Words: King, Mother, Muslims, Professor...

[Rajif from India]

Hi everybody,

Delighted to have found your website.

For so long I have been recking my mind about some words which frequently appear with capital and small letters and even in the same comprehension passages.eg King, Professor, Muslims, Mother, Father, Principal etc
Please tell me the secret behind. I mean, when to start them with capital letters and when small.

Looking forward to learning soon

Rajif from India

[Conchita]

The words King (1), Professor(1), Muslims(2), Mother(3), Father(3), Principal(1) are capitalised according to the following rules:

(1)• Titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names.

She worked as the assistant to Mayor Hanolovi.
I was able to interview Miriam Moss, mayor of Littonville.

(2)• Nationalities and regions, languages, religions and ethnic groups:

a German car
the Scandinavian countries
She speaks Russian and Chinese
a Muslim cleric
the Aboriginal people

(3)• Family relationships
(when used as proper names):

Here is a present I bought for Mother/Father. But:
Did you buy a present for your mother/father?