Timeline for Using a name as a contraction with "is", syntax looks possessive?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| S Jun 26, 2017 at 22:16 | history | suggested | Zach | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
You can NOT contract the proper noun with the word is, because that will mean possessive.
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| Jun 26, 2017 at 22:15 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jun 26, 2017 at 22:16 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2015 at 7:23 | vote | accept | Dioxin | ||
| Dec 5, 2014 at 12:40 | answer | added | Hershel | timeline score: 5 | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 1:19 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @JohnLawler “After all, how often do you talk about a person's fat as if it were separate from the rest of their body?” — You clearly haven’t been spending enough quality conversation time with the lovable Mr. Lecter! | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:58 | comment | added | Hot Licks | It's perfectly legit, if occasionally confusing. One needs to consider the context and whether the use of a contraction in such a situation could lead to misunderstanding. (And besides, it's yet another way that one can have fun with the English language, and that's more important than Bob's adipose tissue anyway.) | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:47 | comment | added | SrJoven | "Hey, what's that around Bob's belly?" "Bob's fat." | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:46 | history | edited | John Lawler | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 1 character in body; edited title
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:45 | comment | added | SrJoven | Even "Bob's fat but lovable [widget]" changes the dynamic (adjective = possessive). | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:44 | comment | added | John Lawler | The normally contracted sentence Bob's fat, meaning Bob is fat, is indistinguishable in speech from the noun phrase Bob's fat, meaning the fat that Bob has. So, yes, it does sound like the possessive, but this never causes confusion in speech, so why should it in writing? After all, how often do you talk about a person's fat as if it were separate from the rest of their body? And how often do you do that as a bare noun phrase, without a verb or adverb? | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:44 | comment | added | Justin Greer | For me, context provides enough clues to keep me from misreading the phrase. "Bob's fat but lovable" = contraction. "Bob's fat is not his greatest problem" = possessive. No problems there. Of course you could find syntactically ambiguous examples, but otherwise you're going to be fine—so yes, "Bob's fat" is proper (if not terribly polite). | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:43 | comment | added | SrJoven | Context is king. If the next word after is is an adjective or noun, the contraction will appear possessive. If it's a verb, adverb, or article, it will appear as a contraction. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:42 | comment | added | WS2 | How High's a Chinaman (?) | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:41 | review | First posts | |||
| Dec 2, 2014 at 2:52 | |||||
| Dec 1, 2014 at 23:38 | history | asked | Dioxin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |