“New years” or “new year”? Which is it? Well, in short, definitely not the first and only sometimes for the second.
As the new year approaches, I’m seeing a growing number of instances of “new years”. Because that usage incorrect, I thought I’d discuss it here.
New Years
“New Years” is a bastardization of “New Year’s”, as in “New Year’s Eve” and “New Year’s Day”. The form “New Years” doesn’t even make sense when you think about it, at least not in the way it’s commonly used. “New Years” implies more than one new year, which could be possible but is rarely the context. Most people using the phrase “New Years” refer to the upcoming new year.
New Year’s
“New Year’s” always has an apostrophe when accompanied with “Day” or “Eve” because the “Day” or the “Eve” belongs to the new year. A wordier and more formal way of writing it would be “day of the new year” and “eve of the new year”. Just like we might say “Bob’s cat” or “Suzie’s truck” to show that the cat and truck belong to Bob and Suzie, respectively, we use “New Year’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve” to show that the day and the eve belong to the new year.
Also, if the day or eve is implied, you’d still use the apostrophe, such as “Happy New Year’s” or “New Year’s festivities”. That could very well be where the omission of the apostrophe originated, but it’s something you need to keep in mind.
New year
Now, if you were referring to the new year itself and not the last day or the first day, you wouldn’t include an apostrophe (e.g. “I wish you success in the new year.”). In those instances, you’re referring to the year as a whole, and not a single date or holiday.
Capitalizing New Year’s
Now that we’ve covered the apostrophe to death, I want to touch on capitalization. If you refer to the formal holiday of New Year’s Day or the night before (New Year’s Eve), capitalize all 3 words (same goes for if the day and eve are implied). This treatment is similar to Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.
On the other hand, if you refer to the entire year, don’t capitalize. An entire year isn’t a formal event, so it doesn’t need a capital letter.
Finally, even though it’s technically incorrect, “Happy New Year” has become standard to capitalize as a greeting (likely because you are referring to the event of the start of the new year and not the entire year itself), so don’t be too worried about changing if you typically capitalize it.
Exmaples of using New Year’s and new year
To summarize, here are some example sentences:
- What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?
- Are you working New Year’s Day?
- I wish you love, success, and joy in the new year.
- Are you going to the New Year’s party? (The eve is implied here.)
Do you have any questions or comments on the topic of the new year? Let me know in the comments below.
