Seasons Greetings vs Seasons Greetings With Apostrophe: Which Is Correct
Seasons greetings vs seasons greetings with apostrophe: which is correct? The standard form is Season’s Greetings with an apostrophe before the s, because the greetings belong to the season. Seasons Greetings without the apostrophe is the common search spelling, and readers will understand it, but formal writing, holiday cards, and business messages should use the apostrophe. Test your card with our free Grammar Checker and Spelling Quiz, and use the belonging test below when the two forms feel equal.
The phrase is a seasonal greeting for the winter holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Year, and it works for every holiday in that stretch, which is why shops, schools, and offices use it so often. Our is Thanksgiving capitalized guide covers the same holiday season and the same capitalization rules.
Quick answer
Write Season’s Greetings with an apostrophe between the n and the s in Season’s. The apostrophe shows possession: the greetings belong to the season, as in “the greetings of the season.” Write Seasons Greetings only when you match a search query or a sign that already drops the apostrophe.
Memory trick: Ask who owns the greetings: the season does, so the season gets the apostrophe. Say “the greetings of the season” and the apostrophe appears on its own.
When to use Season’s Greetings with an apostrophe
Use Season’s Greetings on holiday cards, in business emails, on office signs, and in any formal message. The apostrophe marks the singular possessive: one season, the winter holiday season, owns the greetings. Style guides and dictionaries agree on this form, and readers expect it on a printed card. YourDictionary on Season’s Greetings states the same rule: the version with the apostrophe is correct, because the greetings belong to the season, while the version without it suggests greetings for all the seasons of the year.
✓ Season’s Greetings from our family to yours!
✓ Wishing you Season’s Greetings and a happy New Year.
✓ Season’s Greetings from the whole team at the office.
✓ We send Season’s Greetings to all our customers.
✓ Season’s Greetings! May your holidays be bright.
✓ The card reads “Season’s Greetings” in gold letters.
The apostrophe also tells the reader that the phrase refers to one season, not to spring, summer, fall, and winter together. Without it, the words read as a plain plural, and the meaning shifts toward greetings for every season of the year. That small mark carries the whole meaning of the phrase, which is why editors and card makers keep it.
Businesses send Season’s Greetings cards to clients, suppliers, and staff every December, because the phrase wishes well to everyone at once without naming one holiday. A company that serves customers of many faiths can use it safely, since it covers Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year in one warm line. The apostrophe stays in the printed card, in the email subject line, and on the office poster, because the formal setting calls for the correct form.
✓ Our company sends Season’s Greetings to every client.
✓ Season’s Greetings from the management and staff.
✓ Season’s Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.
✓ Please accept our Season’s Greetings this holiday season.
When Seasons Greetings without an apostrophe appears
Use Seasons Greetings without an apostrophe only when you match what people type into a search box, or when a sign, a headline, or a design already drops punctuation. Search engines connect the two spellings, so the plain version still finds the right pages, and many shop signs skip the apostrophe for a clean look. In your own writing, though, the apostrophe stays the correct choice, and the plain form works best as a keyword, not as a greeting.
✓ Shoppers search for “seasons greetings cards” every December.
✓ The store window reads “Seasons Greetings” in plain letters.
✓ Many people type “seasons greetings” without the apostrophe.
✓ The plain form “seasons greetings” is common in search results.
The same pattern shows up with other holiday phrases, where the search spelling drops the mark that formal writing keeps. People type “new years eve” without an apostrophe, but the correct written form is New Year’s Eve, and the same gap appears with Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Our is Black Friday capitalized guide shows the same holiday capitalization rules for another seasonal phrase.
Writers who work on seasonal pages often keep both spellings on purpose: Season’s Greetings with the apostrophe in the heading and the card text, and seasons greetings without it in the page keywords, so searchers find the page either way. That split is good practice for the web, since it serves the reader with the correct form and the search engine with the common one, and the article itself stays correct from the first line to the last.
✓ The shop page targets “seasons greetings” as a keyword.
✓ The card itself reads “Season’s Greetings” in gold letters.
✓ Searchers type “seasons greetings” more often than the correct form.
✓ The sign maker left the apostrophe out of “Seasons Greetings.”
The tricky exceptions
Seasons’ Greetings with the apostrophe after the s is wrong
Do not write “Seasons’ Greetings” with the apostrophe after the s. That form is a plural possessive, and it would mean greetings belonging to many seasons, which is not what the phrase says. The phrase refers to one holiday season, so the apostrophe goes before the s: Season’s. If you see Seasons’ on a card, it is a mistake, even though it looks careful and formal.
✗ Seasons’ Greetings from our family. (Wrong: one season, so the apostrophe goes before the s)
✓ Season’s Greetings from our family.
Capitalization: Season’s greetings in the middle of a sentence
Capitalize both words when the phrase stands alone as a greeting, as in “Season’s Greetings!” on a card. In the middle of a sentence, keep Season’s capitalized and write greetings in lowercase, as in “We wish you season’s greetings and a happy New Year,” unless your style guide caps the whole phrase. AP style treats greetings as lowercase inside a sentence, and it caps them only when the phrase works as an exclamation or a heading. Our capital vs capitol guide shows the same proper noun test for another word where the capital letter changes with the job the word does.
✓ Season’s Greetings! (a greeting on its own)
✓ We send you season’s greetings and warm wishes. (inside a sentence)
Other holiday possessives follow the same rule
The same belonging test covers the other holiday phrases you write in December. New Year’s Eve takes an apostrophe because the eve belongs to the New Year, Valentine’s Day takes one because the day belongs to Saint Valentine, and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day take one for the same reason. Family names on cards follow the opposite rule: write “Happy holidays from the Smiths” with no apostrophe, because Smiths is a plural, not a possessive, and an apostrophe would turn the family name into a mistake.
✓ Happy New Year’s Eve! See you at midnight.
✓ Happy holidays from the Smiths, not the Smith’s.
Season’s Greetings vs Seasons Greetings at a glance
| Form | Correct? | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Season’s Greetings | Yes, standard | Holiday cards, business messages, formal writing |
| Seasons Greetings | Common variant | Search queries, signs, informal use only |
| Seasons’ Greetings | No, never | Wrong: the phrase refers to one season |
| Season Greetings | No | Missing the possessive apostrophe |
| season’s greetings | Yes, mid sentence | Lowercase greetings inside a sentence |
| New Year’s Eve | Yes | Same possessive rule as Season’s |
Quick practice
Choose the correct form for each sentence:
- ___ from our family to yours! (Season’s Greetings / Seasons Greetings / Seasons’ Greetings)
- We wish you ___ and a happy New Year. (season’s greetings / seasons greetings / seasons’ greetings)
- Happy holidays from the ___. (Smiths / Smith’s / Smiths’)
- The correct form of the holiday eve is ___. (New Years Eve / New Year’s Eve / New Years’ Eve)
Answer key:
- 1. Season’s Greetings (the greetings belong to one season)
- 2. season’s greetings (lowercase greetings inside a sentence)
- 3. Smiths (a plural family name takes no apostrophe)
- 4. New Year’s Eve (the eve belongs to the New Year)
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is correct, Season’s Greetings or Seasons Greetings?
Season’s Greetings with an apostrophe is correct. The apostrophe shows that the greetings belong to the season, while Seasons Greetings without it is only a common search spelling.
Is Seasons’ Greetings with the apostrophe after the s correct?
No, Seasons’ Greetings is wrong. The apostrophe after the s makes it a plural possessive, but the phrase refers to one holiday season, so the apostrophe goes before the s.
Do you capitalize season’s greetings?
Capitalize both words when the phrase stands alone as a greeting, as in “Season’s Greetings!” Inside a sentence, write “season’s greetings” with lowercase greetings.
Final Thoughts
Season’s Greetings with an apostrophe is the correct form, because the greetings belong to the season, and the small mark carries that meaning. Seasons Greetings without the apostrophe is the spelling people type into search boxes, and it works as a keyword, but it is not the form to put on a card or in a business message. Remember the belonging test, keep the apostrophe before the s for one season, and let the same rule guide New Year’s Eve and the other holiday possessives on your cards.
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