Friday is 14 February, Valentine’s Day, when we celebrate romance with our special someone (or cry alone at home while sculling a bottle of cheap plonk). Don’t ruin the celebrations by forgetting to include an apostrophe in Valentine’s Day.
Wine picture from Shutterstock
The day is named for Saint Valentine, and while the general love-in doesn’t have much to do with a third-century Roman martyr whose origins are obscure, the grammatical rule is clear. It’s Valentine’s Day, and thus requires a possessive apostrophe. (If you’re not clear on how to use apostrophes, check out our detailed guide.)
Love hurts. Accuracy matters.
Lifehacker’s Mind Your Language column offers bossy advice on improving your writing.
Comments
One response to “This Valentine’s Day, Remember To Love The Apostrophe”
Back when I was a courting, I never had to write the word, because it was already written on the card…? Since we were married though, we decided it was too much of a hassle being goaded into buying cards and gifts, so we don’t do that crap any more… 🙂
Only Angus would use Valentine’s Day as a reminder of proper punctuation 🙂
Not that that’s a bad thing at all.