Now that every married couple I know has a blog, the following seems timely.
When you're writing a surname, the same rules apply as they do to every apostrophe-s word out there. It's the Johnsons, not the Johnson's. If we're talking about the Johnsons' lawnmower, however, it looks like that — plural possessive. (I live in New York City, so I don't see a lot this on homes or mailboxes, but nationwide, I've seen a lot of "Welcome to the Hanson's" action going on.)
Last names that end in -s are understandably tricky and take an -es. The Joneses always seems to mess everybody up. It's either The Jones Family or The Joneses.
However, I admit there may be more than one school of thought on this topic. If yours differs from mine, please fire away!
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9 comments:
i hate when i am an idiot...so, its the Strittmatters, not the Strittmatter's? would it ever be the Strittmatter's?
Hmm ... not unless a Strittmatter was a breed of dog or something, and it was the Strittmatter's chew toy. If you're talking about more than one Strittmatter, i.e. you and Nick, it's just plural, like everything else you'd add an -S to, to indicate more than one.
Growing up as a Brooks, I've been fighting this my entire life! We get mail with apostrophes all over the place. I definitely agree that it's easier just to tack on "family" when trying to pluralize anything to do with our fam.
What about if your last name ends in "z"?
That takes an -es as well, as in The Schultzes.
Thanks, Sarah, and thanks to all the Protzmans. See, I got it right!
Guess who this is.
Not a clue!
Think OC neighbors!
Sarah, I am of your school of thought on this.
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