What is the correct usage of the sentence"the pen of Raman or Raman's pen"? which one is the correct. i do remember reading somewhere that "of" will not be used prior to proper noun.Is it right?
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1We usually don't use of before proper nouns, but phrases like "from the pen of Shakespeare" are not uncommon. On the other hand, they're usually used more metaphorically, and we very rarely would say "the car of Anne" or "the hat of John". In other words: use 's for people unless you know what you're doing.– Peter ShorCommented May 28, 2016 at 14:51
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It is a matter of personal style, there is no hard-and-fast rule about this.– user177400Commented May 28, 2016 at 14:53
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1The of variant lends a certain gravitas to the phrase that may be out of place if the context isn't sufficiently weighty. In that case, the pendulum swings to the other side and the phrase may end up sounding comical. E.g. the land of Britain vs the house of Bob. Compare "We went to the house of Bob for dinner" with "We went to Bob's house for dinner".– LawrenceCommented May 28, 2016 at 15:01
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1@PeterShor: I basically agree with you, but I believe that the rules/guidelines are somewhat broader than what you have cited. It's not just proper nouns; I wouldn't say "the car of my brother" either (although, for some reason, "the son of my brother" seems less unnatural). Neither is it restricted to people; I would say "my laptop's keyboard" as readily as (or maybe more than) "the keyboard of my laptop"; see also tchrist's "the car's antenna". "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" may be an example of "gravitas", or maybe it just sounds better than "my enemy's enemy".– Scott - Слава УкраїніCommented May 28, 2016 at 17:38
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2 Answers
"Raman's pen" is a more informal possessive, emphasizes that the pen belongs to Raman, and it's most often used in the present tense. The "pen of Raman" is more formal, and implies that there may be something specifically interesting about the pen itself, and is vaguer as to when Raman owned, owns, or may own the pen.
For ordinary usage, use the apostrophe, unless the object owned should be emphasized.
Possessive horror movie titles offer short and dramatic examples:
- House of Dracula
- House of Frankenstein
- The Fall of the House of Usher
- Bride of Frankenstein
These titles connote something interesting about those Houses or that Bride.
Usage of the less formal apostrophe resulted in rather flat titles like these:
- Dracula's Dog
- Dracula's Daughter
Mixing "of" and "'s" tends to confuse:
- Blood of Dracula's Castle
For what you mean, I don't think using "the pen of Raman" is correct at all. Either use "Raman's pen" or say something like "the pen belonging to Raman". Otherwise it sounds like you're talking about a one-of-a-kind pen, like it is an artifact or something.
