creek, inlet, etc.) with a proper noun (having one syllable) forming the proper noun of that place: Capitalize all letters forming the place name.

Example: Cua Lo, Vung Tau, Lach Truong, Vam Co, Cau Giay…

Cases where the common topo-noun goes with the proper noun: Do not capitalize the common noun but capitalize the proper noun.

Example: Cua Lo sea, Ben Thanh market, Vam Co river, Ha Long bay…

- Geographical names indicating a region, area, or specific area formed by directional terms combined with other directional terms: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables forming the name. For regional-specific geographical names formed by directional terms combined with a topographical noun, capitalize the first letter of each syllable.

Example: Northwest, Northeast, Northern Region, Southern Region, Central Southern Region…

b. Foreign geographical names translated into Vietnamese

- Geographical names transliterated into Sino-Vietnamese: Follow the rules of capitalization for Vietnamese geographical names.

Example: Beijing, Pyongyang, France, England, USA, Switzerland, Spain…

- Geographical names transliterated not through Sino-Vietnamese (directly according to the original pronunciation): Capitalize according to the rules of capitalization for foreign names.

Example: Moscow, Singapore…

5. Other cases

- Names of orders, medals, honors: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables forming the names and the ordinal numbers indicating the grade, rank.

Example: First-class Independence Medal; Golden Star Medal; Lenin Medal; Ho Chi Minh Medal…

- Names of positions, degrees, titles: Capitalize the position, degree title if it goes along with a specific name.

Example: President Ho Chi Minh, President Vladimir Putin, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Deputy Prime Minister, General Director,…

- Proper nouns turned common: Capitalize the first letter of the term or phrase indicating that reference in case it is used as an address, standing independent and showing respect.

Example: Uncle (referring to President Ho Chi Minh), The Party (referring to the Communist Party of Vietnam),…

- Names of holidays, anniversaries: Capitalize the first letter of the syllable forming the holiday, anniversary name.

Example: Vietnam National Day on September 2; International Labor Day on May 1; Vietnam Women's Day on October 20; First Vietnam Archives Day,…

- Names of historical events and dynasties

+ Names of historical events: Capitalize the first letter of the syllables forming the event name, and the event name, in case there are numbers indicating the timeframe, write them out and capitalize that word.

Example: The Can Vuong Movement; Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement; August Revolution; Three Best Women's Movement.

+ Names of dynasties: Ly Dynasty, Tran Dynasty,…

- Names of document types

+ Capitalize the first letter of the document type and the first letter of the syllable forming the proper noun of the document when referring to a specific document.

Example: Resolution of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party; Civil Code; Electronic Transactions Law;…

- In cases quoting articles, clauses, points of a specific document, capitalize the first letter of the article, clause, point.

Example: Based on Article 10 of the Labor Code; Based on Point a, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Electronic Transactions Law…

- Names of works, books, newspapers, magazines: Capitalize the first letter of the syllable forming the title of the work, book, newspaper

Example: The work "Duong Kach Menh"; the encyclopedia dictionary; the Communist magazine;…

- Names of lunar years, solar terms, holidays, and months in a year

+ Names of lunar years: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables forming the name.

Example: Ky Ty, Tan Hoi, Mau Tuat, Mau Than…

+ Names of solar terms and holidays: Capitalize the first letter of the syllable forming the name.

Example: Lap Xuan term; Dai Han term; Dragon Boat Festival; Mid-Autumn Festival; Lunar New Year;…

Capitalize the word "Tết" when used to refer to a specific New Year (like Tết as a substitute for Tết Nguyên Đán).

+ Names of days in the week and months in the year: Capitalize the first letter of the syllable indicating the day and month when numbers are not used:

Example: Monday; Wednesday; May; August;…

- Names of religions, sects: Capitalize the first letter of the syllables forming the name.

Example: Christianity; Protestantism; Catholicism; Hoa Hao Buddhism…

- Names of religious holidays: Capitalize the first letter of the syllable forming the name.

Example: Easter; Buddha's Birthday;….

Thu Ba

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