Grammar question: Is it The Smiths, or The Smith's?

[DDowning]

I usually will do "The Smith Family" and not worry about it!

[lisams]

I still don't know!! It almost seems that if it's part of an address on an envelope then it would be The Smith's because it's being addressed to the Smith's house but in greeting or closure of a letter I would think it would be The Smiths. I spent too much time thinking about this and went with "Smith Family"!!!!

Lisa

[Momof3Labs]

It is Dennis's. Dennis' would be the possesive of two people named Denni (where the plural is Dennis, lol).

[pritchettzoo]

The modern usage is to add an 's to a singular noun ending in s according to whether it is pronounced, but either is technically correct. I don't like the way "Dennis's" looks, so I don't add an s after the apostrophe. But I'm strange.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and One More (coming July '05)

[psophia17]

After posting earlier, I whipped out my ould copy of the house style for Doubleday Books, and they never do ---s's except for in the case of Jesus's.

Then I tried writing some possesives out in cursive - not pretty is the best I can say about ---s's...

[mindeva]

Ok, you all have me a little concerned. I always address my cards "The Smith's". I have never even given it a second thought. I like how it looks on the envelope. I see some posts from English teachers, but are you certain?!? Isn't it being addressed to the implied household i.e. the "Smith's household" or the "Smith's home" which would make it possessive?

You have me curious now. If I'm wrong I want to be sure to correct my error on future cards.

[cara1]

Wow, I didn't realize so many people here had the last name Smith! :)

[lukkykatt]

When reading "Eats Shoots and Leaves" I got even more confused AFTER reading the section on possesives that end in an "s". I was paying particular attention because DS' name ends in an "s". There were all sorts of different rules depending on what type of name it was - modern, biblical - and of course, there was the Jesus exception. I like Doubleday's take much better!!

[C99]

Yes, I am certain that it's not possessive and there is no possessive implied. You are sending it to The Smiths because you aren't sending it to ONE Smith, you are sending it to multiple people named Smith. Hence the plural. I understand the reasoning behind writing it as a possessive....but it's still wrong. ;-)

[lizamann]

By this logic, you would then be mailing things to "Jane Smith's" on her birthday, which just isn't done.