Friday, October 9, 2015

misses, Mrs., Misses

Misses or misses is the third person singular ( he, she, it ) of "miss", meaning to pine for someone or something not present--
Our cat seems aloof, but he misses us when we're away.
He misses his old job, now that he's left it.

Misses or misses is also the third person singular of "miss", meaning to fail to hit what one aims at--
He misses nearly every time; I don't know why he keeps trying.
If he misses, it's your turn.

Misses or misses may also be the plural ( more than one ) of "miss", meaning a failure to hit a mark or target--
That's three hits and two misses. 
In baseball, misses are called strikes.

Mrs. ( always capitalized, rhymes with misses ) is the title or honorific used in front of a married woman's name--
How are you today, Mrs. Jones?
Jane Jones married Sam Smith, and now she's Mrs. Jane Smith.

Misses ( always capitalized ) is an old-fashioned way to address, as on an envelope, two or more sisters, or related unmarried women, or to refer to two sisters--
The invitation was addressed to the Misses Smith.
That looks like the Misses Jones coming down the road.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He misses his old teacher, Mrs. Green."

No comments:

Post a Comment