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  4. Holiday Card Grammar Mistakes

Holiday Card Grammar Mistakes

Southern Living May 2021 Cover
By Southern Living Editors
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Christmas Cards
Ensure that your holiday cards are tall on seasonal greetings and short on grammatical errors this year.It's that time of year again! There's a chill in the air, and Christmas cards are being carefully inscribed, sealed in envelopes, and placed in post boxes across the country. We ink holiday wishes and seasons greetings inside, address our envelopes with a calligraphic flourish, and send off our warmest words to family and friends near and far. In return, we receive a mailbox full of photos and updates from loved ones we haven't seen in ages. Sending and receiving holiday cards is one of the most beloved traditions of the season, but sometimes the inevitable happens. Our cards are besmirched. What is the culprit? What mars our beautiful tradition? Grammatical errors. Misplaced apostrophes, commas, and misspelled words creep onto our carefully considered cards. But not this year. This year, correct grammar will prevail. This year, we will sidestep mistakes and ensure that our cards are error free. Sharing our love with family and friends without grammatical errors or mistaken meanings is a gift in and of itself. 
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Closing Commas

Christmas Card Grammar Mistakes Closing Commas

When signing your holiday cards, ensure that your closing phrase (such as “Sincerely,” “Love,” or “Best Wishes”) is followed by a comma. The comma should separate the closing phrase from the signature, which is your name, or a combination names.

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It's vs. Its

Chistmas Card Grammar Mistakes It's vs. Its

Since this is a common grammatical mistake, make sure that you are alert to the difference between “It’s” and “Its” in your holiday correspondence. “It’s” means “It is” or “It has,” whereas “Its” is a possessive term.

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Apostrophes

Christmas Card Grammar Mistakes Apostrophes

Apostrophes are tricky in holiday correspondence. With just one small mark, they can make the difference between an error-free card and the alternative. Adding an apostrophe to “Season’s Greetings” is correct, since it makes the phrase possessive. (As in, the greetings belong to the season.) Whereas “the Bakers” is correct as it is. If there were an added apostrophe (as in, the Bakers’ or the Baker’s), it would make the term possessive. This is incorrect, since there is no subsequent noun for the Bakers to take possession of in the phrase.

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Regional Variations

Christmas Card Grammar Mistakes Regional Variations

Remember where your holiday card is going. There are regional variations of holiday greetings around the country and around the world. Especially if your card is heading overseas, you may want to look up any variations of greetings, phrasings, and spellings and implement them into your card. Your loved ones will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

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Misspellings and Typographical Errors

Christmas Card Grammar Mistakes Spell Check

Before sending off your holiday card, be sure to proofread your inscription. Reading your card aloud will help you catch any mistakes that may have made their way into your holiday wishes. In addition, if you are preparing your holiday cards online, spell check is an essential tool for catching errors. If you are printing your cards in bulk or ordering from an online site, you definitely want to catch any mistakes before you print them and send them out.

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    1 of 5 Closing Commas
    2 of 5 It's vs. Its
    3 of 5 Apostrophes
    4 of 5 Regional Variations
    5 of 5 Misspellings and Typographical Errors

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