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And May All You’re Holiday Card’s Be Right

Suppose that, just by chance, you make a mistake. Then suppose that you repeat that mistake—in your best handwriting or your most elegant font—and send it to everyone you know—even to people who may only hear from you once a year. This is what happens when people stumble over common errors in spelling and punctuation in their holiday cards. Worktalk has compiled this list of common holiday card errors to help you spread grammatically correct holiday cheer.

1. Forming Plurals.
In most words, adding s at the end forms the plural of the word. This holds true even when the word is an acronym or a number.

** For example, “Mr. Brown” is singular (and single). He gets married. We refer to his new family unite as “the Browns” (simple plural: one Brown, two Browns).
** If you were born in 1968, then you were born during the 1960s.
** You bought one CD. You bought 2 CDs. The same rule applies with DVDs, VCRs, and even LPs.
****In short, a simple plural takes a simple “s”. ****

2. Using apostrophes.
Great confusion swirls around the use of apostrophes when writing family names.
The simple rule is this: Apostrophes mark possession.
** The term “you’re” is a contraction of the words “you are.” You could happily (and hospitably) write “You’re invited to our holiday party.”
** The word “your” is a possessive pronoun used in phrases such as “my gift, your gift, my party, your party.” You may NEVER use “your” when you mean “you are”. Some of you will consider this point obvious, but I have seen too many cases in which otherwise literate people have written, “Your Invited to a Party!” or replied “Your welcome” in responding to thanks.

Here’s the clarification you are waiting for:

Family Names That DO NOT End In S
If the surname is Anderson, then the family is a plurality of Andersons. It is a simple plural, so it does NOT require an apostrophe. Ditto for Smiths, Harrisons, and other names. So you could write “We went to the Smiths for Christmas Eve.”
** You can avoid this situation by treating the family as a singular unit like this: “Dear Smith family, We hope you’ve had a great year. Fondly, The Anderson Family.”

The Possessive Form Of Family Names That DO NOT End In S
Remember that the possessive form of a singular noun is formed with apostrophe-s. The possessive form of a plural noun is formed with s-apostrophe.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a family. We call them “the Smiths” (a simple plural). If you think of them as the singular familial entity called “the Smith family.” If they have a house, then their house is “the Smith’s house.” So you could write, “The Andersons invited us to their Christmas party but it’s always so boring there. I’d much rather go to the Smith’s house.”

Family Names That DO End In S
Mark the plural of words that end in “s” with an apostrophe-s combination. This rule applies to all contemporary names. So the possessive form is “s’s” as in “the Jones’s Christmas party was terrific,” or “Lois’s holiday trifle was a triumph.”

You could write, “The Jones’s party was terrific. They played Hank Williams’s music until their neighbors, the Morass’s, threatened to call the police.”

· Some of you have asked me whether there is an exception to the s’s rule. Yes there is. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, the possessive form of the names major historical and religious figures that end in s are formed with the s’ . So you would write Jesus’ miracles, Moses’ law, Xerxes’ rule, Confucius’ philosophy, etc. When I explained this rule to my teenage son, he was indignant. “That’s so arbitrary!” he said. “What about Hank Williams?” I told him that Hank still has a few centuries to go before we’ll refer to Hank Williams’ twang.

3. Using Common Sense
· Be sure to spell the addressee’s name right; otherwise, they might think you are wishing Merry Christmas to someone else.

· Keep your “holiday letter” brief.
Everyone is glad to know that little Bobby has finally been potty-trained. Really we are. But we don’t need to know all the details. Ditto for the details of your most recent surgery. If the people on your holiday card list have not inquired after your health all year long, it’s probably be safe to assume that they don’t need all the details now.

© 2008 Elizabeth Danziger All rights reserved.

Looking for An Excellent Gift?
Are you looking for the perfect gift for a verbally challenged friend, assistant or boss? Why buy a travel mug, desk calendar or a diamond tennis bracelet when you could get an autographed copy of Get to the Point!?

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Elizabeth Danziger offers customized writing training and consulting. She is known nationwide for her humor, clarity and focus. For more information about the Worktalk training, writing, and consulting services, contact lizd@worktalk.com.

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Need to catch up on your Writamins? Visit www.worktalk.com and catch up on some of the writing tips you’ve missed. These are just a few of the archived Writamins on our site:

Know Your Purpose Before You Start.
Use Punctuation to Pace Your Writing.
Secrets of the Semi-Colon.