In English, a colon may be followed either by a capital letter or by a lower case letter, depending on usage; where direct speech follows, a capital letter is used; where an acronym or proper noun follows, a capital is used; otherwise, a lower case letter is used.[3] In British English, the word following the colon is lowercase unless it is a proper noun, an acronym, or if it is normally capitalized for some other reason. Some modern American style guides, including those published by the Associated Press and the Modern Language Association, prescribe capitalization where the colon is followed by an independent clause (i.e. a complete sentence). However, The Chicago Manual of Style[4] requires capitalization only when the colon introduces two or more complete sentences.[5]