Style comparison
MLA Style vs Sentence Case

MLA Style capitalizes major words in formal academic titles, while sentence case capitalizes only the first word. Sentence case is more common in British academic publishing.

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MLA Style
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Sentence Case
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MLA Style
The humanities paper standard

MLA Style capitalizes all principal words while lowercasing articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions unless they open or close a title. It follows the Modern Language Association Handbook.

MLA Style is required for papers in English literature, film studies, and other humanities disciplines at most universities. It is the most common format for undergraduate academic writing.

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Sentence Case
First word only, rest lowercase

Sentence case capitalizes only the first word of a title or heading and any proper nouns, treating the text exactly like a sentence. It is the dominant style in British English and digital product interfaces.

Sentence case is the standard for user interfaces, navigation menus, software documentation, and most British publications. Many technology companies mandate it for product copy.

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When to use MLA Style

MLA Style is required for papers in English literature, film studies, and other humanities disciplines at most universities. It is the most common format for undergraduate academic writing.

Verbs are always capitalized, including short ones like is and are. The rules closely resemble Chicago Style for most practical purposes.

When to use Sentence Case

Sentence case is the standard for user interfaces, navigation menus, software documentation, and most British publications. Many technology companies mandate it for product copy.

All words after the first are lowercase unless they are proper nouns. Common nouns, verbs, and adjectives are not capitalized.

Choosing between them

Choose MLA Style for American humanities courses, English literature papers, and MLA-formatted journals.

Choose sentence case for British academic publications, digital interfaces, and documentation.

American academic publishing defaults to title case, while British academic publishing favors sentence case. The same paper submitted to different journals may require different capitalization.