Parent or Parent's

[elhabanero]

Hi,Iam a little confused in here concerning these four options:

Parents night
Parent's night
Parent night
Parents' night

Which one is correct? Thanks a lot.

 

[Tdol]

You'll see more than one in use. I would use Parents' Night or Parent Night.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Hi,Iam a little confused in here concerning these four options:

Parents night
Parent's night
Parent night
Parents' night

Which one is correct? Thanks a lot.

One could make a case for each being right and each being wrong. The wrongs mostly because the word 'night' should be capitalized if we are refering to the name of an event. They all mean the same, of course. The reason to use a singular instead of a plural form is that some kids don't have 2 parents...

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, it was (in my schooldays) called Parents' Evening (not Night). I think it's still called the same thing with one exception. As J&K pointed out, it is no longer assumed that a child has two resident parents, so it may now be referred to as Parent's Evening. Personally, I think that's unrequired because, to my mind, it's an evening for the parents of all the schoolchildren to attend so I would still put the apostrophe after "parents".

 

[SoothingDave]

One could make a case for each being right and each being wrong. The wrongs mostly because the word 'night' should be capitalized if we are refering to the name of an event. They all mean the same, of course. The reason to use a singular instead of a plural form is that some kids don't have 2 parents...

There are still multiple parents because there are multiple students. It is a night for parents to come to the school, whether or not each individual child has two parents or not. Maybe there's an orphan. Should we avoid using the word "parent" at all in that case? Maybe someone is in the custody of his grandparents or an aunt?

 

[Barb_D]

Our school district calls it "Back to School Night." Same idea. No mention of parents. Everyone knows what it is.

 

[Tdol]

In BrE, it was (in my schooldays) called Parents' Evening (not Night).

I had forgotten that- when did evening become night?

 

[emsr2d2]

I had forgotten that- when did evening become night?

I didn't know it had, but then I don't really know anyone with school-age kids. I just assumed it was still called "Parents' Evening".

BarbD - when is Back to School Night held? Is it an ironic title given that the parents are expected to go "back to school" for the evening? Or is it an evening held at the beginning of a new term (semester). I'm just wondering if this is another BrE vs AmE difference. "Back to school", to me, means the first week or so of a new school year, after the long summer holiday is over. However, "Parents' Evening" is usually held part-way through a term, once the teachers actually have an opinion of and some experience of the children.

 

[bhaisahab]

In BrE, it was (in my schooldays) called Parents' Evening (not Night). I think it's still called the same thing with one exception. As J&K pointed out, it is no longer assumed that a child has two resident parents, so it may now be referred to as Parent's Evening. Personally, I think that's unrequired because, to my mind, it's an evening for the parents of all the schoolchildren to attend so I would still put the apostrophe after "parents".

"unrequired"? That's a new one for me.;-)

 

[5jj]

It's an unold one on me, too.

 

[5jj]

I had forgotten that- when did evening become night?

I have just checked the website of the last school at which I taught before I left England. It is still 'evening' there.

 

[emsr2d2]

"unrequired"? That's a new one for me.;-)

Really? I've been using "unrequired" my entire life. I'm rather relieved to find that my usage is backed up by a multitude of online dictionaries - you and 5jj had me worried!

I only meant that changing the name to "Parent's Evening" was not necessary because, as others pointed out, there would still be plenty of parents at the event, regardless of how many parents per child there were.

 

[elhabanero]

Thanks