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Writing Tip: December 10, 2002

Signing Your Holiday Greetings

A little more than two years ago, on December 1, 2000, we launched this writing tip service. The first tip dealt with a timely issue: the proper way to sign one's family name in holiday greetings. In celebration of our second anniversary--and just in time for this holiday season--we're going to repeat our inaugural tip.

Which of the following are correct?

1. Happy holidays from the Smith's
2. Happy holidays from the Williams'
3. Happy holidays from the Smiths
4. Happy holidays from the Williamses
5. Happy holidays from the Smiths'
6. Happy holidays from the Williamses'
7. Happy holidays from the Williams family.

Only sentences 3, 4, and 7 are correct.

The first two examples are wrong for two reasons. First, the apostrophe makes the names possessive, and when we send greetings, the greetings are from us, not from something we own. The names "Smith" and "Williams" would need to be in the possessive case only if the greeting were from Jane Smith's hamster or John Williams's goldfish.

Second, they are wrong because they are singular. These greetings are supposed to be from an entire family, not from an individual, so the names need to be made plural. Yet when we place the apostrophe where we have it in sentences 1 and 2, we have made a singular word possessive rather than plural.

The middle two examples are correct because in both cases the words are plural but not possessive. To form the plural of any word that does not end in "s" or another sibilant (more on sibilants below), we simply add an "s." Thus the name "Smith" becomes plural when we add an "s" to make "Smiths."

"Williams" is a little tougher because it ends with an "s." Names (and all other words, for that matter) that end with the sounds "s," "sh," "ch," "z," or "x" (what we call sibilants) are made plural by the addition of "es." Thus the name "Williams" in its plural form is "Williamses." Here are some other correct examples of names that end in sibilants and are thus made plural by adding "es":

-- Happy holidays from the Bushes (plural form of the name Bush)
-- Happy holidays from the Birches (plural form of the name Birch)
-- Happy holidays from the Joneses (plural form of the name Jones)
-- Happy holidays from the Foxes (plural form of the name Fox)

The following names do not end in sibilants and are thus made plural simply by adding "s":

-- Happy holidays from the Swansons (plural form of the name Swanson)

-- Happy holidays from the Bradleys (plural form of the name Bradley)

-- Happy holidays from the Berrys (plural form of the name Berry—notice that we do not drop the "y" and add "ies" to proper names)

Sentence 7, of course, skirts the issue by making the family name an adjective. In this case, it does not need to be plural or possessive.

TEST YOURSELF: How would each of the following names be made plural but not possessive?

1. Knox
2. Thomas
3. Sawyer
4. Lewis
5. Riley
6. Marcollini

ANSWERS:

1. Knoxes
2. Thomases
3. Sawyers
4. Lewises
5. Rileys
6. Marcollinis

Copyright 2001 Get It Write

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