where would you apostrophise?

[crisgal]

Parents Evening

[sandyRoe]

parents'

[crisgal]

how about Mothers day?

[sandyRoe]

We'd better wait for more erudite minds to answer that one.

[bookbinder]

Ah, well, that's different. It's Mother's, because we're supposed to think of just one mother, our own, whereas the evening of the parents is for several parents.

[tearinghair]

Mothering Sunday.....

[crisgal]

Yes, but the letter about the evening is just for that one parent. They aren't thinking about the other parents are they? Just themselves.

[hc4361]

I have bought this card for my Mother's Day.
Do you have any Mothers' Day cards?

[bookbinder]

No, it isn't just for one parent. A/one parent might well get a/one letter of invitation, but that one parent knows quite well that the evening of the parents is for many parents. Hence the apostrophe thus: s'.

[factor-fiction]

The invitation is to more than one parent- it's an evening for parents so it's PARENTS' EVENING. For some students there will be two parents going.
There are differences of opinion though- I remember the Passenger's Charter which considered to be a charter which applied to each individual passenger

[boxtops]

I agree with what's said so far - in the NHS you have the Patient's Charter, but that's for each individual patient.

[4candles]

It's an evening FOR parents, rather than BELONGING to parents, so I wouldn't use an apostrophe.

[crisgal]

ah yes, there is that too, 4candles, is it the name of the evening, and not, as you say, belonging to anyone?

[JonnyBoy12]

Yes, I think that 4candles is correct, as the Spelling Police have gone on holiday for today only!

[wildwood]

Why not ask them.....

http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/ lol

I am now going to look for a punctuation society.

[Quizmonster]

Such a school evening is for ALL the parents of the set of children involved...ie it is plural, even if only a single parent turns up...so it is Parents' Evening. (By 'single parent' I mean just one rather than anything to do with domestic arrangements!)

As already said, the day for mothers is also for ALL mothers, but each individual 'child' relates it only to his/her OWN mother. Accordingly, they think of it as Mother's Day, but it would not actually be wrong to refer to the date in general as Mothers' Day.

[joggerjayne]

It depends whether you use a big "M" or a small"m".

My mother (small m) might be known, to me, as Mother (big M, because it becomes a proper noun).

So with a small m, it would refer to all mothers ...

... hence, mothers' day.

With a big M, it is identifying MY mother ...

... hence, Mother's day.

If it appeared at the beginning of a sentence, it would automatically be a big M, which would make it hard to tell which way it applied. However, it is usually preceded by the word "Happy".

Having said which, it seems unlikely that the day would exist just for one mother, so perhaps it ought to be mothers' day.

[Old_Geezer]

It will depend on the meaning your personally wish to convey.

[joggerjayne]

Maybe we should all walk through the card shops next year, punctuating all the cards.

[factor-fiction]

I agree partly with the point of view of 4candles since it is not necessarily an evening belonging to the parents.If Parents was an adjective then there would be no apostrope. We talk about a Beatles album not a Beatles' album or a Man United shirt or Leeds shirt with no possessive.
If it's an evening for parents then it's less clear. A public convenience might me for Men but we say Men's toilet not Men Toilet. On the other hand we say Dog Toilet and Kings Cross.

[sandyRoe]

Could someone tell me what's so special about The Greengrocer's apostrophe?