Sending Christmas Cards? Don’t Make These 3 Mistakes
‘Tis the season… to spell ’tis the season correctly!
As conversion copywriters, we get a liiitle feisty this time of year. Because no matter how many times we say it, people STILL insist on making a plethora of grammatical mistakes in their Christmas cards.
Not you, though. Your holiday cards will be spick and span, thanks to this handy list of what NOT to do.
Mistake 1: Putting Apostrophes in People’s Last Names
If you’re simply making a name plural, you do NOT need to add an apostrophe. Just add an -s (or, if the name ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, add -es).
For example:
- The Klongerbos
- The Smiths
- The Davises
- The Hernandezes
- The Bushes
Mistake 2: Capitalizing the Wrong Words
Words like “merry,” “happy,” and “holidays” aren’t proper nouns, so you shouldn’t capitalize them unless they’re at the start of a sentence.
For example:
- Happy holidays!
- Happy New Year!
- Have a happy New Year!
- Merry Christmas!
- We wish you a merry Christmas!
Mistake 3: Misusing Apostrophes
You need to add an apostrophe ONLY if the term is possessive (or if you’re contracting two words, like “it is”).
For example:
- Season’s greetings!
- Happy New Year!
- Happy New Year’s Eve!
- Happy New Year’s Day!
- New Year’s resolutions
- ‘Tis the season
Go Forth and Send Grammatically Correct Christmas Cards
Have you made any of these grammatical mistakes on your holiday cards?
If so, relax. You actually MADE holiday cards — kudos to you.
And please keep Quotable Copy on your Christmas card list. We’ll still love you, even if you call Sarah’s family “the Klongerbo’s.”
We’ll keep you on OUR list, too… as long as you’re subscribed to our copywriting newsletter, The Weekly Wink!
