Talking about compass directions in English

Describing compass directions can be a bit tricky when it comes to remembering whether to use capitals or not, what order to say the words in, and what forms to use, so today I’d like to share a few tips to help you talk about (and write) compass directions in English.

The four cardinal directions are north, east, south, and west. These words do not need capital letters unless they are part of a proper noun.

Ex. Toronto is a city in North America. (“North America” is a proper noun, so “North” is capitalized.)

Ex. Tobermory is north of Toronto. (In this sentence, “north” is simply a direction, so it is not capitalized.)

(Compass directions and seasons are two types of nouns that people often capitalize by mistake!)

The four intercardinal directions are northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest. These words follow the same rules when it comes to capitalization.

Ex. Singapore is located in Southeast Asia.

Ex. Cambodia is southeast of Myanmar.

When referring to a direction, these words can be written as one word, such as “southeast,” or (less-commonly) with a hyphen, as in “south-east.” When used as a proper noun to refer to a geographical region, you may occasionally also see them written as two separate words, as in “The South East of France.”

Note that “north” and “south” always come before “east” and “west.” Saying them in the wrong order, such as “eastsouth,” can be quite confusing!

These words can all be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, and you don’t even have to change the form!

Ex. I’m from the southwest. (noun)

Ex. The southwest corner of the building was damaged. (adjective)

Ex. It’s a couple kilometers southwest of here. (adverb)

However, there are also other forms that can be used as adjectives or adverbs. For example, you may see a word like “southwestern” or “southwesterly” used as an adjective (and “southwesterly” can also be used as an adverb). Both of them mean “from the southwest.” So, you can have a “southwest wind,” a “southwestern wind,” or a “southwesterly wind” - crazy!

Well, I think that’s a good place to wrap up this topic for now, but I hope those tips will help you get your directions right in the future!