French Title Case
Capitalize your text the French way, handling exceptions for articles and prepositions. Follows French typographic rules.
Available conversions
Everything about French title case
Why use French capitalization rules?
French title capitalization rules differ fundamentally from English. While English Title Case capitalizes nearly every word, French only capitalizes the first word and proper nouns, leaving articles (le, la, les), prepositions (de, à, par, pour), and conjunctions (et, ou, mais) lowercase.
These rules are codified by the Imprimerie nationale and the Lexique des règles typographiques en usage. Applying them manually is tedious and error-prone, especially on long titles or entire tables of contents.
This tool automatically applies French exceptions. Processing is 100% local — your text never leaves your browser.
Use cases
- Editors and typesetters
- Standardize capitalization across an entire table of contents or magazine summary following French typographic conventions.
- Content writers
- Format your H1, H2, and H3 headings according to French standards before publishing in your CMS.
- Academics and researchers
- Apply capitalization rules to chapter titles, section headings, and bibliographic references in your thesis or dissertation.
- French-English translators
- Convert translated headings from English Title Case to French title case in one click, automatically respecting typographic exceptions.
How does the tool work?
Paste or type your text, then click 'French Title Case'. The tool capitalizes each word except French exceptions: articles (le, la, les, l', un, une, des, du, de, d'), conjunctions (et, ou, ni, mais, car, donc, or), and prepositions (à, au, aux, en, dans, par, pour, sur, sous, avec, sans, chez, vers, contre).
The first word of each sentence is always capitalized, even if it's in the exception list. Sentence boundaries are detected via punctuation marks: . ! ? and …
Three other conversions are available: UPPERCASE, lowercase, and First letter (sentence case). When output is displayed, a preview of all conversions appears for comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which words stay lowercase in French Title Case?
- Articles (le, la, les, l', un, une, des, du, de, d'), coordinating conjunctions (et, ou, ni, mais, car, donc, or), and common prepositions (à, au, aux, en, dans, par, pour, sur, sous, avec, sans, chez, vers, contre). The first word of a sentence is always capitalized, even if it's on this list.
- How does this differ from English Title Case?
- English Title Case (AP, Chicago, APA) capitalizes almost every word except a few short articles and prepositions. French is far more restrictive: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. This tool applies the French convention.
- Does the tool handle elisions (l', d')?
- Yes, elided forms l' and d' are recognized as exceptions. For example, 'l'importance de la chose' becomes 'L'importance de la Chose' — the initial 'l'' is capitalized because it's the first word, while 'de' and 'la' stay lowercase.
- Is my text sent to a server?
- No. All conversions run in your browser via JavaScript. No data is transmitted or stored.