Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| letra capital | /letɾa kapital/ (from spelling rules) | feminine |
| letra versal | /letɾa beɾsal/ (from spelling rules) | feminine |
| letra titular | /letɾa titulaɾ/ (from spelling rules) | feminine |
These terms are used to describe upper-case letters. In Spanish, proper nouns such as Pedro are capitalized and acronyms like ONG are written in all capital letters. If you want to say that something is written 'in all caps', you use the phrase en mayúsculas. Note that unlike English, days of the week and months are not capitalized in Spanish, unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Which one should you use?
While letra capital is a standard way to say 'capital letter', the word mayúscula is the most common way to refer to a capital letter and is often used as a noun on its own. The direct antonym for mayúscula is minúscula, which refers to a lower-case letter.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Letra versal is a more formal or technical term used specifically in typography and formal linguistic contexts. Letra capital and letra titular are other ways to express the concept.
How does it change in a sentence?
All forms provided, letra capital, letra versal and letra titular, are feminine nouns.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the use of a capital letter for the pronoun Usted to show extreme respect is now considered archaic and is generally avoided in modern writing.
- In Spanish, the words for upper-case mayúscula and lower-case minúscula literally translate to 'large' and 'small' in their adjective forms.
- The Spanish word letra descends from the Ancient Greek word diphthéra, which originally referred to a writing tablet rather than a single character.
Examples in context
- Por favor, escriba en mayúscula la primera letra de cada palabra.Please write each word's first letter in capital.
- Asegúrate de utilizar la letra mayúscula al inicio de un nombre propio.Make sure to use a capital letter at the beginning of a proper noun.
- Escribe los títulos en mayúsculo para que resalten.Write the titles in capital letters to make them stand out.
Example conversation
Daniel and Elena are editing a document together.
- DanielElena, falta una letra capital al inicio.Elena, a capital letter is missing at the beginning.
- ElenaTienes razón, Daniel. Lo corregiré ahora.You are right, Daniel. I will fix it now.
- DanielGracias por revisar el texto.Thanks for reviewing the text.
- ElenaDe nada, ya está listo.You're welcome, it is ready now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “capital letter” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries capital, letra, titular, CC BY-SA 4.0.
