Christmas is one of those funny words that ends with an S and is hard to make plural. You might see Christmas written in plural form as Christmases, Christmas’s, or Christmas’. Which of these is the proper form and what do the others mean?
The proper plural form of the word Christmas is Christmases. However, Christmas’s and Christmas’ are both also correct, just not for the same reason. The apostrophe S and the S apostrophe are used to show possession and not multiples.
Christmases
Christmases is the proper plural form of the word Christmas. If you are talking about more than one Christmas, a Christmas that happened in the past, or a Christmas that is coming in the future, you will use Christmases.
In most cases, this is the word you will need to use in your sentence. It is much more common to use the plural form of the word Christmas than it is to use the possessive form of Christmas.
You are much more likely to talk about multiple Christmases than it is to talk about something that belongs to Christmas.
Examples
A few Christmases ago my mom bought me a new phone.
I have great memories of all my previous Christmases.
This gift is so large I won’t be getting gifts for the next few Christmases.
My past few Christmases have been hard without my mom.
I have never seen snow, so I am hoping my first few Christmases in the north are white ones!
Christmas’s
It is not common that you will need to use Christmas as a possessive word, but there might be a couple of circumstances that you might. Christmas’s is one way to use the word Christmas possessively. There are very few occasions that you will need to use this word.
Examples
We have hours of preparation to complete for Christmas’s events this year.
Christmas’
Christmas’ is another way to write Christmas as a possessive word. You can also use this form of the word when you are discussing something that belongs to Christmas. It is highly uncommon that you will need to use this word.
Examples
We have tons of preparation to get ready for Christmas’ events.
When to Use the Extra S
In the rare case that you need to use a possessive form of Christmas, how are you supposed to know if you should use that additional S? The answer is that it’s really personal choice. Both forms are correct, but adding the additional S is the most popular option.
Whether you decide to add the additional S or not, the most important thing is that you stay consistent. You shouldn’t write Christmas’s in one sentence then write Jones’ in another. You will need to write Christmas’s and Jones’s or Christmas’ and Jones’.
Which One is Correct?
In most cases, Christmases will be the correct form of the word. You use this word when you are talking about more than one Christmas, a past Christmas, or a Christmas that will happen in the future. Christmas’s or Christmas’ will be incorrect in most cases. It is incredibly unlikely that you will talk about something belonging to Christmas.
Summary
Determining the right way to talk about more than one Christmas can be tricky. The proper way to make Christmas plural is to write Christmases.
The only time you will use Christmas’s or Christmas’ is if you are talking about something that belongs to Christmas. This is very rare, so you don’t need to worry about using these much.
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