Address your mail like a champ (not like a silly goose)

/
 
 

There are certain times when I tend to need reminders about pluralizing last names to mail letters, cards, or parcels, and the holidays are by far the most noticeable time of the year. I’ve put together this little list to share for those of you who are also regular mail senders and might want a cheat sheet!

 
 
 
 
 
 


Individual names:
Nothing too tricky here, add their name first and last names and send the mail on its merry way!


Pairs of people:
This can change with the level of formality you want to include, or depending on the closeness of your relationship with the people you’re sending to. The examples below are listed from very formal to very casual:

Mr. and Mrs. James Halpert
James and Pamela Halpert
The Halperts
Jim and Pam
Tuna and Pam Burger


Family Names:
The biggest problem that people run into when addressing cards to families is pluralizing last names (spoiler, you never use apostrophes). Before we get to those rules though, here are some foolproof examples for addressing mail without having to pluralize last names at all:

Phil and Clair Dunphy and Family
The Pritchett Family

If you do want to pluralize here are some of the most common rules to do it properly (and keep the word nerds in your life from giving you grammar lesson during your next family dinner):

  • Don’t use an apostrophe and an ‘s’. Nope, never. Not even when you think it looks right.

  • Most names just get an ‘s’ added to the end of the name, with no other changes. For example:

    Bluth → Bluths
    Schrute → Schrutes
    Weasley → Weasleys

  • The only exception is if a name ends in an s, sh or z. In this case you add an ‘es’ to the end (which does look wrong sometimes). For example:
    Jones → Joneses
    Marsh → Marshes
    Martinez → Martinezes

  • If the name ends in ‘ch’ and makes a ‘chuh’ sound, add an ‘es’ to the end. If the ‘ch’ makes a ‘k’ sound it gets an ‘s’.
    Finch → Finches
    Bach → Bachs

  • If the name ends in an x that is silent, you only add an ‘s’. If it is not silent it gets an ‘es’.
    Bordeaux → Bordeauxs
    Felix → Felixes


    * Bonus tip: I have often found myself writing a plural last name that I’m almost certain is correct, but I don’t like the way that it looks. If this is the case I tend to go with on of the ‘family’ options instead and it works just as well.