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For him not going to party was a big mistake.

His not going to party was a big mistake.

I think in the first sentence gives a sense that he is sad as he missed the party. The second sentence gives a sense that someone was in the party and enjoyed, now he is trying to say how wrong his decision was.

Maybe, I'm thinking too much on these sentences. There is no context, just these two sentence. Would you please explain the actual meaning and the grammar behind these sentences, if I'm not thinking right.

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  • Your reasoning seems sound.
    – aparente001
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 7:12

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For him not going to party was a big mistake. His not going to party was a big mistake.

Neither one of these sentences says anything about why it was a big mistake.

The first sentence needs, it seems to me, a comma after him: For him, not going to the party was a big mistake. This suggests it was a mistake for him, not necessarily for other people who decided not to go to the party. Perhaps it was, for him, a mistake because he would have met someone he wanted to meet.

The second sentence uses the possessive; we still do not know why it was a mistake. It could be for the same reason--he failed to meet someone; he went somewhere else, and the other event was disastrous. The second sentence--"his not going to the party was a big mistake"--is more suggestive of the idea that it was his own decision than is the first sentence.

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If you are or any person not going to the party for some one special for the some resion is called sentance 1 For him not going

If the person is not going to the party without resion mention is sentance 2 His not going to the party

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    This answer doesn't seem to be helpful. It remains unclear who's making the mistake.
    – Xanne
    Commented Jun 10, 2017 at 9:59

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