Questions about the possessive, one of several constructions that describe ownership or association between two objects.
6
votes
4answers
182 views
Using apostrophes correctly
I've read a great article about the usage of apostrophes. But there are still some points that are unclear.
Why do we say...
school project but not school's project?
car service but not car's ...
-1
votes
2answers
122 views
I'm trying to show ownership to a plural noun in parentheses
I'm drafting a lease document and have to state the following provision.
The Lessee(s) holds the Lessor and the United States harmless from any loss, liability or damages resulting from the ...
0
votes
2answers
94 views
Which phrase is more natural to a native speaker? [closed]
"The underlying notions of the problem" or "The problem underlying notions"? Please consider the brevity principle too.
4
votes
3answers
3k views
User’s Guide vs Users’ Guide
I’ve been looking over what has been posted regarding the use of ’s.
I used to be a Technical Writer (years ago). The title of one of our training documents was Users’ Guide. Once, a coworker said ...
3
votes
4answers
3k views
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
I would appreciate your help phrasing the following:
I am looking for elements
which/whose/... size/sizes is/are relatively large.
4
votes
1answer
764 views
Using “who” for things (nonliving beings)
On an online typing tutor site I came across the following phrase:
We're now going to move on to words who's first letter originates on the top row.
Can "who" normally be used in this way (to ...
3
votes
0answers
290 views
possessive connecting word for inanimate object [duplicate]
Duplicate of:
Is the word 'whose' referring to an inanimate object correct in this sentence?
Usage of “whose” not referring to a person.
Referring to some attribute of an inanimate ...
2
votes
1answer
467 views
Usage of “whose” not referring to a person [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Referring to some attribute of an inanimate object — use “who's”?
I noticed the use of "whose" in the following sentence I wrote does not refer to a ...
4
votes
0answers
392 views
What is the possessive form of “what”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
First of all, I'm not a native speaker so I can't rely on my intuition in this specific case.
For a very long time I ...
1
vote
0answers
564 views
Other ways of saying whichs [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
Of course there isn't a word whichs (as far as I know), but I am talking about the possessive form of which.
...
1
vote
1answer
891 views
Can 'whose' be used for objects? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is the word 'whose' referring to an inanimate object correct in this sentence? Is there a more appropriate word?
Basically I'm wondering if a sentence like this ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Can “whose” refer to an inanimate object?
We lit a fire whose fuel was old timber wood.
Is the word whose referring to fire, an inanimate object, correct in this sentence? Or is there a more appropriate word?
0
votes
3answers
94 views
Can we say “the problem's”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is using the possessive 's correct in “the car’s antenna”?
Can we add apostrophe S, 's, to a word for an inanimate object as in the phrase
the problem's ...
10
votes
5answers
4k views
Apostrophe-“s” vs “of ”
I gave a quick answer to part of this question which had not been covered by previous answers, trying to clarify the reason you would say time of decoding but not decoding’s time. I said it was ’s ...
1
vote
3answers
145 views
What is the correct possessive genitive for “media”?
I hope I've used the right terms in the title; I'm not a native speaker.
The singular of media is of course medium. So when talking about one medium's content, the genitive s and apostrophe are easy ...
3
votes
2answers
368 views
Plurals and possessives of quoted words [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Marking plural of code words
Pluralizing Keywords in Programming Languages
After asking a number of questions on StackOverflow, I keep running into some of the same ...
-1
votes
2answers
171 views
About adjective possessive pronouns [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
In the sentence ‘Everyone should make everyone’s part’, what adjective ...
13
votes
4answers
4k views
“Its” as a Possessive Pronoun
Since its can be both determiner possessive pronoun and nominal possessive pronoun, an example of its as determiner possessive pronoun would be:
We saved this question for last because of its ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
What's the difference between “a picture of the king” and “a picture of the king's”? [closed]
A picture of the king.
A picture of the king's.
What exactly is the difference between the two?
6
votes
1answer
518 views
Why do we say “of mine/of his” instead of “of me/of him”?
He's a friend of mine.
That's a car of his.
Why do we use the possessive when the meaning would be the same while not using it (e.g. a friend of me and a car of him)? I thought maybe it is ...
6
votes
2answers
807 views
Why use apostrophe-s to denote possession when using 'of'
Think of the simple phrase "Bill's friend".
If you were going to turn this around using the preposition 'of' would you say:
A friend of Bill's
or
A friend of Bill
It appears to me that, in the US ...
22
votes
9answers
2k views
Why is it usually “friend of his”, but no possessive apostrophe with “friend of Peter”?
As this NGram shows, we nearly always use the possessive form of personal pronouns for friend of mine/his/ours/etc.
But when it comes to actual names, we prefer friend of Peter without the possessive ...
0
votes
1answer
175 views
What’s the pronunciation of “ s’ ”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s?
“The Weasley twins’ friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for
the match.”
Do ...
1
vote
2answers
166 views
Why is an apostrophe used in the genitive “-’s”?
The English possessive isn’t a contraction, but rather a relic of the grammatical case system, so why is an apostrophe used in (most) forms of the possessive?
8
votes
1answer
598 views
How did an apostrophe plus the letter “s” come to indicate possession? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origins of possessive pronouns
How did English come to use "apostrophe s" to indicate possession, when it seems to me that few (if any!) other languages do (or do ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
How to indicate possession when using abbreviation “Dr.”
I often run into a case where I need to say I have a doctor's appointment, but how would I properly punctuate it if I wanted to use the abbreviation Dr. instead of the word doctor? Dr.'s appointment ...
0
votes
4answers
539 views
“my”, “of me”, “of mine” - when to use these possessive constructions
I have been encountering possessive constructions with the preposition "of" and a possessive form of pronoun frequently, but I do not fully understand what it means and when to use it. In particular, ...
1
vote
1answer
862 views
What is the proper plural of “a series”? [closed]
In math, we use the term series a lot, and there are many types of series.
How should I craft my sentence when I have three different ones in mind to talk about? Should I settle down for a less ...
17
votes
3answers
841 views
Possessive of a word that is already possessive
If the cricket ground Lord's is a possessive, what if you want to describe something belonging to Lord's? Would you say "I was very impressed by Lord's's customer services"?
It doesn't look right, ...
0
votes
0answers
22 views
possessive adjective + gerund vs. object pronoun + gerund [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive pronoun?
What is the difference between:
[possessive adjective + gerund] and
[object pronoun + gerund]
...
0
votes
1answer
81 views
Chained possessive words [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“My wife and I’s seafood collaboration dinner”
I’m sure there are better ways to write the following sentence, but I was curious to know if this sentence is ...
1
vote
2answers
520 views
What is the possessive form of a singular noun ending with a plural s?
I would tend to treat a company name as singular and would therefore write the possessive form with 's. Now, my company refers to its international operations by placing the country name behind the ...
2
votes
1answer
172 views
What is the correct usage for I'm a girl in my early twenties?
Which is grammatically correct?
I am a girl in my early twenties.
or
I am a girl in her early twenties.
2
votes
1answer
222 views
“List of tasks” or “tasks' list”
Which of these forms is better: list of tasks or tasks' list? Another question is whether I should use an apostrophe or not (tasks's list vs tasks list).
Other phrases which are similar to this, but ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
In “an idea of Hölderlin’s”, is “of” a partitive or a genitive?
We often use these constructions. A friend of mine is probably the most common.
I have often wondered, being an English teacher, whether the function of the preposition of in such contexts is that of ...
-1
votes
2answers
178 views
“The dog's tail” vs. “the tail of the dog” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is using the possessive 's correct in “the car’s antenna”?
When talking about animal body parts, which of the following is the right one (or could both be possible ...
14
votes
2answers
423 views
What is the correct spelling of “buyer* remorse”?
Apostrophical query:
a) Buyers Remorse
b) Buyer Remorse
c) Buyer's Remorse
d) Buyers' Remorse
My guess is b or c, as it seems like any example is talking about the remorse of one specific buyer, ...
17
votes
14answers
5k views
How to say “She/He is my girlfriend/boyfriend” without the possessive “my” [closed]
Is there a way to indicate that somebody is your girlfriend without using the possessive term my? I think saying She/He is my partner/other half is OK for married people, but it doesn't feel right for ...
-1
votes
2answers
90 views
Can I say “Bran's bachelor's”? [closed]
My friend is Bran.
He had a bachelor party.
Can I title a photo album Bran’s bachelor’s?
1
vote
2answers
1k views
“Each other's presence” vs. “each others' presence” [closed]
Which of the following is correct?
spend time in each other's presence
spend time in each others' presence
11
votes
6answers
584 views
Is it correct to say “I write children books” (not possessive case)? [closed]
Although Children's books is what everybody says, I would like to understand why the genitive case is applied in such case.
If I write books for children, children is an adjective here; not the ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
What’s the correct plural possessive of “kids”?
I know that children’s books is correct, but for some reason I want to say kids books, even though I know that it’s a plural possessive noun ending in an s.
A quick search on the web turns up Barnes ...
4
votes
2answers
235 views
Bayes' Theorem or Bayes's Theorem? (Similarly, Charles' Law or Charles's Law?) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When did it become correct to add an ‘s’ to a singular possessive already ending in ‘s’?
Which singular names ending in “s” form possessives with only a bare apostrophe?
...
-2
votes
2answers
80 views
Use of apostrophe in days?
Is it:
As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the days events span round in her head.
or
As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the day’s events span round in her head.
3
votes
3answers
641 views
Plural Possessive of a Singular Noun
While browsing this SE site, I stopped to look at the "What kind of questions can I ask here?" section of the FAQ, where the following is written:
Questions on the following topics are welcomed ...
1
vote
3answers
456 views
“Writer's writer” — who can say it?
When someone says:
This author is a writer's writer.
I understand that as meaning the author is accomplished and generally excellent. It's a bit fuzzy in my mind how it can mean this, but I can ...
1
vote
0answers
23 views
more usage of their and they with any way [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
I want to learn more usage of 'their' which is an possessive and in any way of ...
-2
votes
1answer
71 views
When an item belongs to Bob, is it Bob's item or Bobs item [closed]
Should I use:
That is Bob's phone
He is Bob's student
Bob's car is red
or:
That is Bobs phone
He is Bobs student
Bob's car is red
5
votes
3answers
525 views
Usage of the gerund preceded by the possessive pronoun
I read this thread on the usage of the gerund preceded by the possessive pronoun with much interest.
I have another question about the usage of the gerund preceded by the possessive pronoun.
In a ...
11
votes
4answers
4k views
What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When did it become correct to add an ‘s’ to a singular possessive already ending in ‘s’?
Which singular names ending in “s” form possessives with only a bare apostrophe?
...
