I appreciate you bringing this up. I created a proc that will return a list of applicants by lastname. The word apostrophe first appeared around 1580–90, stemming from the Greek word apostroph?, meaning “a turning away,” which makes sense as it was first used in English to represent missing … Active 1 year, 10 months ago. Rule: To show plural possession of a name ending in s, ch, or z, form the plural first; then immediately use the apostrophe. APOSTROPHES ARE USED FOR POSSESSION, NOT TO MAKE SOMETHING PLURAL, And one other caveat: there are, of course, some last names that actually have apostrophes IN THE LAST NAME ITSELF—like O’Neil or Ma’afala. For names that do not end in –s, –z, –ch, –sh, or –x, just add –s to the end of the name to make it plural. Rules for apostrophe s how to alphabetize 10 s with apostrophe last name in cells excel last name origins. Examples: Sara and Mabel’s home is constructed of redwood. Just say something like, “Love, the Curtis Family.” Problem solved. Unless you want … So do as the holy grammar gods intended: simply add an "s" at the end to pluralize most last names. Why? You don’t have to be a grammar wizard to get the right answer. Because all the Smarts (presumably) own the boat, you add the apostrophe after the "s." If the family's last name ends in "s," make it plural before adding an apostrophe. Apostrophe rules also mention that if the family name has ending like x, ch, sh, or z, however, we need to add ‘es’ to form the ending. The first rule—the most important thing to remember when working with surnames—is DO NOT EVER change a person’s name. To show possession of a whole family: First, add -es or -s to write the family’s last name in plural form. 18 Filing Rules For Proper Alphabetizing Mate Pages. Ing Alphabetizing Rules. If the possessive involves a last name ending with "s" or "z," you can add either. We’re just plural people—more than one person from a family with the same last name—wishing a merry Christmas. Just don’t add an. Instead, you're making your last name plural to indicate that the card is from all of your family members (the Smiths). As far as I kow, 1900’s is incorrect. And the same applies to last names. The apostrophe (' or ’) character is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. Pip is the Joneses’ cat. When in doubt, we like to use "The Smith Family". (And, even then, you would make the last name plural first, then add the possessive apostrophe after the ‘s.’) In English, to make a word plural, we almost always just add an ‘s’ or an ‘es.’ We don’t ever (ever!) Add -es for names ending in "s" or "z" and add -s for everything else. Let's suppose your last name is Jones, and you and your family want to send out holiday greeting cards or wedding invitations. If your last name feels really confusing, ending with a ‘ys,’ like in “Mays” or “Humphreys,” don’t panic—the rule is always the same. Could you please help finding those applicants: It’s wrong. (Smiths' is the possessive form of the plural proper noun Smiths. For your last name, it ends in ‘s,’ so just add the ‘es’: “Merry Christmas from the Mayses” or “Merry Christmas from the Humphreyses.” (Again, if you don’t like how that looks or sounds, just say, “Merry Christmas from the Humphreys Family.”, Well, call me a Scrooge, but the Christmas season just seems a little brighter if there is correct punctuation hanging on my fridge. On Christmas cards (or any other greeting), it just doesn’t really ever make sense to write your last name with a possession. Then, add an apostrophe at the end to show possession. If your goal is simply pluralization, however, forgo the apostrophe. There’s no possession there. Adding an apostrophe to any of those words where there is no possession is just as wrong as with any other word. Although it may seem complicated at first, the rules of pluralizing last names are actually pretty simple, as Slate has pointed out. Ask Question Asked 10 years, 10 months ago. There is nothing possessive about the sentence, “We live next door to the Jacksons.”, Nor is there anything possessive about the sentence, “The Jacksons want to wish you a merry Christmas.”. And there shouldn’t be an apostrophe, either. If your goal is to make your last name possessive, then, by all means, use an apostrophe. There’s no possession there. I am happy with addresses, SSN (fake), credit card numbers (fake), first and last name are iffy, found a text file with first name and gender, another with surnames. On Christmas cards, when we write, “Love, The Nelsons,” or “From the Smiths,” we are simply using a plural form of our last name. 18 Filing Rules For Proper Alphabetizing. That’s right. On Christmas cards, when we write, “Love, The Thompsons,” or “From the Hendersons,” we are simply using a plural form of our last name. By now, I hope you’re realizing that I’m going to say, “It doesn’t matter; the same rule applies.” As always, if your last name isn’t being used to show possession, it should not use an apostrophe. This rule, hard as it may be to believe for some, applies to all nouns—even proper nouns like last names. Therefore, in the example above, the correct usage would be “Adams’s (2013) work.” Plural last names. You're not trying to make your last name possessive, which is what adding an apostrophe does (the Smith's). If your intent is to indicate a […] See my latest infographics, learn new tips and tricks, and become a communication ninja! Just don’t add that apostrophe! Leave out the apostrophe when making last names plural. How to use an apostrophe after a name ending with S One of the most confusing punctuation rules is when to use an apostrophe to make a name possessive if it ends in S. Names not ending in … When the last name already has an ‘s’, such as Morales or Jones, possession punctuation gets confusing. Mark, you’ve done a great job of clarifying a tricky rule. We’re just plural people—more than one person from a family with the same last name—wishing a merry Christmas. An apostrophe + “s” goes after a family name only if you’re forming a possessive. For example, 1900s vs. 1900’s. If you want possessive of pluralized family name, you need to pluralize the first and simply make name possessive using the apostrophe. A former contestant on the reality show The Apprentice started a business last August, and named it Bakers Toolkit.But wait: Is that Baker's Toolkit, Bakers' Toolkit, or just Bakers Toolkit, with no apostrophe?Luisa Zissman, the businesswoman, didn’t know, … You don’t need an apostrophe because the last name is not expressing ownership. Those apostrophes stay!! The LA Times provided a few other examples of plural possessives: "Unlike singular possessives, which take an apostrophe followed by an S, plural possessives take an apostrophe alone. On the other hand, if Mr. Jones lived alone and was having a party at his place, you would write "Mr. Jones' house" or "Mr. Jones's house." In the spirit of the season, I beg you. Per APA Style, the answer is that the possessive of a singular name is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, even when the name ends in s (see p. 96 in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual). "Errors involving plural proper names are so common that I almost never see them written correctly," June Casagrande writes for the Los Angeles Times. If you are using the names of two different people in a possessive form, you add the apostrophe and the “s” only to the second name -- “Mary and Sally’s red blouses.” If you use one person’s name and a pronoun for the other person, add the apostrophe and “s” only to the name -- “Jimmy’s and her favorite movies.” If you are pluralizing the family name to indicate multiple individual members, no apostrophe is used. If your last name is Curtis, for example (which is my mother’s maiden name and my first given name, so I’m ultra familiar with this one! It doesn’t matter. Now that you know exactly when and where to add an apostrophe, your holiday greetings will not only be jolly but also grammatically correct. When indicating the possessive, if there is more than one owner add an apostrophe to the plural; if there is one owner, add 's to the singular (The Smiths' car vs. Smith's car). Alphabetizing Last Names With Apostrophes Posted on: December 3, 2018 December 3, 2018 Pcs gsm phone user manual t109 apa style 6th edition author names apa format everything you need to know sorts in word without using a table 18 filing rules for proper Apostrophes are not used to make words plural. For example, to congratulate a couple on tying the knot, you'd say, "Congratulations to the Hunters on their recent marriage." Often in English, we change ‘y’-ending words to ‘ies’—as in “bunny” to “bunnies” or “company” to “companies”—which may seem confusing for last names. Another problem that occurs with apostrophes is placing it with numbers. If two people possess the same item, put the apostrophe + s after the second name only. In English, it is used for three purposes: The marking of the omission of one or more letters (as in the contraction of do not to don't). But even if you don’t have any friends or relatives that are English teachers or punctuation snobs, it’s gotta feel good just knowing that you did it correctly, right? Those apostrophes stay!! Although it may seem complicated at first, the rules of pluralizing last names are actually pretty simple, as Slate has pointed out. Or Joneses? With a word like box, the possessive version is fairly straightforward: the box’s hinges.. Let’s repeat the rule: APOSTROPHES ARE USED FOR POSSESSION, NOT TO MAKE SOMETHING PLURAL. You need to use the best formula and stay consistent all the time. Let's say you want to notify friends and family that a party will be held at the Jones household. For your last name, it ends in ‘s,’ so just add the ‘es’: “Merry Christmas from the Mayses” or “Merry Christmas from the Humphreyses.” (Again, if you don’t like how that looks or sounds, just say, “Merry … Both are acceptable—it's merely a difference of style and personal preference. If we have neighbors next door, and their last name is Jackson, then we live next door to the Jacksons—more than one person (plural) with the name of Jackson. It’s just a plural form of cookie. It was just a mistake, and now the company is stuck with its misplaced apostrophe. Plural first, then possessive. Code: rs.field("Name").value = Replace(Replace(Text1.Text, "'", "''"), """", """"") Another Replace tip, this from John Barone You published a tip dealing with the apostrophe in a SQL query and suggested to use the KeyPress event to replace the apostrophe with a backwards apostrophe. This applies to last names as well. add apostrophes to make something plural. I have a problem searching Applicants with last name that has apostrophe (Example O'Connor). If I were to write, for example, “I just ate three cookies with my grandma,” there is no need to add an apostrophe on cookies. Last names ending in s are no different. 5 Responses to “Where to Place the Possessive Apostrophe in a Surname” Pat on January 19, 2011 2:19 pm. How do you know when to add an apostrophe to more than one of something that forms a proper noun, such as a person’s last name? I could randomly insert apostrophes but wanted to be realistic. Of course, things get a little trickier when you want to make a last name plural and possessive. The apostrophe just shows how the practice became incorporated into a single name instead of "I am the son of Artagnan, how do you do..". Just don’t add an extra apostrophe at the end. Usually, if the last name is ending with hard “z”, you will not add “-es” or “s”. Don’t use an apostrophe to make your last name plural. And that alone should make your own Christmas season a little cheerier. If your last name feels really confusing, ending with a ‘ys,’ like in “Mays” or “Humphreys,” don’t panic—the rule is always the same. If you dad is Bob you could change your last name … … Some people argue that you should add an extra ‘s’ when the surname becomes possessive. What you only need to do is to add apostrophes in plurals such as the Chambers’. Apostrophes Don’t Go with Last Names on a Christmas Card. For all other endings, simply add -s to the end (as in Smiths, Whites, Johnsons, etc). On a return address is using an apostrophe on a last name: The Smiths is plural for "Smith" and means there is more than one person named Smith and the invitation is from them all. And it may embarrass you in front of your friends and family at the very time you’re trying to impress them the most. Both first and surnames seem good and plenty of them. And Mr. and Mrs. Berry, whom we call the Berrys, live in the Berrys' house.". Rule: To show singular possession of a name ending in s, ch, or z, use the apostrophe and another s. Examples: Bill Williams's car Harry Birch's house Mrs. Sanchez's children . The Six Types of Résumés You Should Know About, The Anatomy of a Really Good Résumé: A Good Résumé Example, How to Write an Amazing Cover Letter: Five Easy Steps to Get You an Interview, Make Your Boring Documents Look Professional in 5 Easy Steps, MLA FORMAT: GUIDELINES FOR CITING SOURCES. You could take the easy way out and write just that, or you could opt for, "The party will be held at the Joneses' house." Right: Pip belongs to the Joneses. Don’t. Examples: Incorrect: Maribel and my home; The Lennons welcome you to a fun-filled event. OK, let’s get the most important piece of the puzzle out of the way first. ), you must add an ‘es’ to make the last name plural: “Merry Christmas from the Curtises.” Other ‘s’- ‘ch’- ‘sh’- ‘x’- or ‘z’-ending last names do the same: Now…if you don’t like how that looks (believe me, “Curtises” looks really strange to me), you can re-word your Christmas card. Most nouns ending in s are pluralized by adding es. For instance, if you wanted to discuss the Williams family, they would become "the Williamses" in a plural sense. The Whole Family’s Last Name. It is a pet peeve of mine. Because apostrophes are punctuation marks designed to show possession—as in, when something belongs to something else, like a snowman’s pipe or a reindeer’s nose.

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