Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m here to remind you of the difference between capital and capitol.
OK, these two words sound exactly alike, so you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Let’s first look at “capital” spelled with a t-a-l. This word has several different meanings, but relevant for our purposes today is that it refers to the city in which a state or country legislature meets.
On the other hand, “capitol” spelled t-o-l refers to the specific building, not the city, in which the legislature meets. There’s a kind of weird way of remembering this where you can think of the “o” in “capitol” as representing the dome of the US legislature building. Or you can just remember that “o” is a building, and “a” is a city.
That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.