'WRITING IN CAPITAL WORDS' A capital W is written with a single stroke. When the letter 'w' is the initial letter in a phrase or the first letter of a proper noun, such as "Washington," use a capital W. More information on when to capitalize letters may be found here. The capital W is used to write words that start with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u). Vowels are short sounds that you make when speaking or writing English. There are five vowels in American English: a, e, i, o, and u. You can identify these vowels by looking at the spelling guide below. Words that start with a consonant sound (b, d, f, g, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z) do not start with a capital W. Consonants are long sounds that you make when speaking or writing English. There are two categories of consonants: plosives and fricatives. Plosives are broad classes of consonants that include b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. Fricatives are thin sounds that you make when saying s or sh after a plosive.