I am not a mother tongue, but I would just use The Valdez in this case. The article is enough for me to make explicit that they are two or more. If it was only one you would have said just Valdez, isn't it?
But, as I said, i am not mother tongue... don't count on me saying the right thing...
AO, there is no real consensus on whether the possessive should be Valdez' or Valdez's. I would suggest that either is correct. There are many respected sources that say one, the other, or both.
Oh, silly us, AO. The possessive really should be "the Valdezes' ", shouldn't it? "The Valdez' " or "the Valdez's" only makes sense if there's only one of them. In that case, there would be no "the" unless he or she is THE Valdez, the one and only, the greatest Valdez ever!
probably plural is Valdezes, although it's not exactly set in stone, seeing as it's a non-english word. What's happening is that you're applying a fairly general english rule to a close-enough case and english is flexible enough for that to be acceptable. However, you should note that it is technically correct to use an apostrophe for "hard to pluralize cases", notably P's and Q's, so if you had a violent objection to integrating a spanish word into a spanish-english hybrid plural, then an argument can be made that Valdez's is correct (or at least not incorrect, if you're taking Who Wants to be a Millionaire to court after getting the final question wrong).
style guides generally suggest writing the possessive s where it is pronounced, so possessive Valdez's rather than Valdez' for the singular, but really it's optional
but yes, the Valdezes' and the Goodriches' (house)
Why not just refer to those names as a group unit? Such as "the Valdez Family". Maybe even "the Valdez household" in case of a unknown marial status. Seems like that would be the easiest way to git 'er done. :)
The "ending with an apostrophe" rule only applies for the letter "s" (not z, x, sh, etc.), and only in certain situations: Jesus', Moses' and words in which the possessive "s" is not pronounced (boys', girls').
"Chris's" is pronounced so "Chrisses", it should end with apostrophe-s.
Valdez ends with z, and it's pronounced "Valdezzes" anyway, so it ends with 's.
When speaking English and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular.
An right-speaking English speaker says "Juan Valdez", "Juan and Juanita Valdez" and "The Valdez".
When speaking Spanish and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, article gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speak says, "Juan Valdez", "Juan y Juanita Valdez" and "Los Valdez".
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as the native speaker would say it.
When speaking English and saying the plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular.
A right-speaking English speaker says “Juan Valdez”, “Juan and Juanita Valdez” and “The Valdez”.
When speaking Spanish and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, article gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speak says, “Juan Valdez”, “Juan y Juanita Valdez” and “Los Valdez”.
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as the native speaker would say it.
When speaking English and saying the plural form of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular form.
A right-speaking English speaker says “Juan Valdez”, “Juan and Juanita Valdez” and “The Valdez”.
When speaking Spanish and saying the plural form of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular form. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speaker says, “Juan Valdez”, “Juan y Juanita Valdez” and “Los Valdez”.
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as a native speaker would say it.
To answer Ann's question, the plural of Marschuetz is Marschuetzes. The ornament should read: "Love, the Marschuetzes." (Don't capitalize the article "the," it isn't an honorific.)
As for the original question, those who have argued that a name of non-English origin should be made possessive in the manner of the language of origin are incorrect. It is, in fact, impossible in some cases. For example, Mandarin does not alter the name to make it possessive, instead it uses the particle "de" to indicate possession:
Zhe shi Mao xian sheng de ge ge.
This is Mr. Mao's elder brother.
To apply the Mandarin practice to English would be awkward, and limiting: "This is the elder brother of Mr. Mao."
The same holds true for plurals of proper names, which are treated by English rules regardless of origin. And the rule is simple, at least as English rules go. Most names simply add '-s', while those ending in 's', 'x', or 'z', or in a sibilant 'ch' or 'sh' add '-es'.
Thanks thanks thanks! I was looking for something along lines of this for hours and couldn't find it. Will definitely drop a word about this site. Cheers
Giorgio Guzzetta (unregistered)
November 8, 2008, 2:05am
I am not a mother tongue, but I would just use The Valdez in this case. The article is enough for me to make explicit that they are two or more. If it was only one you would have said just Valdez, isn't it?
But, as I said, i am not mother tongue... don't count on me saying the right thing...
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jrod
November 9, 2008, 3:59pm
Man says in Spanish 'los Valdez' ('the -plural- Valdez)
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porsche
November 10, 2008, 8:30am
This is really very simple. "The Valdezes" is the correct plural. "The Valdez's" would be the possessive, not the plural.
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AO (unregistered)
November 10, 2008, 10:29am
Valdez ends in sibilant. That makes..hm..at least the possesive "the Valdez'." The plural's "The Valdezes" though, I agree.
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porsche
November 11, 2008, 5:37am
AO, there is no real consensus on whether the possessive should be Valdez' or Valdez's. I would suggest that either is correct. There are many respected sources that say one, the other, or both.
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porsche
November 11, 2008, 2:28pm
Oh, silly us, AO. The possessive really should be "the Valdezes' ", shouldn't it? "The Valdez' " or "the Valdez's" only makes sense if there's only one of them. In that case, there would be no "the" unless he or she is THE Valdez, the one and only, the greatest Valdez ever!
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threesixty (unregistered)
November 13, 2008, 8:09pm
WHAT ABOUT ALL THE CARS, PORSCHE?! ALL OF THEM! AHH! *SCREAMS*... Just kidding.
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johnrogers
November 19, 2008, 8:22am
Which of the following is correct when referring to a family named Goodrich?
1. We're having dinner at the Goodriches' tonight.
2. We're having dinner at the Goodrichs' tonight.
Thank you.
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eeenok
November 26, 2008, 1:52am
probably plural is Valdezes, although it's not exactly set in stone, seeing as it's a non-english word. What's happening is that you're applying a fairly general english rule to a close-enough case and english is flexible enough for that to be acceptable. However, you should note that it is technically correct to use an apostrophe for "hard to pluralize cases", notably P's and Q's, so if you had a violent objection to integrating a spanish word into a spanish-english hybrid plural, then an argument can be made that Valdez's is correct (or at least not incorrect, if you're taking Who Wants to be a Millionaire to court after getting the final question wrong).
style guides generally suggest writing the possessive s where it is pronounced, so possessive Valdez's rather than Valdez' for the singular, but really it's optional
but yes, the Valdezes' and the Goodriches' (house)
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suzieqalaska
December 2, 2008, 9:49pm
Why not just refer to those names as a group unit? Such as "the Valdez Family". Maybe even "the Valdez household" in case of a unknown marial status. Seems like that would be the easiest way to git 'er done. :)
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Chris (unregistered)
December 7, 2008, 5:33pm
The "ending with an apostrophe" rule only applies for the letter "s" (not z, x, sh, etc.), and only in certain situations: Jesus', Moses' and words in which the possessive "s" is not pronounced (boys', girls').
"Chris's" is pronounced so "Chrisses", it should end with apostrophe-s.
Valdez ends with z, and it's pronounced "Valdezzes" anyway, so it ends with 's.
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john234
May 13, 2009, 11:06am
Well.....I agree with most of the things you said. Anyway, thanks!
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johnnye
November 29, 2009, 5:21am
When speaking English and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular.
An right-speaking English speaker says "Juan Valdez", "Juan and Juanita Valdez" and "The Valdez".
When speaking Spanish and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, article gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speak says, "Juan Valdez", "Juan y Juanita Valdez" and "Los Valdez".
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as the native speaker would say it.
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johnnye
November 29, 2009, 5:22am
correction:
When speaking English and saying the plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular.
A right-speaking English speaker says “Juan Valdez”, “Juan and Juanita Valdez” and “The Valdez”.
When speaking Spanish and saying plural of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, article gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speak says, “Juan Valdez”, “Juan y Juanita Valdez” and “Los Valdez”.
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as the native speaker would say it.
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johnnye
November 29, 2009, 5:24am
One more time!
When speaking English and saying the plural form of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular form.
A right-speaking English speaker says “Juan Valdez”, “Juan and Juanita Valdez” and “The Valdez”.
When speaking Spanish and saying the plural form of a Spanish surname, the name gets said the same as the singular form. However, the singular masculine or feminine definitive article, depending upon the name, gets changed to the plural definitive article.
So the Spanish speaker says, “Juan Valdez”, “Juan y Juanita Valdez” and “Los Valdez”.
Valdez is not an English loan word. Thus, the word gets said as a native speaker would say it.
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amarschuetz
November 29, 2009, 10:47am
How do I put Marschuetz on an ornament when I want it to be love, The Marschuetzes is that correct or should it be love, The Marschuetz's
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douglas.bryant
November 29, 2009, 2:45pm
To answer Ann's question, the plural of Marschuetz is Marschuetzes. The ornament should read: "Love, the Marschuetzes." (Don't capitalize the article "the," it isn't an honorific.)
As for the original question, those who have argued that a name of non-English origin should be made possessive in the manner of the language of origin are incorrect. It is, in fact, impossible in some cases. For example, Mandarin does not alter the name to make it possessive, instead it uses the particle "de" to indicate possession:
Zhe shi Mao xian sheng de ge ge.
This is Mr. Mao's elder brother.
To apply the Mandarin practice to English would be awkward, and limiting: "This is the elder brother of Mr. Mao."
The same holds true for plurals of proper names, which are treated by English rules regardless of origin. And the rule is simple, at least as English rules go. Most names simply add '-s', while those ending in 's', 'x', or 'z', or in a sibilant 'ch' or 'sh' add '-es'.
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Burghard7
December 15, 2009, 12:42pm
Thanks thanks thanks! I was looking for something along lines of this for hours and couldn't find it. Will definitely drop a word about this site.
Cheers
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karsten1
February 2, 2010, 7:59pm
I have now found your site through google and find them very interesting.
Unfortunately I can not soo good English and I have to look up very many words. Is there a way to translate the whole page somewhere?
I'd really appreciate an answer. Love Greetings from Germany
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douglas.bryant
February 2, 2010, 10:11pm
Google has a translation tool. You will find it in the "more" menu at the top of the Google home page.
Here is an example:
Google hat ein Übersetzungs-Tool. Sie werden es in der "Mehr"-Menü am oberen Rand der Google-Startseite.
(It isn't perfect.}
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anna13582
May 24, 2012, 12:21am
Wonderful Help. Maybe some words that people hear bin their every day lives.
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