To tell teacher friend about grammar error?

[ImaSababa]

A friend of mine is a primary school teacher, and is making and selling cushions on Facebook. Lovely. The problem is, they're riddled with mistakes, such as "Christmas at the Johnson's" when surely is should be "Johnsons'".

Should I tell her?

' is only relevant if the name ends in an S

So if the surname is Johnson then Johnson's is correct. If the the surname is Johnsons then it should be Johnsons'

I suppose Theodore or Theodora might choose to be known informally by an unusual 3-letter contraction of their name rather than the more common 4 letters....

@kursaalflyer

Don't you mean peni's?

Yep, that cushion cover really does mean, "Christmas at the house of the Penis."

I wonder if she's experiencing unexpectedly high demand for that particular design. It would be very popular among certain of my friends...

Neversleepingever is probably the OP's friend who's making the cushions

@SummerHouse

So are both James' and James's correct. I see both used and always wonder.

James is not a plural so it is a different case to the Johnsons being discussed here. I think all the discussions I've seen say James' and James's are both accepted - it's just a question of being consistent.

As another poster highlighted the fact you say "Jame-ses" when reading out "James's house" makes the s's version seem more helpful. As someone whose first name ends in s, it's the version I favour.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

‘ It's not necessarily a gift as such, but rather something that's especially important to learn and understand if you choose to become a teacher.’

But you are allowed to make a mistake now and then. Teachers are human too. Making a mistake whilst installing gas, and placing an apostrophe in the wrong place are hardly comparable!!

And incase anyone wonders about the correct use of the Penis family apostrophe

Christmas at the Penises'
Christmas with the Penises
Christmas at Mr Penis's

@DadDadDad
Definitely helpful to say it out loud. Like Jesus, for example, should probably always be Jesus's rather than Jesus'.

😂

Sorry, I was laughing at the House of Mr. Penis, not at Jesus...

Why not ‘A Happy Johnson Christmas’ not exactly great but no need for any apostrophe uncertainty.

@LaceyBetty

But one that is very confusing to me is my friend's family name of Moss. How would that work?

Umm technically the Mosses'? I think you'd write it the Moss'

@TheMobileSiteMadeMeSignup

Nope. Shortened version of Christmas at the Johnson's house.

Plural version would be Christmas with the Johnsons.

Nope. Plural Johnsons so plural possessive.

Fgs. I'm a language teacher. The OP is correct. It should be at the Johnsons'. It is a possessive plural, referring to the house belonging to multiple members of the Johnson family.

To many people hear with no clue. You have too tell her, ignore the people telling you not too, their wrong.

Or
Happy Christmas - with the Johnsons.
Christmas Cheer - the Johnsons are here
Etc many ways to swerve away from it. This thread has shown that even if correct many will think it’s wrong !!!

I see this exact error very often on these type of family Christmas plaques. As this thread proves, it is quite confusing and difficult to get right. For some people, it doesn’t really bother them and they just like their nice festive plaque, and that’s fine. For others it would make their teeth itch every time they looked at it.
I think the best solution would be to use:
Christmas with the Johnsons
(I.e. with instead of at, so the possessive plural of the house ownership doesn’t come into it, just the plural of the multiple people called Johnson)
Or better yet:
Christmas with the Johnson family
(I.e. no plural OR possessive apostrophe needed)

OK - @CodenameVillanelle, here's one for you: what if a family has a surname of Moses - it would be Christmas as the .... ?

*Christmas at the...

One might suggest finding something a little more important to worry about.

Teachers are often not that well educated in grammar.

There's no real consensus on whether this teacher is actually wrong anyway, though I'd say not.

@DadDadDad

OK - *@CodenameVillanelle*, here's one for you: what if a family has a surname of Moses - it would be Christmas as the .... ?

Christmas at the Moseses' Gawd knows

English teacher here. OP is correct.

Chances are she is working off the email request which will spell out what is actually required.
Oddly there are often spelling errors on gravestones due to the buyer spelling it that way. You keep a written copy of the request whether it is right or wrong.