Is one allowed to use capitalization for emphasis?

Question

In written English, is it okay to emphasize words by capitalizing them? As in: > I would NEVER do that! Are there other methods to achieve this? On an aside: Dutch uses acute accents for emphasis: > Ik zou dat **nooit** doen! [normal] > Ik zou dat **nóóit** doen! [emphasized]

Answer 1

As always, the context of writing matters. In an academic paper, you should use italics to emphasize something (although emphasizing at all in an academic paper is not encouraged). Generally, italics are also used in fiction writing, but sometimes an author will use bold or CAPITALS to make a point or because of how the words look on the page.

Answer 2

Some people do use capitalization for emphasis, although this is informal. Another option is to italicize the word you wish to emphasize as in "I would never do that."