Timeline for Plural possessive with separate possessions
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 8, 2012 at 17:05 | vote | accept | yoozer8 | ||
| Feb 6, 2012 at 15:30 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | In all honesty I'm not sure I'd notice anything particularly unusual in the spoken form - where the one of the families part would doubtless be spoken quickly and followed by a slightly emphasised houses. For me, the real headache only comes when I try to figure out how to punctuate it! | |
| Feb 6, 2012 at 15:19 | comment | added | Irene | @FumbleFingers:I suppose you are right. But it gave me a headache to even think about it, that's why I suggested an alternative phrasing. If I saw this sentence written or (worse) if I heard it, I'd immediately ask for a clarification. When the meaning of certain structures doesn't allow effective communication, these structures should be avoided. | |
| Feb 6, 2012 at 14:42 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | It is rather awkward phrasing, as you say, so it's probably best recast anyway. But grammatically it seems pretty clear the house in question belongs to one of the families. Which only requires the bare apostrophe to mark possession, so the strict "grammatical" form OP is looking for (but should avoid) is just ...at one of the families' house. | |
| Feb 6, 2012 at 6:21 | history | edited | Irene | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 23 characters in body
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| Feb 6, 2012 at 6:05 | history | answered | Irene | CC BY-SA 3.0 |