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Typrgirl Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Plural form of proper names
Example: "We are going out to dinner with the Johns(es) this evening."
I read on a grammar website that names ending in a hard "z" sound should be left as-is (Johns) for its plural form. However, the name Jones is made plural by adding "es." Why is that since Jones has the hard "z" sound as well? And, are there cases where sometimes one would add "es" and other times not? Sigh.
Signed,
Tired of not knowing how to pluralize my own last name.
I read on a grammar website that names ending in a hard "z" sound should be left as-is (Johns) for its plural form. However, the name Jones is made plural by adding "es." Why is that since Jones has the hard "z" sound as well? And, are there cases where sometimes one would add "es" and other times not? Sigh.
Signed,
Tired of not knowing how to pluralize my own last name.
Top answer
You do add es to names ending in s, so Joneses is correct for the family of people whose surname is Jones. I'm not sure who the "Johns" are. Are they two friends of yours both named John, if so, you would say, "I'm going to dinner with the two Johns tonight.
- You do add es to names ending in s, so Joneses is correct for the family of people whose surname is Jones.
- I'm not sure who the "Johns" are.
- Are they two friends of yours both named John, if so, you would say, "I'm going to dinner with the two Johns tonight.
- You just add an s, because John ends in n, not s.
- But, if it is a family with the surname Johns, then the plural would be Johnses.
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7 Answers
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You do add es to names ending in s, so Joneses is correct for the family of people whose surname is Jones.
I'm not sure who the "Johns" are. Are they two friends of yours both named John, if so, you would say, "I'm going to dinner with the two Johns tonight. You just add an s, because John ends in n, not s.
But, if it is a family with the surname Johns, then the plural would b
I'm not sure who the "Johns" are. Are they two friends of yours both named John, if so, you would say, "I'm going to dinner with the two Johns tonight. You just add an s, because John ends in n, not s.
But, if it is a family with the surname Johns, then the plural would b
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Thanks, sam1947!
Sorry I didn't clarify that Johns is a surname (mine for 3 years, as a matter of fact). I just have never been certain as to adding an "s" versus "es" to the last name Johns. And reading about the "hard z" sound threw me. While I don't consider myself a member of the "punctuation police," I do also get annoyed with people using apostrophes to pluralize words...lol. Must
Sorry I didn't clarify that Johns is a surname (mine for 3 years, as a matter of fact). I just have never been certain as to adding an "s" versus "es" to the last name Johns. And reading about the "hard z" sound threw me. While I don't consider myself a member of the "punctuation police," I do also get annoyed with people using apostrophes to pluralize words...lol. Must
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I suspect that lots of students these days aren't paying close attention in English class from the state of things one hears these days!
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What about names ending in se? As in "I have three Denises in my class." Is that the correct plural for Denise?
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Anonymous"I have three Denises in my class." Is that the correct plural for Denise?Yes. The plurals of proper nouns are formed according to the same rules as the plurals of common nouns. The only exception that comes to my mind is that the final y doesn't change:
a baby - babies
John Kennedy - the Kennedys
CB
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