Adjective + Noun

'I live in south California'
I would capitalize the s in South.

'I live in the southern California'
Wrong. The state is California, not the California. If you omit the article, the sentence is correct. Many people capitalize southern: I live in Southern/southern California.

Thank you for your reply ,Is there any difference between South and Southern in terms of meaning?

bmojtabaI live in south California.

I'd give this a pass, but 'southern' is better.

CB: There is no state of South California, though there are states of South Carolina and South Dakota, so I would not go with a capital letter on South. Similarly, West Virginia. Consequently, it is possible for one to live in north(ern) South Dakota, for example.

Only the second one, without the article, is heard in the US: I live in southern Calif. In Fla. you'd say: I live in south Fla. In NJ: I live in south Jersey. In Ill.: I live in southern Ill. In NY only the northern part is designated like this: I live in northern NY.

CalifJimCB: There is no state of South California

I know that, Jim. I have just noticed that many distinguished users of English capitalize Southern, Northern etc. before names of countries even though there is no country called Southern France, for example, and that led me to suggest what I did. It is of course advisable that people follow the su

Cool Breezecapitalize Southern, Northern etc. before names of countries even though there is no country called Southern France

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to keep my eyes open for that because I've never even noticed!

CJ