4

If I am addressing a card to multiple family members with the last name Thomas, is the correct spelling Thomas's or Thomas'?

Digital Chris
  • 3,345
Traci
  • 57

2 Answers2

6

The identical question was asked on this forum 12 years ago, right down to the name used:

Thomases. An apostrophe denotes ownership or a contraction.

Examples of correct uses:

I'm visiting the Thomases. That is Thomas' chair. That's the Thomases' dog. The construction "Thomas's" is wrong.

"Apostrophes are NEVER ever used to make plurals." (http://www.spotlight-online.de/CoCoCMS/generator/viewDocument.php?doc=4279) "Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals." (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html)

from the MLA handbook, 5th ed.:

To form the possessive of a plural proper noun, add only an apostrophe.

[examples:] the Vanderbilts' estate the Dickenses' economic woes

last linky (http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm)

When a family name (a proper noun) is pluralized, we almost always simply add an "s." So we go to visit the Smiths, the Kennedys, the Grays, etc.When a family name ends in s, x, ch, sh, or z, however, we form the plural by added -es, as in the Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes. Do not form a family name plural by using an apostrophe; that device is reserved for creating possessive forms.

Digital Chris
  • 3,345
  • 1
    Apostrophes can be used for plurals of single letters: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25277/what-is-the-proper-way-to-write-the-plural-of-a-single-letter-another-apostrop – Joffysloffy Dec 16 '14 at 21:52
  • 1
    'The possessive "Thomas's" is wrong.' One view. An overview is given at dailywritingtips.com: 'Most stylebooks agree that the rule for forming the possessive of a singular noun ending in -s is formed by adding ’s:

    the boss’s birthday the bus’s wheels the witness’s testimony

    When it comes to forming the possessive of a proper name that ends in s, guides disagree.'

     – Edwin Ashworth Dec 16 '14 at 23:26
  • 1
    The construction "Thomas's" is correct if "Thomas" is referring to a single person. – Zenadix Sep 03 '17 at 17:26
1

You are writing to the Thomas family (or family Thomas, to be a little jazzy) or to the individual or multiple Thomases who comprise the family. Most surnames form the plural using the same rules as for other nouns.

pazzo
  • 1,556