Which sentence shows correct capitalization after a colon?

• A. She brought three items: A map, a compass, and a Notebook.
• B. She brought three items: a map, a compass, and a notebook.
• C. She brought three items: a Map, a compass, and a notebook.
• D. She brought three items: a map, a compass, and a Notebook.

Answer: (B)

Capitalization after a colon depends on what follows: if the next part is a complete sentence or a proper noun, you capitalize the first word; if it’s a list or fragment, you usually keep it lowercase. Here, the colon introduces a list of common nouns: map, compass, notebook. None of those are proper nouns, and the list isn’t a complete sentence, so the first word and the items remain in lowercase. That’s why the version with all items in lowercase is correct. Capitalizing “Notebook” or “Map” would imply a sentence or a proper noun, which isn’t the case here.