Questions tagged [possessives]
Questions about the possessive, one of several constructions that describe ownership or association between two objects.
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plural possessive of Woods
How do you make the last name Woods plural possessive?
example: a friend of the Woods (2 people)
I assume it is Woodses, but have been "corrected" by someone.
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1answer
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how to attribute a singular property to a plural noun?
Please consider the following examples:
The size/sizes of the planets is/are written here.
The door/doors of a 100 houses is/are 100Kg.
Men's nose/noses is/are bigger than that/those of women.
Which ...
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1answer
51 views
Is “it's” or “its” possessive? [closed]
For a very long time now I've been using "it's" as the possessive form for "it". There have been some people that have said "its" is the possessive form, but I'm not sure if that's true. "It's" seems ...
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2answers
36 views
Possessive when using a title
Which is correct:
Mary Queen of Scots birthplace
Mary Queen of Scots' birthplace?
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0answers
16 views
Sequential Possessive Noun and Contraction
While creating a program that randomly creates sentences with available words that I have preprogrammed, I found a set of words that work together normally, but when combined are questionable.
That ...
2
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1answer
18 views
“Can you send me Fred and your flight information?” [duplicate]
This doesn't quite sound right but might be right. Consider
"Can you send me Fred and Amy's flight information?" This is correct via The Chicago Manual of Style.
Alternatively,
"Can you send me ...
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1answer
30 views
“My Articles' Comments” or “My Article Comments” | “My Reviews' Comments” or “My Review Comments”
I need to add menu items (filters) on my website but I'm not sure which one is correct:
My Articles' Comments
My Reviews' Comments
OR
My Article Comments
My Review Comments
For example, if you ...
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1answer
66 views
“Garry is my brother's Jack son.”
My son was given this worksheet. He wrote the word Jack in the lower right box and Garry above it in chart 2. I think he got it backwards, but does the sentence "Garry is my brother's Jack son" make ...
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1answer
31 views
Users wrists or user's wrists - addressing all wrists of users [closed]
I am launching new wearable software company with motto: Get your service on users wrists and I am not sure if it should be users or user's.
By the motto, I want to tell that you can get your ...
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1answer
27 views
possessives and number (sing./pl)
I'm revising a text containing these two sentences:
a) Students’ sex was coded by using their first names. b) Students’
birthday was self-reported in the survey,
I'm sure the correct version ...
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1answer
59 views
Several tricky questions about the use of possessive case [closed]
In my excercise book there are several examples in the "Possessive case" section, which I can't understand properly.
1) The ___ history goes back to 1808.
A) state's newspaper
B) state newspaper'...
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0answers
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Does the apostrophe come before or after the s when the noun is less than one?
I have a noun, "second", that I need to make possessive in the sentence,
It's like having a second's slower reflexes.
When I make it plural, the apostrophe comes after the s.
It's like having ...
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2answers
219 views
Does a possessive still require an apostrophe when a noun has been omitted to avoid repetition?
This is quite hard to explain (and seemingly impossible to search for on Google) so here's an example: In relation to dogs and their owners (masters), I saw this sentence: "Their understanding of the ...
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1answer
34 views
Manager news or manager's news
I am setting a label for news only visible to managers.
The two suggestions I have for phrasing is
Manager news
Manager's news
The second one feels intuitively wrong, but I googled a bit and found ...
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0answers
79 views
Why is the genitive case necessary/unecessary in the examples below?
I speak English as a second language, and I ran into something this week that I couldn't explain, even though I could understand its meaning. While reading an artcle entitled "More people now ...
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1answer
34 views
Possessive of a possessive [duplicate]
There is a sign at my work that says "Join the fight for Alzheimer's first survivor" and I am wondering about the use of "Alzheimer's" here. They are not reffering to a survivor of Alzheimer, they are ...
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1answer
41 views
Plural noun or singular noun + possessive
When the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868 —150 years ago this Monday — it closed the door on schemes that aimed to make the U.S. a white man’s country. (source)
I ...
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1answer
60 views
Word for the object that hangs from something else (“hangee”)
From nasa.gov
A satellite is an object that moves around a larger object.
What is the word for an object that hangs from another object?
an ornament on a Christmas tree
a figure on a (baby) mobile
...
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1answer
39 views
How to use possessives when the subject has a number after? [duplicate]
I have a question about possessives.
While "Peter's ball" is easy and clear.
How do I express the notion of "the ball that belongs to agent 2"?
Would it be "agent's 2 ball" or "agent 2's ball" or ...
7
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1answer
167 views
When did “our” stop being used as an adjective (as in “other our dominions”, “any our Subjects”)?
While reading a letter written by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1588, I came across a certain construction that doesn't seem to be grammatical in English:
RIGHT trustie, and righte welbelovid ...
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1answer
72 views
British-English - My v Mine [duplicate]
I would like to know which of the options below is correct:
'It is mine and John's favourite'
'It is my and John's favourite'
Or if both are incorrect, what would be the correct way to phrase this?
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1answer
47 views
How to use apostrophes for repeated possessives? [closed]
As I get older I become more pedantic. I recently wanted to write a message explaining my dread of going to weddings of children of my friends.
Which of the following is correct:
I am dreading ...
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3answers
116 views
Why is the phrase “for the life of me”?
I can’t understand why the phrase “for the life of me” isn’t “for the life of mine.” Mine is a possessive pronoun, not me. You don’t say, “Some friends of me.” You say, “Some friends of mine” OR “Some ...
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1answer
70 views
Should I use the possessive apostrophe or an attribute noun on a business card?
I have designed some stationary items (such as letterhead and business card) for a website/brand (XYZ.Com for instance), and I need help to choose the correct sentence among those below:
The ...
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3answers
63 views
Is “one” correctly used in that sentence?
I've used this sentence but it just sounds wrong a posteriori:
"The missing data is the weekends' one."
I'm trying to say data is missing only on the weekends.
I know there are more elegant ways ...
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1answer
52 views
Possessive after proper name
The Penguin Guide to Pronunciation says:
"A name ending in S takes only an apostrophe if the possessive form is not pronounced with an extra s. Hence:
Socrates' philosophy, Saint Saens' music
Ulysses'...
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1answer
86 views
Parking sign apostrophe? [duplicate]
Should there be an apostrophe in the sign "residents parking". A quick Google search suggests there shouldn't. But why not? Is "residents" an adjective?
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1answer
75 views
Mnemotechnic approach to identifying transitive vs verb-adjective constructs
I'm no linguist, grammarian and not even an english speaker, please bear with me. I'm looking for a quick way to identify transitive vs intransitive constructs, for example, in the sentence
"the ...
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1answer
467 views
Master thesis, master's degree thesis or master degree thesis
I searched online and I understood that "master's degree" retains the apostrophe, while the relative thesis is commonly referred to as "master thesis". However, of the forms
Master thesis
Master's ...
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1answer
172 views
Possessive with acronyms [closed]
Can the possesive formulation apostrophe s be used with acronyms of institutions. For instance: NASA's maps?
Are institutions treated as person names, or differently?
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0answers
195 views
Which one is correct and why? Hand vs hands [duplicate]
Which one is correct and why?
We held each other's hand
Or
We held each other's hands
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1answer
103 views
“Today's news is tomorrow's history” — are those possessives? [duplicate]
In the sentence above, why is "'s" used? Is it considered a possessive? It seems strange to state that the news "belongs" to today or the history "belongs" to tomorrow.
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2answers
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Plural possessives [duplicate]
Which is correct: "Drs. Ha and Smith's comments" or "Drs. Ha's and Smith's comments" (referring to the comments of both drs.)
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1answer
104 views
Which is most appropriate? “Only do this with {management/management's/managemental} approval.”
Which is most appropriate? "Only do this with {management/management's/managemental} approval."
I get that the word "management" can be singular or plural. But, can it also be both possessive and ...
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1answer
44 views
Multiple consecutive possession
What is the correct way of writing 's in multiple consecutive possession?
Bob's dog.
Bob's dog's toy.
Bob's dog's toy's ears.
Is this correct?
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0answers
84 views
What is the correct way to use the genitive in “Marge's and Homer's personalities are the opposite”? [duplicate]
I was making drills with the genitive case and I made a sentence that I don't understand (ironically):
Marge's and Homer's personalities are the opposite.
I mean, it is supposed that every person ...
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0answers
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“Synyster Gates/Gates' being left handed” [duplicate]
I texted a friend "I was wrong about Synyster Gates being left handed" earlier this morning, and I realized that I don't know if the word "being" here is something Gates possesses, or if it is a verb. ...
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0answers
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Possessive with nonessential phrase [duplicate]
Here's a puzzler: Is the use here of his wife, Julie's, correct?
Peter Brown, still smarting from his wife, Julie's, infidelity, wants
her dead, and he's trying to convince his friend Bill to ...
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1answer
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where to put the possessive “s” with an appositive parenthetical
Say I have a gym instructor called Anne and it's her birthday. I want to convey that to someone who doesn't know who Anne is in one sentence.
In speech, I would probably say, "it is Anne, my gym ...
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2answers
1k views
Colleagues or Colleague's? [closed]
Here is the context:
Please enter a colleagues email address:
My coworker believes that in this context, it should be colleagues. I think that because it is a possessive noun, that it should be ...
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0answers
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English grammar Genitive case
Please help me, I am confused.
As you know some times we can 'of' in a noun phrase by reversing the nouns order eg.
a train of goods => a goods train
If I want to mention a definite 'goods train' ...
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0answers
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Usage of “ 's ” in is Franco a friend of Jamie's? [duplicate]
What is the difference between "is Franco a friend of Jamie's?" and "is Franco a friend of Jamie?"?
Are both correct?
What is more appropriate?
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1answer
70 views
Is there another way to write the possessive -s?
I have a question regarding the possessive. Which one of the two is correct?
Caroline's car
Caroline her car
Or are they both correct?
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1answer
72 views
When can two pronouns being compared in a sentence be of different types?
I came across a sentence today -
He resents your being more popular than he is
I always thought that while comparing two pronouns they should always be of the same type, like,
She is taller than ...
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0answers
141 views
Do you add `'s` for the possessive of a singular compound noun that ends in a plural noun?
Which of these is correct?
The Union of Concerned Scientists's main goal is to prevent nuclear war.
or
The Union of Concerned Scientists' main goal is to prevent nuclear war.
The noun phrase ...
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2answers
70 views
Determining the stressed word in a sentence when using possessive
In the following sentence, which word should receive the stress:
This is the dog’s collar.
I fully understand that in different contexts, different words will be stressed. But I’m asking about the ...
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1answer
66 views
“A quarter of us is going to lose our jobs” or “A quarter of us is going to lose his job”
During my English lesson, I found this sentence in the book
A quarter of us is going to lose our job.
I think it's wrong but the teachers disagree with me. I think that the subject is "a quarter",
...
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1answer
613 views
Drop possessive apostrophe for noun ending in s/double s
Most sources I've found state you should add the possessive apostrophe even to nouns ending in s, as in Thomas's and James's, but does this ring true for nouns such as duchess, countess, and marquess? ...
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1answer
69 views
How to express the price of a unit of output
What are the differences in meaning between:
The output’s unit’s price
The unit output’s price or
Output unit’s price
My intention is to say:
“The price of a unit of output”
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2answers
76 views
If a noun is followed by brackets, where should the apostrophe be placed to show possession?
Which of the following four sentences has used the apostrophe in the correct way?
Captain Jack Sparrow's (Johnny Depp) teeth were glinting in the sunlight.
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)'s teeth ...
