Q. If one refers to the DeVos (pronounced DeVOSS) family members in the plural, would they be the DeVoses or the DeVosses? If
the former, that would appear to be pronounced “DeVOSEes” rather than “DeVOSSES,”
as would be correct.
A. “DeVosses” is the plural for the DeVoss family, so you must use “DeVoses.”
We aren’t allowed to misspell a name in anticipation of its mispronunciation.
Q. My question refers to the plural use of acronyms and initialisms. As I have always understood it, the acronym or initialism
can be pluralized only if the last letter indicates the plural item. So MOU (memorandum/memoranda of understanding) cannot
become MOUs, but ICT can become ICTs (information and communication technologies). I run into this problem a lot with the
initialism RFP (request for proposals), which people like to pluralize as RFPs to indicate multiple requests. The word proposals is already plural, so it does not make sense to me to add an s to the end of the initialism. What is the correct way to make acronyms or initialisms plural?
A. If you can stop thinking of the spelled-out meaning of the acronym and just treat the acronym itself as a word with its own
meaning, you should be able to add that little s without fretting.
Q. CMOS 7.12 says, “If an italicized term such as the title of a newspaper or book or a word used as a word must be written in the plural, the s is normally set in roman. A title already in plural form, however, may be left unchanged.” The example given is “four New York Times.” If the CMOS considers the name of that newspaper to be plural, that suggests it would find this sentence acceptable: “The New York Times are the paper of record.”
A. Not really. Although the word “times” is plural, the name of a newspaper is by convention treated as a singular entity. You could write “four New York Timeses,” but it would look funny and not be any more clear than “four New York Times.”
Q. I am making a plaque which reads “Happy Holidays.” Underneath is a picture of
a sled. Underneath that is “The Simmons.” Their last name is Simmons (with an
s). How should it read on the plaque? The Simmons’, The Simmons’s, or just The
Simmons? Thank you.
A. None of the above. You just want a regular plural: The Simmonses. This is like any other plural of a word that ends in s:
buses, kisses, messes, Joneses.
Q. What is the correct ending (singular or plural) to this sentence? This moving, musical journey inspires “drummers”
of all ages to follow the beat in their heart. Is it hearts? Is it beats and hearts? Is it just beat and heart? This is driving
me insane! Please help!
A. Since the drummers don’t share a single heart, you’re definitely going to need
a plural of that. For “beat,” the question is whether you want it to mean literal
beats of the heart, or a more abstract beating akin to music. (E.g., we say “follow the beat”
when teaching music, not “follow the beats.”) You could choose either. They have
slightly different meanings, but I think you probably need the singular.
Q. The plural of curriculum is curricula. Why does the dictionary list symposiums as an acceptable plural for symposium? And does the rule differ for every plural of words ending in -um?
A. Curricula is the plural in Latin. In American English, the plural is curriculums. Both are correct, although in academic writing, there is a tradition of using the Latin plurals. Chicago editors follow Merriam-Webster when forming plurals of adopted words, but please see CMOS 7.6.
Q. When using the plural of “ad,” i.e., “ad’s,” is it incorrect to use the apostrophe? The three-letter string “ads” just looks so wrong when typesetting it. Would appreciate your guidance.
A. “Ad” is just a regular word, and the plural “ads” is also regular, so there’s no need to mess with it. Plurals almost never take an apostrophe. Chicago style uses an apostrophe for the plural of lowercase single letters (x’s and o’s), but for little else (for instance, we write “dos and don’ts”). Please see CMOS 7.15 and 7.63–69 for more examples and exceptions.
Q. When I was working on my graduate degree in English, I was told by a professor that the rule had changed for plurals of numbers
(written as numbers) and letters (3s rather than 3’s or As rather than A’s). For
the past 15 years I have been teaching it that way. Another colleague just recently saw that rule change somewhere online.
Our new textbooks, however, do not teach it that way. We are currently working on a new handbook and would like to know if
the rule has been changed or not. Thanks.
A. Chicago style omits the apostrophe, but the thing about style is, there is no single great arbiter who makes rules that everyone
follows. Different houses use different styles. Following a particular style allows a person to be consistent within a given
document, but it really doesn’t matter which style you choose.
Q. Since the late 1980s, when I got my first copy of CMOS, I have understood that verbs associated with a noun used to group plural items should correspond with the singular, grouping
noun. For example, “A growing number of reports has revealed . . .”
Microsoft Word, however, keeps indicating a grammatical error when I follow this rule and was placated when I changed “has”
to “have” in the above example. Can you please clarify who is right? Is it I or
the copyeditors consulted by Bill Gates?
A. Microsoft’s grammar-checking software happens to be right in this case. Number as a collective noun takes a singular or plural verb depending on the article (definite the or indefinite a) that precedes it:
The number of pizzas ordered this year has doubled.
but
A number of studies have shown that stuffing a pizza with spinach triples the edibility of that sinewy vegetable.
Most collective nouns do tend to be invariably singular in American English. Those that, like number, vary according to circumstance include words like percentage and any fraction—one-third (or a third), one-half (or half), two-thirds, etc. Like number, these take a singular verb when preceded by the (common for percentage but rare for fractions). Otherwise, the verb agrees with the number of the noun in any prepositional phrase that follows:
After today’s enormously stressful workshop, a third of the attendees have decided to skip the entrée,
preferring instead to dine on the wine.
but
Unfortunately, seven-eighths of last year’s vintage was spoiled.
Q. I am wondering if you could clarify the proper usage associated with names of sports teams and other such organizations where the name does not clearly end in a plural form. I offer as examples the NBA’s Miami Heat and Orlando Magic or the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. I think the names ought to be considered plural—for example, “The Tampa Bay Lightning have won five of their last six games against the Washington Capitals.” On page D1 of the Washington Post from November 15, 2003, in contrast, a story began with the following sentence: “The Miami Heat seemed to do everything it could to hand Friday night’s game to Washington.” . . . Perhaps the best solution is just to use the city name in such cases.
A. Your objection to the sentence in the Washington Post seems reasonable. Most NBA and NHL teams have plural names. Moreover, it is in the nature of sports that these teams are discussed in opposition to each other. It does seem odd to have to treat one team as a plural and another as singular, especially in the same context. When it is not practical or desirable to use just the city name (Washington hopes to forget the last two seasons; Miami is likewise hoping for a fresh perspective), I would be inclined to make an exception for singular team names. Such an exception—though much less common in American than in British English—is more or less sanctioned by the usage note in American Heritage (4th ed., 2000, s.v. “collective noun”), which notes that “a collective noun [also called “mass noun” or “noncount noun”] . . . takes a plural verb when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as in My family are always fighting among themselves.” See CMOS 5.7 for more on this subject.