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Robboe Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Capitals?

When talking about the

Eastern enlargement of the EU

is 'eastern' capitalised or not?
  

Top answer

There are arguments both for and against, and (so far as I know) no definitive rule. ), but "east" is not a country, and "east" as a noun is not capitalized, so I see no reason why "eastern" should be. Personally, I wouldn't capitalize that.

— Rommie

  • There are arguments both for and against, and (so far as I know) no definitive rule.
  • ), but "east" is not a country, and "east" as a noun is not capitalized, so I see no reason why "eastern" should be.
  • Personally, I wouldn't capitalize that.
  • I'm not a great fan of capitalizing adjectives in general.
  • However, mine is not the only view, so you may want to wait for alternative opinions.
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2 Answers
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There are arguments both for and against, and (so far as I know) no definitive rule.

There is a rule that says adjectives derived from countries should be capitalized (so, "French", "Italian", etc.), but "east" is not a country, and "east" as a noun is not capitalized, so I see no reason why "eastern" should be. Personally, I wouldn't capitalize that. I'm not a great fan of capit
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There is an exception: when "the East" is used to refer to a group of countries or a specific region.

For example, in the United States, during our civil war, we referred to the group of states on the rebel side as "the South". This kind of capitalization is correct.

Only in this case are the compass directions capitalized.
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