Get The Attorney General, Or The Attorney General's

APPENDIX C. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FORMS OF ADDRESS ADDRESSEEADDRESS ON LETTERSALUTATION AND COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE THE WHITE HOUSE Attorney General (Head of the Department of Justice) The Honorable (Full Name) Attorney General Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr./Madam Attorney General: Sincerely,50 more rows

In this construction, the word “general” is an adjective, and its use as a noun is incorrect. Attorneys general are not military officers, have no rank, and therefore should not be referred to as “general”.

It's the attorney general's. The possessive marker goes on the second word. That's true even though the plural marker goes on the first. So when those two guys team up for a legal action, it's the attorneys general's lawsuit.

The plural of attorney general is attorneys general. Never abbreviate the title.

With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense. You make the noun plural by adding an “s” to it.

When using a compound term like "attorney general," make the plural with the noun. Thus, more than one "attorney general" is a group of "attorneys general," not "attorney generals" (they're not in the military) and certainly not "attorney general's" (no apostrophes in plurals, remember).

It's attorneys general. Just as when you add one mother-in-law to another mother-in-law to get two mothers-in-law, the plural marker goes on the head noun: We met with both attorneys general.

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun; you can think of them as “general attorneys.” So the plural goes on the noun, and the proper form is “attorneys general.” Unless you're British. Then you can call them “attorney-generals,” but don't forget the hyphen.