Commonly Confused Words

Capital vs. Capitol

1 min read

Capital and capitol sound identical, but their meanings are very different. One is used in many contexts, while the other is used in only one very specific situation.

Capital

Capital has several common meanings:

The main city of a country or region: Paris is the capital of France.
Money or assets used for investment: The company raised more capital.
Uppercase letters: Please write your name in capital letters.
Excellent or important (older usage): That’s a capital idea!

Capitol

Capitol refers only to a specific type of building:

The building where a government’s legislature meets.
Most famously, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

In the United States, “Capitol” is capitalized when referring to the actual U.S. Capitol building.

💡 Tip

Capitol → building has a dome (think of the “o”).
Capital → everything else (city, money, letters).

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Washington, D.C., is the ___ of the United States.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

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Commonly Confused Words

Capital vs. Capitol

1 min read

Capital and capitol sound identical, but their meanings are very different. One is used in many contexts, while the other is used in only one very specific situation.

Capital

Capital has several common meanings:

The main city of a country or region: Paris is the capital of France.
Money or assets used for investment: The company raised more capital.
Uppercase letters: Please write your name in capital letters.
Excellent or important (older usage): That’s a capital idea!

Capitol

Capitol refers only to a specific type of building:

The building where a government’s legislature meets.
Most famously, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

In the United States, “Capitol” is capitalized when referring to the actual U.S. Capitol building.

💡 Tip

Capitol → building has a dome (think of the “o”).
Capital → everything else (city, money, letters).

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Washington, D.C., is the ___ of the United States.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Common confusions

Borrow vs. Lend

Vocabulary

Em Dash vs. En Dash vs. Hyphen

Common confusions

Flair vs. Flare

Common mistakes

Using “will” vs. “going to” for future

Common confusions

Who vs. That

A bit of theory

The correct use of “anxious”

Common mistakes

Reporting Verbs & Backshifting

Agreement rules