Is Over Capitalized in a Title?

Over is one of those words that are handled differently in the various title case styles. In some styles, it is always capitalized, but in other styles, its capitalization depends on its grammatical function. Let’s examine the different cases.

If you are using AMA, AP, APA, or New York Times style, then handling over is simple: It must always be capitalized since all words with more than three letters are capitalized in those styles.

In Bluebook, Chicago, MLA, and Wikipedia style, the capitalization of over depends on its grammatical function, i.e., the part of speech.

When over is used as a preposition, then is not capitalized:

When used as an adverb, however, over must be capitalized. This is the case when it’s part of a phrasal verb like bring over, come over, lean over, move over, stay over, talk over, think over, win over, etc.

Please note that there are a few verbs that can be followed by the adverb over or the preposition over. For example,

Over can also be used as an adjective. In that case, it needs to be capitalized as well:

In addition, there are two special cases to be considered: The first word of a title is always capitalized, so in that case over is capitalized even when used as a preposition:

In Chicago, MLA, New York Times, and Wikipedia style, the last word of a title is always capitalized as well:

Bluebook style however does not have such a rule, so in that style, the preposition over at the end of a title is not capitalized. This is a rare case, however.

Check out the free Title Case Converter which applies all these rules automatically.