When a family name (a proper noun) is pluralized, we almost always simply add an "s." So we go to visit the Smiths, the Kennedys, the Grays, etc.When a family name ends in s, x, ch, sh, or z, however, we form the plural by added -es, as in the Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes. Do not form a family name plural by using an apostrophe; that device is reserved for creating possessive forms.



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Note added at 6 mins (2005-02-16 23:38:53 GMT)
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However,
...
There are, further, so called collective nouns, which are singular when we think of them as groups and plural when we think of the individuals acting within the whole (which happens sometimes, but not often).



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Note added at 1 hr 6 mins (2005-02-17 00:38:44 GMT)
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Fail to see humbird\'s point. Not sure what she means \"come across\" she means find, because we certainly do, millions of references both in literature, and not necessarily fiction!!
Obviously the \"Giorgioni family\" is correct, as is \"the Giorgonis\".
\"The Giorgoni\", however, not...

There\'s also a famous set of families: The Montagues and the Capulets...
The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets over the
Dead Bodies of Romeo and Juliet, 1853-55. Oil on canvas, 70 x 91 inches. ...
http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/ Shakespeare_Illustrated/Leighton.Romeo.html
:-))
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-06,GGL...



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Note added at 1 hr 8 mins (2005-02-17 00:40:53 GMT)
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...Oh and I missed an \"if\" :-)
\"come across\" -if- she means find...