Russian letters differ from each other not only in style and sound designation, but also in size. Correct spelling follows certain rules. Uppercase and lowercase letters - what every schoolchild knows, especially an elementary school student. But the knowledge gained at school is forgotten very quickly, and adults are unlikely to remember the definitions of these terms.

Uppercase and lowercase letters are two types of graphic icons in writing. Interestingly, the division into such varieties is not in all languages. They are present in Cyrillic, and also in the Greek alphabet, Latin, Armenian. The situation in Georgia is unusual. There are no capital icons (with a specific meaning of use), but certain sections of the text (for example, titles, headings) are typed in large icons. They have small inscriptions, but differ from them in size. In other writing systems, the division into uppercase and lowercase letters does not exist.

For the first acquaintance with them, it is enough to learn a brief information:

• capital - the one that is larger;
• lowercase - one that is smaller in size.

And in order for the information to be remembered better, linger in the head for a long time and not turn into confusion - you need to study the issue deeper, delving into the details.

uppercase

This is a capital, large, beautiful, initial. The letter sign is increased in size compared to the rest. Most often, it is the only one in the line, it is with it that the sentence begins. In elementary school, children with great diligence learn to draw the first alphabetic character - because it should turn out beautiful.

The first official use of capital letters is seen in the 15th century. However, further research showed that people tried to beautifully arrange the initial characters of the name, surname, sentence long before the beginning of the 15th century. Such graphic icons, decorated with ornaments and curlicues, were called drop caps.

Capital letters inThe text is written only in those cases that are confirmed by spelling rules. The most common of them, which are most often encountered in practice, will be indicated below.

Another definition of "capital" is found in elementary school at the stage of teaching writing. It is less common, therefore it does not appear in dictionaries. It is used only to distinguish between the type of writing, the antonym for the word "capital" is "printed". When a teacher asks to write a word, a sentence, a text in cursive, he means lowercase and uppercase letters. And their choice should take place on the basis of the studied rules.

Lowercase

This is a small letter. In a sentence and text, it is much more common than graphic icons of the previous type. This is explained by the fact that small letters are used several times more often in writing - these are the rules of Russian spelling.

All letters that do not fall under the rules for writing capitals are lined up in one line and have the same height, therefore they are called lowercase.

Note! The stress in the term "lowercase" falls not on the first, but on the last syllable, no matter how much one would like to associate its pronunciation with the pronunciation of the word "line".

Useful videos: how to write uppercase small letters?

Main differences

Uppercase and lowercase letters have a number of differences from each other.

They are as follows:

• Size. The capital letter is about 2 times larger than the small one. This is clearly visible when using a notebook sheet in a wide line: a large letter occupies the entire height of the line, and a small letter fits in half of it.
• Writing. The capital letter has much more details and features of the style, which first-grade students are diligently trying to learn. It is much more complicated than small in outline.
• Frequency of use. The capital letter is found in the text much less often than the small one, because its choice must be justified by certain rules.

Having learned for himself the difference between uppercase and small graphic icons, a person stops confusing these two terms with each other.

Examples

An illustrative example of how the styles of both categories look like.

When comparing the graphic icons next to each other, it immediately becomes clear which of them are CAPITAL and which are lowercase.

Capitalization spelling

In Russian, the use of two types of inscription is subject to the rules of the corresponding section of orthography. According to them, the new sentence begins with a capital character, which seems to lead the army of small, ordinary icons. It shows that the previous thought has ended and another has begun, or simply denotes the beginning of a thought. Direct speech, quotations, each new line of the poem begins with the title.

But there are other, more complex rules that explain the spelling of uppercase and lowercase letters:

1. Names, surnames, patronymics of people and adjectives based on them. For example: Andrey Igorevich Yablochkin, Petkin's car.
2. Names of animals and adjectives made from them. For example: Tuzik, Murka, Kesha, Fluff, Tuzikov collar.
3. Geographical objects, places, names (continents, cardinal points, countries, cities, villages, villages, territories, republics, islands, seas, oceans, rivers, lakes). For example: the Black Sea, the Baltic, the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Moscow, the mainland Africa, the village of Yantarny, the Republic of Adygea.
4. Names of firms, companies, shops, enterprises. For example: the Rostvertol plant, the Pyaterochka store, the Belvest shoe company.
5. Names of great historical events, the most important documents (World War I, Peter's era).
6. Names of publications, works of art, dishes (Murzilka magazine, Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper, Moonlight Sonata, painting Barge haulers on the Volga, Caesar salad).
7. Names of ministries, important state organizations (Ministry of Education, City Duma).
8. High positions of great national importance (President, Queen).
9. The first word of the names of holidays and important events (Birthday, Christmas, Easter, Victory Day).
10. The pronoun "you" when special respect is required.
11. Abbreviations - consist entirely of capital icons (KPRF, MLM, SFU).

In all other cases, when the word is not included in the category of proper names, but is a common noun, lowercase are writtenstyles.

Possible difficulties in choosing an option

In Russian, most of the rules are ambiguous and have additional explanations or exceptions.

Important! When the choice of letter size (capital / small) is required to fill out important documents or perform serious tasks, work, it is better to check yourself in dictionaries and reference books.

Possible difficulties in choosing the size of a graphic icon:

1. Proper names of mythical, historical, literary heroes, which began to be used in a generalized, figurative sense, to denote a certain character or way of life of people. The rules for writing such words are ambiguous: some are written with a capital letter (Oblomov, Napoleon, Hamlet), others with a lowercase letter (Donquixote, Judas, Hercules, which have become common nouns). A variant of their use is given in the dictionary.
2. The names of geographical objects and important historical events, used in a generalized (figurative) sense, have the same distinctions and their own spelling features: Sodom (debauchery), Olympus (top), Kamchatka (last places) and Chernobyl, Mecca, Hiroshima.
3. The names of devices, techniques, units of measurement, obtained by the names of their inventors, are written with a lowercase letter. For example: X-ray, volt, pascal and so on.
4. and terms where one of the words is a proper name, as well as adjectives composed of them, do not have a large icon (Achilles' heel, Demyan's ear, x-rays).
5. Adjectives that were composed by the last name and first name of a person using the suffixes -sk, -ovsk, -insk - are written with a lowercase letter (Dalevsky dictionary, Prishvin prose).

Useful video: lowercase Russian letters

Conclusion

In fact, delving into the material taught in the classroom at an educational institution, the pupil and student master the spelling of graphic signs well, understand the differences and features of their use, which means that they do not have serious difficulties in observing this norm.

The main thing is to remember the definitions, to understand some of the difficulties for yourself. And in case of difficulty, do not forget about the possibility of referring to the dictionary.

The first letter of a book chapter and a new sentence has always stood out in particular. Ancient scribes attached particular importance to the beautiful design of the text, and especially its beginning. That is why the first letter was written out with all care. Read about other features of the use and decoration of a capital letter in this article.

History of capitalization

A capital letter, or initial, is the element with which the text begins. In ancient times, it was distinguished by painting. It was written in a large font, much larger than the size of the main text.

Another name for this element is a letter. Its main function is to attract the reader to the text. Another important purpose is the aesthetic appeal of the written.

One of the most common design of the initial letter was its image in the form of a tree with a crown and intertwining branches. The mural changed over time as new styles and fonts came into fashion.

The history of the selection of initial letters began more than one and a half thousand years ago. The initials were first found in a Virgil manuscript. In the book, each page is decorated with a letter, which is made in the form of a mosaic of geometric shapes.

Medieval tradition influenced the style and fonts. So, there was a trend towards a more elongated writing of letters, a strict angular style.

To date, the initial letter is a simple element of decorating a book edition. It is not used in every book, mostly only in gift copies. This is due to the high prices for color printing, as well as designer services.

Uppercase and lowercase are the letters used daily for writing. The first is a capital letter (large), and the second is smaller than it in size (small).

A bit of history

Initially, when writing, only those borders (upper and lower) were clearly defined. Over time, cursive developed, the letters took on a more rounded shape. Thus, the foundations of the so-called minuscule Carolingian writing, which was developed by the scientist Alcuin, arose. It was used at the court of Charlemagne, and over time this letter spread throughout Europe. So for the first time a single text began to contain lowercase and uppercase letters.

Uppercase and lowercase letters

The use of uppercase and lowercase letters is one of the most difficult problems of modern Russian spelling. The constant change in realities entails a change in the spelling of these letters. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly study new editions of reference books and dictionaries, which must necessarily reflect such innovations.

But, despite this, there are basic principles for the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. They help to understand the spelling of large and small letters, even if a word is not in the dictionary.

Capitalization Rules

It is written in capital letters:

Rules for the use of a lowercase letter

A lowercase letter is written if it is a constituent:

• articles, prepositions, particles in Western European names and (Ludwig van Beethoven);
• personal names that pursue the goal of an ironic or negative assessment (new puddles);
• nouns formed from surnames and personal names (Oblomovism);
• constituent parts of Turkic and Arabic names that indicate kinship or social status (al, zade, bek, aga);
• the names of units of measurement that were given by the name of the scientist (amps);
• words earth, moon, sun, which are not astronomical names;
• adjectives containing a suffix -sk- denoting belonging, formed from proper names (Chekhov's pages);
• titles and positions (deputy minister, mayor);
• abbreviations formed from common names (university - higher educational institution).

Also, a lowercase letter is written in the names:

• geological epochs and periods, archaeological cultures and epochs (Mesozoic era);
• positions and titles, international organizations, as well as higher foreign elective institutions (Emperor of Japan, Major General, Ambassador);
• plural authorities (Ministries of Russia);
• animal breeds (Keeshond dog);
• institutions whose names are not proper names (school No. 592).

Principles for the use of lowercase and capital letters

Having studied the above rules, we can identify the basic principles on the basis of which lowercase and uppercase letters are used. So:

• Highlighting specific segments of sentences (text) is a syntactic principle.
• Highlight certain words in the text:

1) A lowercase letter is written in capital letters - in proper names - a morphological principle.

2) A capital letter is written in common nouns endowed with special symbols or pathos (Man, Fatherland), in the names of holidays (New Year, Victory Day) - a semantic principle.

3) The capital letter is used in abbreviations made up of the first letters.

It is necessary to distinguish

As already mentioned, a lowercase letter is written in the names of adjectives that contain the suffix -sk- denoting belonging and formed from proper names. Therefore, "Pushkin's prose" is written with a small letter. But with a suffix -sk-, having the meaning of a name in honor of someone's memory, are capitalized. For example, "Lomonosov Readings".

Word: lowercase and uppercase letters

In connection with the rapid development of information technology, the Microsoft Office Word program, which is practically indispensable in the labor and educational process, has gained wide popularity. But few people know how to make lowercase letters from capital letters and vice versa with one press of certain keys.

So, let's write the following text in capital letters:

"LOWER LETTERS OF THE RUSSIAN ALPHABET".

Now you need to select the text and press the Shift and F3 keys at the same time. After that we will have:

After pressing the combination of these keys again, we get the following:

"Lower Letters of the Russian Alphabet".

And to return to the original text, you need to press Shift + F3 again.

Uppercase and lowercase letters are the letters used daily for writing. The first is a capital letter (large), and the second is smaller than it in size (small).

A bit of history

Initially, when writing, only capital letters were used, in which the boundaries (upper and lower) were clearly defined. Over time, cursive developed, the letters took on a more rounded shape. Thus, the foundations of the so-called minuscule Carolingian writing, which was developed by the scientist Alcuin, arose. It was used at the court of Charlemagne, and over time this letter spread throughout Europe. So for the first time a single text began to contain lowercase and uppercase letters.

Uppercase and lowercase letters

The use of uppercase and lowercase letters is one of the most difficult problems of modern Russian spelling. The constant change in realities entails a change in the spelling of these letters. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly study new editions of reference books and dictionaries, which must necessarily reflect such innovations.

But, despite this, there are basic principles for the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. They help to understand the spelling of large and small letters, even if a word is not in the dictionary.

Capitalization Rules

It is written in capital letters:

Rules for the use of a lowercase letter

A lowercase letter is written if it is a constituent:

• articles, prepositions, particles in Western European names and proper names (Ludwig van Beethoven);
• personal names that pursue the goal of an ironic or negative assessment (new puddles);
• nouns formed from surnames and personal names (Oblomovism);
• constituent parts of Turkic and Arabic names that indicate kinship or social status (al, zade, bek, aga);
• the names of units of measurement that were given by the name of the scientist (amps);
• words earth, moon, sun, which are not astronomical names;
• adjectives containing a suffix -sk- denoting belonging, formed from proper names (Chekhov's pages);
• titles and positions (deputy minister, mayor);
• abbreviations formed from common names (university - higher educational institution).

Also, a lowercase letter is written in the names:

• geological epochs and periods, archaeological cultures and epochs (Mesozoic era);
• positions and titles, international organizations, as well as higher foreign elective institutions (Emperor of Japan, Major General, Ambassador);
• plural authorities (Ministries of Russia);
• animal breeds (Keeshond dog);
• institutions whose names are not proper names (school No. 592).

Principles for the use of lowercase and capital letters

Having studied the above rules, we can identify the basic principles on the basis of which lowercase and uppercase letters are used. So:

• Highlighting specific segments of sentences (text) is a syntactic principle.
• Highlight certain words in the text:

1) A lowercase letter is written in common nouns, an uppercase letter is written in proper names - a morphological principle.

2) The capital letter is written in common nouns endowed with special symbols or pathos (Man, Fatherland), in the names of holidays (New Year, Victory Day) - a semantic principle.

3) The capital letter is used in abbreviations made up of the first letters.

It is necessary to distinguish

As already mentioned, a lowercase letter is written in the names of adjectives that contain the suffix -sk- denoting belonging and formed from proper names. Therefore, "Pushkin's prose" is written with a small letter. But possessive adjectives with a suffix -sk-, having the meaning of a name in honor of someone's memory, are capitalized. For example, "Lomonosov Readings".

Word: lowercase and uppercase letters

In connection with the rapid development of information technology, the Microsoft Office Word program, which is practically indispensable in the labor and educational process, has gained wide popularity. But few people know how to make lowercase letters from capital letters and vice versa with one press of certain keys.

So, let's write the following text in capital letters:

"LOWER LETTERS OF THE RUSSIAN ALPHABET".

Now you need to select the text and press the Shift and F3 keys at the same time. After that we will have:

After pressing the combination of these keys again, we get the following:

"Lower Letters of the Russian Alphabet".

And to return to the original text, you need to press Shift + F3 again.

Lowercase letters are:

Lower case- Letters that are smaller than capital letters. Used in European alphabets (Greek, Latin, Cyrillic and Armenian). For example, the letter "a" is lowercase, and the letter "A" is capital (capital).

Initially, when writing, they used exclusively capital letters, which had clearly defined upper and lower boundaries. With the development of cursive writing, the shape of the letters became more rounded, which resulted, for example, in such a form of writing as the uncial.

In turn, the foundations of the Carolingian minuscule script developed by Alcuin for use at the court of Charlemagne arose, which quickly spread throughout Europe. At the same time, for the first time, they began to mix uppercase and lowercase letters into a single text.

see also

• Minuscule
• Capital letters

Notes

Links

• alphabets
• Spelling
• Typography

Please explain which letters are called uppercase, which are uppercase, and which are lowercase?

Lubchik

uppercase (capital) - large. lowercase - small
Capital letters (capital letters), letters that differ from lowercase in height, and sometimes in style (for example, Russian "A", "B", "G"; lat. G, Q, R). Capitalize the first word at the beginning of a sentence, proper names, various headings. In German writing, all nouns are capitalized, in English they are used at the beginning of each full-valued word in headings. Capital letters are part of the alphabetic writing systems built on the Russian and Latin graphic bases, as well as the Greek, Georgian and Armenian alphabets. In titles, after dots to highlight sections of the text, in proper names, capital letters began to be used in the Latin alphabet from the 15th century, in Russian - from the 16th century; initials in all Slavic and Russian handwritten books always stood out ornamentally.
Lowercase Letters, letters of regular sizes and styles, as opposed to uppercase letters in modern scripts based on Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Armenian graphic bases. The contrast between lowercase and uppercase letters goes back to the opposition between ordinary beech fonts and initials (in Latin-writing countries - in the 11th-15th centuries). In Russian Cyrillic writing, a system of uppercase and lowercase letters was introduced at the beginning of the 18th century (see Civil script). Unlike capital letters, which are mainly oriented towards the shape of Latin capital letters and other ancient monumental scripts, lowercase letters continue the tradition of medieval minuscule writing of cursive origin (as well as Russian and Armenian cursive scripts).
Great Soviet Encyclopedia

What is the correct name for uppercase and lowercase letters?

What are the capital letters called?

What are the small letters called?

Large and small letters in Russian orthography have their own names.

A sentence usually begins with a capital letter, for example:

P spring came. I the warm sun shines brightly. P the birds are singing, and the frogs are having their concert in the pond.

Capital letters are in demand in writing proper names:

names, surnames, patronymics, nicknames of people (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard the Lionheart);

various geographical names (Moscow, Balaton, Everest, Far East);

names of institutions, newspapers, magazines, etc. (Moscow State University, "Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Health").

In the old days, a capital letter that began a book or a new paragraph prescribed, carefully outlined, from which it got its name uppercase or capital.

Small letters were written in a line, from which they got their name lowercase.

So, a large letter is called uppercase or capital, and a small letter is called lowercase.

When writing words, sentences or text, two types of letters are used - big and small.

What is the correct name for these letters?

capital letters

We use them when we start a new sentence, write abbreviations, write our own names, etc.

The correct name for these letters is uppercase or uppercase.

A, B, C, D, etc.

Small letters

In writing, they are used much more often than uppercase. If the text formatting rules do not provide for writing capital letters, then small ones are used.

These letters are called lowercase.

a, b, c d, etc.

If you have difficulty remembering, you can use the association:

"lowercase letters" and "lines of text" written in small letters.

It is believed that earlier only capital letters were used in writing, which are called capital letters. They had a strict form and therefore were carefully prescribed, without deviations from the original. Over time, they began to write faster, the letters lost their harmony and standardity, and small letters appeared, with which it was certainly more convenient to write long texts. Such letters are called lowercase because they consist of separate lines. At the same time, capital letters were preserved, but began to be used as capital letters, that is, the first letters of a sentence, name, title, and also to highlight an important piece of text.

Z v e n k a

In the "Introduction" section, which precedes the complete academic reference book on the grammar of the modern Russian literary language (I took the edition that is currently in force, that is, as of December 2014), it is said about capital and small letters as follows:

1.Capital (large, capital).

2. Lowercase (small).

From this I conclude that each of the spellings of letters has several valid names. But:

1. "Capital" is an academic name; "large" - acceptable and common; "caps" is acceptable, but less desirable.

2. "Lower" - academic name; "small" - the second place in terms of admissibility.

The letters of the Russian alphabet have two spellings, such as Aa, Ss or Yaya. Most often they are simply called: large and small. In fact, the capital letters are called uppercase, and small lowercase.

WITH uppercase or capital letters letters, we begin each sentence, and also write names, surnames, place names, animal names, etc. All other letters in the line are called lowercase and they are much smaller in size than their uppercase counterparts.

Lubov181191

The correct name of the capital letter (which is written large) is CAPITAL, and the small one is LOWEVER. This is taught from the first grade, and I'm just now studying with a first-grader, so I'll give you the most accurate answer ..

Large letters (A, B, C, D) are called uppercase or uppercase.

We always write a new sentence with a capital letter. Capital letters are used when writing abbreviations. We also write names, city names, etc. with a capital letter.

Small letters (a, b, c, d) are called lowercase. We write the text (printed or handwritten) in lowercase letters, except where, according to the rules, it is necessary to write capital letters.

Large letters (or they are also called capital letters) are correctly called uppercase letters, and small letters are correctly called lowercase letters. Initially, only uppercase letters were used in the letter. Then, with the popularization of writing and the need to write faster, lowercase letters appeared, which are easier to write.

Indeed, very often you can hear, when studying a program in elementary grades, about the names of letters. Remembering from the lessons of the Russian language school curriculum, it is known that Large letters of the Russian alphabet are called uppercase, and small letters are called lowercase.

Asterisk in the sky

Young children need to remember the following rules: capital letters, with which any sentence always begins, are called uppercase. In the text, they are highlighted in large size. And small letters are called lowercase.

Most often, words such as “lowercase” and “uppercase” letters are encountered by schoolchildren and their parents. And how can an adult who has not been a student for a long time know what is at stake? After all, “large” and “small”, “capital” and “ordinary” are much clearer. But if such a question has already hung over you that needs a solution, then we will try to help you figure out what it is about and what is the difference between these two words.

It is worth noting that the words “small” and “large” letters, which burst into our tongues at the sight of such letters, will be perceived in the scientific community as the words of a preschooler or baby. After all, the Russian language has its own terminology, which every person from society should know.

An interesting fact is that not all of the world have introduced capital letters into their spelling. Uppercase and lowercase letters are distinguished only in Greeks, Latins, Armenians, as well as in Cyrillic spelling. Georgians, on the other hand, do not use capital letters, except for cases where certain words are highlighted in the text.

What is a capital letter

The name of the word "capital" (capital) is simply and logically explained as follows (so as not to cramming): considering that there is usually only one capital in a line and it is she who begins the sentence. And we all remember from experience how in elementary school we tried to draw or write the first letter to make it beautiful.

This type of capitalization began to be used as early as the 15th century, but in fact, long before that, people tried to beautifully draw initials and the beginning of a sentence with ornamental letters. This is the capital letter.

Capital letters are written in the text according to certain spelling rules. The most necessary, with which you will have to meet very often, of which we will try to clarify for you.

Uppercase and lowercase letters of the Russian language

In what cases are capital letters written

According to the spelling rules of the Russian language, a capital letter always begins each new sentence, as well as direct speech and quotations. But there are other rules for writing capital letters that you should remember, namely:

1. Own names of cities, villages, names, surnames, etc. (words denoting a specific object or phenomenon) we always write with capital letters (Oksana, Petrov, Moscow and others).
2. Names of islands, countries, firms, companies and others (Russia, Caribbean Islands, etc.).
3. Names of historical events, fateful and important documents, works of art, etc. capitalized (Peace of Versailles). It is worth noting that the capital is written only in those cases in which the event has the meaning of its own name (feudalism, Paleolithic).
4. High positions and titles (President).
5. The pronoun "you" in order to express courtesy and respect for the person in the text (you).
6. Abbreviations (SRSR, PRC).
7. The first word of the names of the holidays must be capitalized: Birthday, New Year.
8. In the names of ministries, main organizations, the first word is capitalized (Ministry of the Interior).
9. There are cases when they are used to highlight the desired text (titles, important words in the book to express emotions, etc.)

What is a lowercase letter

Unlike uppercase, there are much more lowercase letters in the text, because they are much more often used and used by default (the exception is those cases in which capital letters are written according to the rules). All those letters that do not fall under the rules for the use of uppercase are lined up in one line, which is why they are called "lowercase". It is also important to remember about the stress in the word. Despite the fact that we are tempted to say “lowercase”, the dictionary indicates the accent is “lowercase”, and not “lowercase”.

Russian lowercase letters

What is the difference between uppercase and lowercase

• Size. The uppercase (capital) letter is approximately twice as large as the other letters (lowercase). For example, the letter "a" in this case will be lowercase, and "A" will be uppercase.
• Writing. The capital letter has its own spelling features, which we learn so diligently in elementary school.
• Frequency of use. An uppercase letter is found in the text much less often than a lowercase letter (we have already learned the rules for using an uppercase letter).