Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

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Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Nashes or Nash’s??

I am recently married and don’t really understand how to pluralize (is that a real word?:)) my new last name, Nash. For example, if I want to have a party at my house, would I invite people to meet at “The Nashes” house or “The Nash’s” house? My husband and in-laws state that the first use is correct but my friends seem to want to use the latter version. Some enlightenment please!

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"Nash" ends in a sibilant, that means that "Nashes" is the way to go. All english singular nouns ending in sibiliants /s/ /sh/ /z/ /zh/ etc, are so pluralized.

anonymous4 Feb-20-2006

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There seems to be a confusion between plurals and possessives here. As a family, you would be The Nashes. If you want to talk about who's house it is, then it Nash's house in the singular, or The Nashes' house in the plural. (Or The Nashes's House--there are different styles on that last one.)

anonymous4 Feb-21-2006

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As a further clarification, "Nash's" would only be used when ascribing the possession to one person, and then only in conjunction with a first name or title, e.g. "John Nash's house". "The Nashes' house" would imply shared possession (check your mortgage papers).
"The Nash residence" would be a common-sense alternative that works either way.

Bismarck1 Jun-21-2006

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Thank you for solving this lifelong puzzlement for me.

Mike Nash Feb-27-2013

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The Nashes' house if you want to include the house, or just "the Nashes" if you don't.

Or "Chez Nash" if you want to be poncey.

Anna_ Feb-18-2006

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Or just call it "The Nash House" to avoid the whole problem.

jcrogers Feb-18-2006

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To clarify that last comment, "Nash's" is definitely incorrect. "Nashes" is the only plural of "Nash," and therefore if you wish to make "Nash" plural possesive, the only correct spelling is " Nashes' ".

Mark2 Feb-18-2006

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Is pluralizing a skill you develop the longer you've been married?

Paul3 Mar-04-2006

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