If youre looking for a stocking stuffer, please consider grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing or the grammar devotional. Greeting cards, holiday cards, announcements and more. Theres one time of year where handwritten messages abound, and thats the christmas season. In the case of seasons greetings, adding an apostrophe and the letter s to the word season indicates possession. Tis the season to send holiday greetings to one and all. Buy our book smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar essentials from apostrophes to zeugma and a chapter on easily confused words from affecteffect to whetherif. The correct form is the first one, seasons greetings. The expression season s greetings is an expression of genitive case also known as possessive.
Dont worry after youve written something ten or twenty times, your mind starts doubting. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Grammar gift ideas this weeks podcast is sponsored by, well, me. They stand in for something thats missing, and they can be used to make a word possessive. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. Some 1,500 leading members of malaysias large christian community have received seasons greetings from abdullah. The apostrophe the apostrophe has two legitimate uses.
Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. Seasons greetings or seasons greetings and confusing holiday. Now how do you write the perfect message inside that keeps you off of the naughty list. The correct form is the first one, seasons gr eetings.
Apostrophes have two main uses in the english language. If there are more than one errors, separate corrected words with a space and a hyphen as in the examples. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing. Should we just return all those holiday card apostrophes like that awkward secret santa present that joyously. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to reallife, entertaining examples.
Seasons, the plural, makes no sense as an adjective modifying greetings. The apostrophe tells us that the greetings are regarding the current season and all the holidays in it. Today, the most common place to find this kind of apostrophe is in contractions such as cant for cannot, thats for that is, and its for. Seasons greetings or seasons greetings and confusing. Dear is a modifier, and you dont use a comma to separate modifiers from the things they modify lazy, cat. The logic is that all names should be treated the same. Without the apostrophe, or with it after the s, it indicates multiple seasons. When writing the phrase, it is standard english to place the apostrophe after the n and before the s in seasons. Grammar cop will not cite you for misuse of an apostrophe for writing the possessive form of season in your greetings. Most genitives are formed with s the term genitive includes a larger range of relationships than possessiveownership my dog, temporary possession his cookie, a natural trait his tail, a family relationship his mom, origin his city, performer of an action his arrival, and more. Classically, it is not correct to just add an apostrophe to a last name that already ends in s if it is singular possessive.
With just one small mark, they can make the difference between an errorfree card and the alternative. The expression seasons greetings is an expression of genitive case also known as possessive in. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. Apostrophe english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Happy holidays, seasons greetings, and oh, yes, merry christmas to all, and to all a good night. Adding an apostrophe to seasons greetings is correct, since it makes the phrase. Tis the season for good grammar, along with all those glad tidings. Seasons greetings meaning of seasons greetings by lexico. Apostrophes first showed up in the 1500s as a way to indicate omissions. Esl vocabulary and grammar apps for mobile and tablets learn on the go. The other option that you have is adding just an apostrophe and youre only going to do that when the singular or plural nouns end in s so something like the joneses which is a plural noun that describes all the members of the jones family, if we are talking about the house that they own, we are going to say the joneses house or for.
Happy new year follows the same rule, so you would not capitalize happy unless it begins the sentence. By susan december 11, 2017 punctuation apostrophes apostrophe, punctuation, seasons greetings. Seasons greetings is a shortened form for greetings of the season and makes excellent sense. The greetings belong to the season, so you need the possessive with the apostrophe and not the plural seasons. An apostrophe is a mark of punctuation used to identify a noun in the possessive case or indicate the omission of one or more letters from a word. In the case of season s greetings, adding an apostrophe.
The exact origin of seasons greetings is unclear, going perhaps as far back as the 1500s according to some sources, but its been used commonly at least since the mid1800s. The letter s in the word greetings is part of this word. Only use an apostrophe when you want to make a name possessive. However, please remember seasons greetings without the apostrophe means greetings for many seasons. Is there an apostrophe before the s in greetings answers. While that may sound simple enough, many people are baffled by the little squiggle.
Write the correct form of the words in the boxes below. Apostrophes punctuation rules grammar and punctuation. The first one, because its basically short for greetings of the season. Rather, the apostrophe in seasons greetings is more accurately equated to the word of. In the case of seasons greetings, adding an apostrophe and the letter s to the word season indicates. Seasons greetings, seasons greetings or seasons greetings.
The apostrophe is required not because a season is a person with possessions, but because the phrase should be understood as the greetings of the season. The word season in this twoword phrase typically covers the whole gamut of holidays packed into the last month and a half of the year, from thanksgiving to christmas, hanukkah to kwanzaa, and of course the new year too. Is it seasons greetings or seasons greetings answers. Apostrophes mark possession, but the degree can vary, which makes seasons greetings a bit counterintuitive the glad tidings dont belong to the season in the same way that frostys top hat belongs to him. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s. Donate to help vulnerable communities cope with covid19 donate search subscribe. Or you may avoid the issue and wish people happy holidays. You are sending the greetings of the season just one season, so its s. Everything you need to know about this little mark.
If youre wishing someone greetings of the season, youre wishing seasons greetings. Adding an apostrophe to season s greetings is correct, since it makes the phrase possessive. In other words, greetings belonging to this time of the year. The apostrophe makes the term look possessive, but it isnt truly possessive, just quasipossessive. The expression seasons greetings is an expression of genitive case also known as possessive in which one noun is the possessor of another noun. If your last name is johnson and you want to send a card from your family, simply add an s. Second, a comma after dear john makes more sense than a comma after hi, june. In the phrase seasons greetings, the greetings belong to the.
With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Youve chosen a beautiful design for your custom greeting cards. But before you mail your cards en masse, double check that youve included an apostrophe. According to wikipedia, seasons greetings is a term that wishes people well over the holiday. Voiceover hello grammarians hello paige, voiceover hi, david. With the season s greetings or simply the season s greetings was shortened to season s greetings in the 1920s. If apostrophes are a challenge for you, check out our detailed. And although you may like the person so well that you want to wish them good tidings for numerous seasons to come. Should you send seasons greetings or seasons greetings. A third use, the pluralisation of words and letters in such expressions as mind your ps and qs, is controversial. Grammar and punctuation university of west florida. Ensure that your holiday cards are tall on seasonal greetings and short on.
Apostrophe english grammar today cambridge dictionary. The speakerwriter is wishing you greetings of the season. I dont care whether its james or john, jones or smith. Greetings without the apostrophe means greetings for many seasons. Dont be fooled by any signs that read seasons greetings. Today were going to start talking about a different piece of punctuation and that piece of punctuation is the apostrophe it kind of looks like a comma, but its one that floats in the air heres the ground, heres the word ground, and if we say paiges dog atti were using the apostrophe, not. Nowadays political correctness would have us believe that christmas is prac.
Find out with our guide to the most common christmas card grammar mistakes. A simple and timely reminder for our final mind your language column of the year. Seasons greetings or seasons greetings or seasons greetings. That being said, i am not going to stop saying merry christmas. Which is grammatically correct, seasons greetings or. Seasons greetings, and please dont forget the apostrophe. New years day and seasons greetings in these phrases, new years and seasons are possessive and need apostrophes put these rules to work you can even print out this page if it helps and youll be well on your way to creating a professional, grammatically sound card to. The correct version is seasons greetings because they are the greetings offor the seasonthe apostrophe shows possession. Origin the exact origin of the phrase seasons greetings is unknown, but it is believed to have gained popularity around the same time that merry christmas began to replace.
You better not pout because this quick guide will tell you how to avoid common holiday greeting grammar errors. Check your results by clicking on submit worksheet subject explanations. While preparing your holiday cards, you may be stumped by a recurring december dilemma. It is technically a possessive, seasons greetings greetings of the christmas season, but on posters, banners, and cards the apostrophe is often omitted. Decide whether the apostrophe s is possessive s or it stands for hasis. The apostrophe bedevils many, but in this case you want to use it because the meaning of the phrase is greetings of the holiday season. You are only referring to one season, the winter xmas holiday season. While normal people wonder about apostrophes in general, believe it or not, word nerds have heated arguments over whether to use an additional s with singular possession rule 1.
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