Tagged Questions
1
vote
2answers
105 views
Antedecent of “its” in “the dog attacked the cat and its friends” [duplicate]
The dog attacked the cat and its friends.
Does the sentence imply that the dog attacked the cat and the cat's friends or that it attacked the cat and the dog's friends?
How would one properly ...
-1
votes
2answers
182 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 ...
0
votes
4answers
827 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, ...
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]
...
1
vote
0answers
29 views
“Thank you for your coming” and “Thank you for your understanding” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Thank you for coming” and “Thank you for your coming”
The first one seems ungrammatical, as pointed by some of native speakers. But the latter ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
Can their be used as a singular possessive pronoun? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it correct to use “their” instead of “his or her”?
I am attempting to help wordsmith a fundraising appeal. A member of the committee reviewing ...
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 ...
1
vote
0answers
23 views
Use of possessive or object pronoun [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive pronoun?
Do you mind me smoking?
Do you mind my smoking?
There's little chance of you ...
-2
votes
1answer
303 views
Is the use of “yours” grammatical in “jeopardize yours and her careers”?
I came across the following sentence:
Another inspector, Douglas E. Peters, testified that even after the
F.A.A. manager had been removed, the replacement manager threatened
him. The ...
2
votes
3answers
246 views
“Whom” or “who” and replies to such questions
Which is the most natural way to ask the question below? Are the replies correct? (Words in parentheses show that they are optional.)
Whose are these notebooks? - (Of) our students./These ...
3
votes
1answer
256 views
What's the right possessive pronoun for “nobody”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
None as plural indefinite pronoun
Should ...
3
votes
3answers
293 views
Can “whose” refer to a first-person subject in the third person?
This question came from a friend. It is from a college entrance exam for non-native English speakers.
Link the following sentences with "whose":
I was a small kid. My classmates laughed at ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
What possessive pronouns do have an apostrophe?
I was explaining it's vs. its to someone the other day, and I said "None of the pronouns (his, hers, theirs, yours, its, whose, ...) has an apostrophe." Later I got to wondering whether that was ...
4
votes
2answers
215 views
Why do we use “its” for possessive? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why doesn't “its” have an apostrophe?
Generally, there is an apostrophe when someone possesses something:
That's Gerald's cat.
Gerald's cat is ...
6
votes
1answer
555 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Proper way to handle plurals with “whose”
I came up (re)phrasing a question like this :
What's so special about directories whose name begins with a dot?
But now, I'm wondering whether this is correct handling of plurals or not. Should ...
10
votes
2answers
5k views
How do you make the possessive form with “He and I”-style subjects?
Despite being a native speaker of American English, I cannot find a construction that sounds natural when trying to form a possessive from coordinated subjects including a first person pronoun, like ...
1
vote
1answer
288 views
Third person equivalent of “yours” and “mine” [closed]
What is the third person equivalent of yours or mine? For example,
It's not your book; you should take yours.
It's not my book; I should take mine.
It's not his book; he should take X.
8
votes
1answer
470 views
What is the possessive form of “y'all”?
I generally hear y'alls's used as the possessive form, but I have also heard yourn. Since y'all is a colloquial pronoun, its possessive form is basically liberated from prescriptive linguistics which ...
5
votes
2answers
2k views
Why “themselves” and “himself”
In the earliest grades of elementary schools, students learn that "hisself" and "theirselves" are not words. I do not understand why this is.
If you wanted to refer to 'his' sock, you would say "his ...
0
votes
1answer
425 views
How do we pronounce “others'”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
I know that we pronounce "someone else's" as "someone else sus."
I'm wondering how do we pronounce others'.
Is it ...
17
votes
1answer
4k views
Ones or one's: Which is the correct usage?
I've been confused about this as long as I can remember. Should it be:
One should do ones duty.
or
One should do one's duty.
I'm guessing it should be the latter. But that doesn't sit well ...
4
votes
2answers
569 views
Ambiguity when a sentence contains multiple possessive pronouns
I have a question related to another one that I have asked.
In the following sentence, whose father is being referenced?
Billy’s friend and his father were there.
In the following re-structured ...
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?
3
votes
5answers
2k views
Is [Its'] a word? (Note the apostrophe at the end.)
I just had a strange flashback to a conversation I had when I was in high school, with a man who was regarded by many members of a particular online community as having an impressive degree of ...
20
votes
3answers
2k views
Why doesn't “its” have an apostrophe?
I know that its is the possessive and it's is the contraction, and know when to use them. But why doesn't the possessive have an apostrophe?
"The bear's eating a fish." [contraction]
"The bear's ...
2
votes
1answer
498 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 ...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
Difference in pronunciation between “your” and “you're”?
I'm a native English speaker (Texas counts, I suppose), and I pronounce "your" to rhyme with "core", and "you're" to rhyme with "cure". Is it just me or did I pick this up somewhere?
2
votes
6answers
284 views
“It's” versus “its” frequencies
My hypothesis is that in informal writing (say something like Stack Exchange questions) "it's" is massively more common than "its".
Is this true? Are there any data to support it?
Concrete ...
1
vote
3answers
644 views
Possessive for a third person and a first person
Bob and I are working on a project. I want to refer to "Bob's work" and "my work" collectively, without referring to Bob and myself collectively. (This will be the first reference to Bob and myself in ...
11
votes
1answer
862 views
Origins of possessive pronouns
If apostrophe + s is the acceptable way of denoting a genitive in English, is it possible that possessive pronouns, such as hers, ours and yours, started life as possessive adjectives with apostrophe ...
2
votes
3answers
758 views
Can “his/her” be replaced by “his”?
Yesterday, I asked this question on Web Apps:
If a Facebook user dies, what happens
to the account?
Actually, I wanted to ask it this way:
If a Facebook user dies, what happens
to ...
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 ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
Why use “his” in association with the word “mankind”?
I have a doubt. The economist Keynes in a book wrote:
The power to become habituated to his surroundings is a marked characteristic of mankind.
I would have used "its" instead but since English ...
2
votes
1answer
183 views
Which goal is whose?
Here is the situation:
Kids in a small yard are about to play soccer. There are no goalposts in that yard (or "goals" or whatever you call it, I mean those metal frames on each side of the soccer ...
6
votes
2answers
924 views
“You” or “your” when using two subjects with a possession?
I came across your and Mr X's publication
or
I came across you and Mr X's publication
5
votes
4answers
12k views
Correct usage of pronoun: “their” vs “its” [closed]
Which word goes in the blank (their or its)?
The stones are small, but ___ value is great.
I think it is their but my child's paper says it is its. Which is correct and why?
8
votes
2answers
422 views
*all of us's friend
There's this funny gap I tried to write a paper once upon a time when I studied linguistics, and I'd like to know if anyone has insight into it. The construction in question is the possessive ...
4
votes
1answer
806 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
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.
2
votes
1answer
424 views
Referring to some attribute of an inanimate object — use “who's”?
This came up in describing an input to a function:
A handle to the daemon who's name is desired.
(Daemon is a type of process on a system.)
Somehow, "who's" just doesn't seem right because it's ...
4
votes
4answers
387 views
Are there cases where a possessive pronoun is omitted?
Are there cases where the possessive adjective is omitted in a sentence, or is it always used?
For example, in a sentence like "Susan was walking with her hands in her pockets", is it necessary to ...
