It’s that time of year when holiday/Christmas/Festivus/Whatever Winter Holiday cards are being sent out. Each year my family sends and receives our own holiday cards for the season. Unfortunately a grammatical mistake occurs more often than not. To set the record straight let’s go over the correct way to spell an entire family name when talking about your family or the family you are addressing the holiday card to.
Scenario 1: The Family name does not end in the letter “S”
Let’s say your last name is Smith.
These are not correct:
– Happy Holidays from the Smith’s
– Happy Holidays from the Smiths’
– Happy Holidays to the Smith’s
– Happy Holidays to the Smiths’
Instead use this:
– Happy Holidays from the Smiths
– Happy Holidays to the Smiths
– Happy Holidays to the Smith Family
Scenario 2: The Family name ends in the letter “S”
Let’s say your last name is Holmes
These are not correct:
– Happy Holidays from the Holmes’
– Happy Holidays from the Holme’s
– Happy Holidays from the Holmeses’
Instead use this:
– Happy Holidays from the Holmeses
– Happy Holidays to the Holmes Family
One exception.
You will notice that the rule is no apostrophes are used at all in the last names. There’s one exception to this rule and it was brought to my attention by my friend Patrick because he has the last name of “O’Keefe”.
These are not correct:
– Happy Holidays from the O’Keefe’s
– Happy Holidays from the O’Keefes’
– Happy Holidays to the O’Keefe’s
– Happy Holidays to the O’Keefes’
Instead use this:
– Happy Holidays from the O’Keefes
– Happy Holidays to the O’Keefes
– Happy Holidays to the O’Keefe Family
Happy Holiday’s Holidays!
Here’s more info on apostrophe’s
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Gregory Ng
GOAL: Visit 100 National Parks as a family by 2020. Favorite Parks: Zion National Park, Mt Rainier National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park
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