Python String capitalize() Method

The capitalize() method returns the copy of a string with its first character capitalized and the rest lowercased.

Syntax

string.capitalize()

Parameters

No parameters

Return Value

Returns a new string with the first character capitalized and the rest lowercased.

Examples

Basic Usage

text = "hello world"
print(text.capitalize()) # Output: Hello world

The capitalize() method only capitalizes the first character of the entire string.

If you are trying to capitalize each word, use the title() method.

With the already capitalized string

If the string is already capitalized, the first character stays uppercase, while all other characters are converted to lowercase.

text = "Hello World"
print(text.capitalize()) # Output: Hello world 

With non-alphabetic first character

If the first character of the string is not an alphabet (e.g., number, symbol, or space), it remains unchanged. However, any subsequent alphabetic characters will still be converted to lowercase.

text = "123 Hello World"
print(text.capitalize()) # Output: 123 hello world