Why do we capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence?

[her209]

Shouldn't the fact that it is at the freaking beginning or that there is a period, exclamation point, or question mark before the first word of said sentence tell us that is the beginning of a new sentence?

 

[Mrvile]

To signify its importance.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: her209
Shouldn't the fact that it is at the freaking beginning or that there is a period, exclamation point, or question mark before the first word of said sentence tell us that is the beginning of a new sentence?

No. Capitalization increases reading speed also.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: her209
Shouldn't the fact that it is at the freaking beginning or that there is a period, exclamation point, or question mark before the first word of said sentence tell us that is the beginning of a new sentence?

No. Capitalization increases reading speed also.

Same with two spaces after a period, shame we cannot do it here.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Because....

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: her209
Shouldn't the fact that it is at the freaking beginning or that there is a period, exclamation point, or question mark before the first word of said sentence tell us that is the beginning of a new sentence?

No. Capitalization increases reading speed also.

Same with two spaces after a period, shame we cannot do it here.

It's not two spaces, per se, but rather a larger space than normal.

Capitalization improves readability.

 

[AreaCode707]

capitalizing a sentence is a secondary visual cue that a new sentence is beginning. punctuation is a good cue as well, but it's fairly easy to miss it as you read through. you'll notice that without capitalization, it's harder to instantly pick out the beginning of a new sentence. that is because the letters themselves now look fairly uniform, and the punctuation just flows right into the words.

 

[ForumMaster]

who needs a reason? English is a weird language and i believe that that rule will probably change as more and more people begin to write and therefor associate SMS language for real English.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
who needs a reason? English is a weird language and i believe that that rule will probably change as more and more people begin to write and therefor associate SMS language for real English.

Don't forget Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Armenian, etc.