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.

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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

Agreement rules

Word Order with Adverbs of Frequency (always, never, usually)

Common confusions

Peak vs. Peek vs. Pique

Common confusions

Compliment vs. Complement

Agreement rules

Incorrect Passive Voice Usage

Agreement rules

Tag Questions (You’re French, aren’t you?)

Vocabulary

Commas

Common confusions

Whether vs. If

Common confusions

Cue vs. Queue

Cue and queue sound the same, but they mean very different things. Mixing them up can change the entire meaning of a sentence. Cue Cue is usually a noun or a verb meaning: a signal or prompt to do...