Father’s Day, which falls on the third Sunday of June every year, is that wonderful occasion that honors the ‘old men’, new poppas and father figures of the world — often with a gift or card purchased with dear dad’s own cash, ironically enough. This year, rather than spend his money on another pair of quirky socks or soap on the rope, do him one better: learn to correctly punctuate the holiday that commemorates his TLC (tender, love and care).
Capitalization Rules for Father’s Day and the Word ‘Father’
Father’s Day may not be an official federal holiday, but it’s still among the list of common American celebrations, like April Fools’ Day and Groundhog Day, that always need to be capitalized.
On the other hand, the terms ‘father’, ‘dad’, ‘pop’, etc., which are part of a group of words called ‘family names’, demand capitalization only when they are used as proper nouns. If they’re used as common nouns they are not capitalized. If you haven’t yet nailed the art of deciphering a proper noun from a common noun, here’s a shortcut to help you apply capitalization correctly: family names are common nouns when preceded by possessive pronouns (my, their, her, his) or articles (a, the, an).
Father is going to be late for dinner because of the terrible traffic.
His father is going to be late for dinner because of the terrible traffic.
On Father’s Day we celebrate all the fathers of the world.
I can’t wait to celebrate Dad on Father’s Day.
As if ‘father’ hasn’t complicated matters enough, there’s one more rule that you should know that deals with a different type of father altogether: clergymen. Similar to the case above, when ‘father’ is used as part of a clergyman’s name, it is capitalized. When it is used as a common noun, it can remain lowercase.
This week Father John Paul will lead the service.
All of the fathers, popes and sisters in California gathered to welcome Father Andrew to the pulpit.
Apostrophe Rules for Father’s Day
Father’s Day, for reasons that may not be entirely logical but are certainly explainable, is punctuated as if it’s a singular possessive term. That means it gets an apostrophe before the ‘s’.
Many sources report that this is the case because it allows the day to truly belong to the poppas of the world, and it means that each individual is celebrating their dad or father figure — not dads and father figures in general. In this way, it’s similar to Mother’s Day but different from Veterans Day.
For more information on how to use apostrophes when ‘father’ (or similar) is used as a common or proper noun, check out the apostrophe section of our Grammar Handbook.
Are you ready for Father’s Day? Test your grammar with our quiz!
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