English
日本語
한국어
简体中文
繁體中文
Italiano
español
Deutsch
Русский
Do we need to capitalize the words “earth,” “sun,” and “moon”? Do we need to use “the” with them? The answer is… sometimes yes and sometimes no! It’s a bit complicated, but here’s some help...
In our solar system: When referring to a celestial body by its proper name, use “the” and a capital letter (*see the exception for Earth).
Our sun (star) = the Sun
Our moon = the Moon
Our planet = (the) Earth (*using “the” is optional)
Ex. The Moon is 384,400 km away from (the) Earth.
Ex. The Sun is approximately 109 times wider than (the) Earth.
In general: When referring to a generic celestial body, you do not need to use “the” or a capital letter.
Any sun (star) = sun / star
Any moon = moon
Any planet = planet / world
Ex. The Milky Way is estimated to contain 100 to 400 billion stars.
Ex. There are eight planets in our solar system. (I’m sorry, Pluto!)
Our star is called “the Sun,” but other stars may be referred to as suns as well for simplicity’s sake, especially in popular media like movies.
Ex. Twin suns rose over the alien planet, bathing it in light and heat.
Named planets must be capitalized but do not require “the” (e.g. Mars, Jupiter, etc.).
Ex. Scientists are still searching for evidence of life on Mars.
A note about “world”: You may see “the” used with “world” in some specific phrases when it refers to our world, such as “What in the world was that?” or “He’s the richest man in the world!” However, even when “the world” refers to “(the) Earth” in this way, it does not require a capital letter.
Comments (0)