Vietnam: Summary of cases where capitalization is mandatory according to the latest regulations in 2020

CAPITALIZATION RULES

EXAMPLES

NOTES

Capitalization based on sentence structure

Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable of a complete sentence:

- After a full stop (.)

- After a question mark (?)

- After an exclamation mark (!)

- At the beginning of a new line

Thu Ky Luat

? Thu Ky Luat

! Van ban phap luat…

Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV also stipulated capitalization of the first letter of the first syllable of a complete sentence after an ellipsis (...); after a colon (:); after a colon in quotation marks (: "..."); capitalization of the first letter of the first syllable of a clause after a semicolon (;) and comma (,) when starting a new line.

Capitalization of proper nouns indicating names of people

Names of Vietnamese people

Common names: Capitalize the first letter of all syllables of the proper name indicating a person.

Nguyen Ai Quoc, Tran Phu,...

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

King Hung, Mrs. Trieu, Mr. Giong, Uncle Ho, Uncle Ho,...

Names of foreigners transliterated into Vietnamese

Case transliterated to Sino-Vietnamese: Follow the capitalization rules for Vietnamese names.

Kim Il Sung, Mao Zedong, Genghis Khan,...

Case transliterated directly close to original pronunciation: Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable in each component.

Vladimir Ilich Lenin, Friedrich Engels,...

Capitalization of geographical names

Vietnamese geographical names

Administrative unit names formed by combining common nouns (province, centrally-governed city; district, urban district, district-level town, city under province, city under a centrally-governed city; commune, ward, commune-level town) with proper names of those administrative units: Capitalize the first letter of the syllables forming the proper name and do not use hyphens.

Thai Nguyen city, Nam Dinh province,...

Case of names of administrative units composed of common nouns combined with numbers, names of people, historical events: Capitalize the entire common noun indicating that administrative unit.

District 1, Dien Bien Phu Ward,...

Special capitalization cases

Hanoi Capital, Ho Chi Minh City

Previously, according to Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV, only “Hanoi Capital” was included

Geographical names formed by combining common nouns indicating terrain (river, mountain, lake, sea, estuary, dock, bridge, bay, channel, creek, ...) with single-syllable proper nouns becoming the place names: Capitalize all the letters forming the place name.

Cua Lo, Vung Tau, Lach Truong, Vam Co, Cau Giay,...

Case of common terrain nouns alongside proper nouns: Do not capitalize the common nouns but capitalize the proper nouns.

Cua Lo beach, Ben Thanh market, Vam Co river, Ha Long bay,...

Geographical names indicating a specific region or area formed by combining direction terms with other direction terms: Capitalize the first letter of each syllable forming the name. For regions formed by combining direction terms with terrain nouns, capitalize the first letter of each syllable.

Northwest, Northeast, North,...

Foreign geographical names transliterated into Vietnamese

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

Beijing, Pyongyang, France, UK,...

Names transliterated not into Sino-Vietnamese (direct transliteration close to original pronunciation): Capitalize according to the rules for foreign names specified at point b, clause 2, Section II Appendix II of Decree 30.

Moscow, Melbourne,...

Capitalization of organization names

Names of Vietnamese organizations

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

Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption, Office of the President, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam Electricity Group, Son La Provincial People's Council, Department of Finance,...

Special capitalization cases

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

Names of foreign organizations

Names translated into Vietnamese: Capitalize according to the rules for Vietnamese organization names.

United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO),...

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

WTO, UNDP, UNESCO, ASEAN,...

Capitalization of other cases

Nouns in special cases

People, State

Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV did not stipulate capitalization for this case

Names of orders, medals, honorary titles: Capitalize the first letter of the syllables forming the proper name and the words indicating rank.

Gold Star Medal, People's Artist, Labor Hero,...

Names of positions, academic titles, honorary titles: Capitalize the position, academic title if it is followed by a specific name.

Chairman of the National Assembly, Prime Minister, Professor Ton That Tung,...

Common nouns that have become proper names: Capitalize the first letter of the word, phrase indicating such name when used in a personal address, stands alone, and expresses respect.

Uncle (referring to President Ho Chi Minh), Party (referring to the Communist Party of Vietnam),...

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

National Day September 2, the first General Election Day, International Labor Day May 1, Vietnamese Women's Day October 20,...

Names of document types: Capitalize the first letter of the name of the document and the first letter of the first syllable forming the name of the document when referring to a specific document.

Criminal Code, Law on Organization of the National Assembly,...

Case citing part, chapter, section, sub-category, article, clause, point of a specific document: Capitalize the first letter of the part, chapter, section, sub-category, article.

- Pursuant to Point a, Clause 2, Article 103, Section 5, Chapter XII, Part I of the Penal Code.

- According to the provisions of Point a, Clause 1, Article 24 Subsection 1, Section 1, Chapter III of Resolution 351/2017/UBTVQH14.

Names of lunar years, holidays, days, and months in the year

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

Ky Ty, Tan Hoi, Mau Tuat, Mau Than,...

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

Lunar New Year, Doan Ngo Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival. Capitalize the word Tet in case of replacing Lunar New Year.

Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV also stipulated capitalization for the names of certain holidays like tiet Lap xuan; tiet Dai han

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

Monday, Wednesday, May, August,...

Names of historical events and dynasties: Capitalize the first letter of the syllables forming the name of the event and the name of the event. If there are numbers indicating time markers, write them in letters and capitalize the letter.

Ly Dynasty, Tran Dynasty, Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement, August Revolution,...

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

Encyclopedia, Communist magazine,...

Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV also stipulated capitalization for the names of religions, sects; names of religious holidays;…)