CAPITAL vs CAPITOL – What’s the Difference?

CAPITAL vs CAPITOL – What’s the Difference?

CAPITAL vs CAPITOL – This video gives a clear definition of each word and then, through illustrated sentence examples, shows how to use these words in their respective contexts.

Never confuse CAPITAL and CAPITOL again.

Here is a transcript of the video: “CAPITOL vs CAPITAL – The Difference (7 Illustrated Examples)”

Slide 2:
A quick reminder before we start,

Continually IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH
Click the subscribe button
the Bell icon
All

Slide 3:
CAPITOL has 1 definition:

It refers to a building in which a legislative (law-making) body meets in a country or state

Note: Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, insisted the legislative building be called the ‘Capitol’.
Following this example, the word ‘capitol’ came to be used by individual states and other jurisdictions for a legislative building.

The clipart shows a government building.

Here is a sentence example . . .

Slide 4:
The picture shows the Capitol building, in the United States.

Sentence example: In 1793, the cornerstone was laid for the Capitol, in Washington D.C., and seven years later, in 1800, the first session of the United States Congress was held.

Slide 5:
CAPITAL (noun) can mean:

a city that is the seat of government in a state or country
wealth in the form of money or other assets

CAPITAL (adjective) can mean:

first and foremost or excellent
relating to a capital letter
the top part or head of a column or pillar
involving death or the death penalty

Now let’s consider illustrated sentence examples of CAPITAL, the noun . . .

Slide 6:
The picture shows Westminster Abbey in London.

Sentence example: London became firmly established as the capital of England in 1066 when William the Conqueror was crowned king in Westminster Abbey.

So here, capital refers to the city that is the seat of government in a country.

Slide 7:
In the pictue we see a distressed man holding his head in his hands.

Sentence example: Unfortunately he made some very unwise investments and lost all his capital.

Here, capital refers to wealth in the form of money or assets.

Now let’s see examples of CAPITAL as an adjective . . .

Slide 8:
In the picture we see a couple on a beach enjoying their honeymoon.

Sentence example: She thought it was a capital idea to go to the Caribbean for their honeymoon.

Capital here means something excellent.

Slide 9:
The picture shows the letter a in lowercase and uppercase.

Sentence example: On the left we see a lowercase ‘a’, and an uppercase or capital ‘A’.

So capital can refer to an uppercase letter.

Slide 10:
The picture shows the top of a column at an ancient temple in Athens.

Sentence example: Here we see a Corinthian style capital at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens.

Slide 11:
In the picture we see a guillotine.

Sentence example: The guillotine was the official method of capital punishment in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981.

Note: As ‘capital’ can refer to the head or top, etymologically, the term refers to execution by beheading, although the term ‘capital punishment’ is now synonymous with ‘death penalty’ where any method of execution is used by the state as a punishment for a serious crime.
The word ‘decapitated’ refers to a person or animal whose head has been cut off.

Slide 12:
So to summarize:

CAPITOL: a building in which a legislative body meets

CAPITAL (n):
a city that is the seat of government in a state or country
wealth in the form of money or other assets

CAPITAL (adj):

first and foremost or excellent
relating to a capital letter
the top part or head of a column or pillar
involving death or the death penalty

Slide 13:
Has this video helped you?
LIKE | SHARE | COMMENT NOW!

Slide 14:
Build A Powerful English Vocabulary
with my FREE course on UDEMY
Go to: http://goodenglish.online

Image Credits

Slide 4 – Capitol, Washington D.C.
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/cvDgNJ

Slide 6 – Westminster Abbey
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/2mWrMMQ

Slide 7 – man upset
Royalty Free
Courtesy of trestletech
https://morguefile.com/p/1006149

Slide 8 – honeymoon
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/UXzTT9

Slide 9 – a and A
Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_(capital_and_small).svg

Slide 10 – column
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/mjvgt2

Slide 11 – guillotine
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/ukofoj

Regarding the use of illustrations and photographs used in this video:

Creative Commons Attribution Licence
Others are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it if they give credit to the creator or source.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Public Domain
Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Public domain status allows the user unrestricted access and unlimited creativity. These are typically very old works.

Royalty Free
The image may be used for almost any business, personal, educational or charitable purpose as long as a credit is published to the creator of the image.

If you are interested in the difference between CAPITAL vs CAPITOL, check out these words which are sometimes confused:
DIAGNOSIS PROGNOSIS – What’s the Difference?