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Let's say in a scenario, someone says "we are so fortunate we have this pic"...which of the following would be the right response?

All thanks to ME capturing every moment.

or

All thanks to MY capturing every moment.

The first one sounds right, but idk why the second one sounds like something that shouldn't be right, but is?

Please clear this doubt of mine. And if you could also tell me about any situation where the second one might be correct, it would be a great help too.

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  • There are a lot of similar questions although if you don't know the grammatical terminology it can be hard to search.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Aug 9 at 12:47
  • I answer the question here.
    – ishtar
    Commented Aug 12 at 11:12

2 Answers 2

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The second one is correct in any situation I can think of. The first one sounds like a mistake to me as the emphasis is on me rather than the actions.

All thanks to me would be fine. But when talking about capturing the moment, it's your action in capturing the moment, so it is my.

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    I have upvoted this answer, but it’s probably an overstatement to call things like The key was me capturing every moment a “mistake.” And it’s misleading to suggest that such usage might be limited to “beginners in English”: many, many native speakers use the subject or object form rather than the possessive. I do absolutely agree that the possessive is to be preferred in any careful or formal context.
    – PaulTanenbaum
    Commented Aug 9 at 14:16
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    As mentioned in various duplicates, the POSS-ing and ACC-ing complements are both grammatical, with the former in a more formal register. But the choice affords different emphasis, with POSS-ing focussing on the agent and ACC-ing on the activity. 'I don't like John's singing ... it's terrible.' // 'I don't like John singing; he had his tonsils out only a few days ago.'
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Aug 9 at 14:29
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Both work, and I'm not sure why the second one shouldn't be right : it's the one I prefer.

The meaning and implication is slightly different because the object of the sentence is different. In the first the thanks go to "me", in the second they go to "capturing every moment" - a more abstract idea.

If you were to simplify the sentences by removing part of them, the first might say "All thanks to me", which could sound a bit self-absorbed. The second might say "All thanks to capturing every moment" - the person who did the capturing is irrelevant (and comes over as a lot more modest).

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  • In the first sentence the thanks go to "me" I'd say that in the first sentence the thanks go to "me capturing every moment" (as opposed to "me (capturing every moment)").
    – ryang
    Commented Aug 10 at 2:50
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    @ryang Many have pointed out that POSS-ing (here, 'my ...' points more to the activity and ACC-ing to the referent of the direct object (here, whoever 'me' refers to, ie the speaker).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Aug 10 at 15:58
  • @ryang - Like Edwin said. The implication (or, at least, the common inference) would be that "my" refers primarily to the activity and "me" to the actor.
    – ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere
    Commented Aug 10 at 16:44
  • @EdwinAshworth My point—which agrees with BOTH your comments on this page—again, is that in the first given sentence, the thanks go of course to the agent me, but more specifically to me carrying out the activity (as opposed to me carrying out another activity). This is not to say that that sentence is focusing more on the activity, which obviously only the second given sentence is. In short, although the activity is not the focus of the first given sentence's Thanks, it isn't irrelevant either. Anyhow.
    – ryang
    Commented Aug 10 at 17:15
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    Yes; my point is that it's been said many times on ELU. Here, 'All thanks to my capturing every moment' must have the 'it's all down to' sense of 'thanks': no felicitations involved. The ACC-ing at least strongly connotes self-congratulation.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Aug 10 at 18:49

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