Lest We Forget
On November 11, many countries have special ceremonies that honor the men and women who served during wartime. As teachers, it is important to help young learners understand this historic day. The famous saying “Lest we forget” means not only do we need to remember in order to honor the sacrifices of many people during past wars, but also to remember what happened so that history doesn’t repeat itself.
November 11 is called Veterans Day in the US, Remembrance Day in Canada, and Armistice Day in parts of Europe. At Sprout English, we’ve created two vocabulary lessons for you to use this year, Veterans Day and Remembrance Day. This led me to think about mistakes people often make with the titles of this holiday. Why is it Veterans Day and not Veterans’ Day or Veteran’s Day? Why is it Remembrance Day and not Rememberance Day? These punctuation, spelling, and capitalization rules can be tricky for native speakers as well as English language learners. I hope the explanations below will help your students keep these rules straight.
Day – Capitalization
Let’s start by reminding students that all holidays in English are capitalized, and that includes the word “Day.” Examples include Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and even National Punctuation Day. Tell your learners to write “Veterans Day” and “Remembrance Day.”
Veterans Day – Punctuation
Which is correct: Veterans Day, Veterans’ Day, or Veteran’s Day? First, tell your students that they need to use the plural form because there are many veterans to honor, not just one (unlike Valentine’s Day, for example, who was just one saint).
Second, discuss the apostrophe. Apostrophes emphasize possession or belonging. Veterans’ Day (using the apostrophe) would mean a day that belongs to veterans, which isn’t technically wrong. Veterans Day (without the apostrophe) indicates that it’s a day for veterans, which is also correct. While either could work, always use the official choice, which in this case is without an apostrophe. A quick Google search shows the most commonly used choice. Or visit an official site, such as the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which has a good explanation in their FAQ:
“Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an ‘s’ at the end of ‘veterans’ because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.”
Remembrance Day – Spelling
This one is tricky for English language learners. Because the verb is “remember,” it’s natural to assume that the noun should be spelled “rememberance,” but this just isn’t the case. The “e” in “remember” is dropped to form “remembrance.” Point out enter – entrance and hinder – hindrance for similar examples. You may also want to mention that we don’t always drop the “e” in such words (think of deliverance and utterance) so it’s mostly a case of memorization.
It is always written and pronounced “Remembrance Day.” The pronunciation might help students remember the spelling: model the pronunciation re-mem-brance (three syllables) and point out that we don’t say re-mem-be-rance (four syllables).
