Questions tagged [possessives]
Questions about the possessive, one of several constructions that describe ownership or association between two objects.
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How to use comparatives with processive nouns? [closed]
I wonder which of the following is/are correct?
a. The national flag of Malaysia has more colours than Japan's.
b. The national flag of Malaysia has more colours than Japan.
c. Malaysia's national ...
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Cow's vs Cows' milk - which is correct? [duplicate]
All of the cow's milk will be gathered and consumed.
All of the cows' milk will be gathered and consumed.
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Every Soldiers Lament [migrated]
I wrote a poem called "Every Soldiers Lament"
and am torn with the spelling of Soldiers.
Is it:
Soldiers
Soldier's
Soldiers'
My first guess is "Soldiers'" because I'm referring ...
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1
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How to write the possessive of a proper noun that ends in a plural noun?
Say we have a hotel named the Springfield Arms. The name itself is singular, since it refers to an individual hotel, but it ends with the pluralized noun “Arms”.
What is the correct way to write the ...
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"Teams members" or "Team members" (considering we are talking about 2 teams)?
In the context of we having 2 Teams: team 1, and team 2. I want to refer to the members of all the teams we have. Should I say "Teams members" or do I still have to use the singular of "...
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How do you avoid ambiguity without using multiple possessive nouns when using relative structures?
I'm writing some research that involves explaining some relational data structures. I frequently find it very difficult to remove ambiguity from the sentences I am trying to write. For example, the ...
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Co-worker and I have differing opinions. When launch is used a a noun, would it be, "at the launches conclusion," or at the launch's conclusion" [closed]
I'm losing my mind over this b/c I honestly have no clue if I am correct given that all of my coworkers are, honestly, much smarter than me. So, with that I want to change their spelling in this ...
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Can you write "... me's" (the possessive)?
Could you use me's as in something like this?
The person behind me's phone keeps ringing.
The person behind me's breathing sounds laboured.
I've tried looking at other questions but I couldn't find ...
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Are "the roof of the building" and "a house of stone" grammatically the same constructions?
Are "the roof of the building" and "a house of stone" grammatically different prepositional phrase constructions? Or are they both understood to be possessives with the latter not ...
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Where does the apostrophe go within a dialogue if the word ends with a possessive plural word? [closed]
I've been wracking my brain and fingers googling this, but no site has an example, so here I am. Where does the apostrophe go within a dialogue if the word ends with a possessive plural? Does it go ...
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Leaders Trip or Leaders' Trip [closed]
Hoping for some assistance with my possessive conundrum.
If you were going on a trip for leaders (not run by leaders/organised by leaders), would it be: a Leaders Trip or Leaders' Trip?
Thank you!
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Each other’s nose or each other’s noses?
Should it be singular or plural after “each other’s” here.
They touched each other’s nose.
They touched each other’s noses.
Are both correct?
John Lawler notes in another post that each other can ...
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Why is it spelled "for completeness' sake" and not "for completeness's sake"? [duplicate]
Why is it spelled "for completeness' sake" and not "for completeness's sake"
Isn't the apostrophe at the end only for plural?
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Ships' stores or ship's stores? [duplicate]
How do I write this correctly?
When I use Google, 'ship's stores' seem to be used the most. But an official government website from Canada writes it as 'ships' stores'. Which is correct?
Thank you!
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Is it "Rob's and Ron's emails are xyz@com and abc@com." or "Rob and Ron's emails are xyz@com and abc@com."? [duplicate]
In the possessive, which is one is correct?
I am assuming that Rob and Ron's email means they both have the same email whereas, Rob's and Ron's emails are 2 distinct emails for each one.
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How do you use single quotes and possessive apostrophe on same word?
I'd like to write
.. using OpenAI's GPT-3.5 Turbo model ..
except the word 'OpenAI' must be in single quotes (it's a requirement of the institution I'm writing for).
'OpenAI''s
seems like the most ...
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Why do we say 'Harry Potter fan' but 'Harry Potter's biggest fan'
In the following constructions, why do we use an 's on the second option but not on the first one?
Harry Potter fan
Harry Potter's biggest fan
I cannot find any explanation for this anywhere online....
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3
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Possessive case with who(m)ever in an object noun phrase
Disclaimer
The question put forward as the pretext for mine's closure does not answer my question at all—that question contains “who(m)ever” in a clause acting as an object, which I have no trouble ...
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How to write "my and my friend's" to refer to same object ("my and my friend's toys")
How would I best phrase "my and my friend's toys"? The sentence in mind is quite descriptive of the toys and I would thus not like to repeat the adjectives twice (ex. "my bright, ...
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2
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Possessive Contraction over Equations and Mathematical/Physics Laws
In my mother language, Spanish, when we refer to a famous equation, say those for electromagnetism, we say "Ecuaciones de Maxwell". This translates, literally, as "Equations of Maxwell&...
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“Jane and Lucas’ Wedding or Lucas’s” Where should the apostrophe go? [duplicate]
If you have a name ending in S letter, where should the apostrophe go?
Jane and Lucas’ wedding or
Jane and Lucas’s wedding?
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"He is a friend of Tom and mine" "He is my and Tom's friend" [duplicate]
I have read all the related Q&A I could find on here, but there didn't seem to be one that answers my question exactly. There was one question that was related, but I don't think this would be a ...
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Can the possessive “my” be dropped before father/mother? [closed]
Imagine you are reading and/or watching some hoity-toity broad speak from the ye olde era. Would it be wrong for them to say:
“Father would never allow for it!”
Or:
“What plagues mother now?”
In ...
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1
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past tense and possessive [closed]
In my textbook:
I bought my car yesterday. ［incorrect］
Because, Until I buy that car, it doesn't belong to me.
I bought a car yesterday (for myself). ［correct］
From 'English Grammar in Use':
The ...
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2
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How to put possessive 's after a full company name
I need advise on how we correctly use the possessive 's (i.e. apostrophe + s) after a full company name with abbreviation.
E.g., will "Company Name ltd." become "Company Name ltd.'s&...
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How to determine when a noun is an objective genitive versus a subjective genitive? [closed]
St. Augustine writes in Soliloq. i, 10, as quoted in the English translation of St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica II-II q. 151 a. 3 ad 2:
I consider that nothing so casts down the manly mind from ...
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How to use possessive for joined and separate ownerships? [duplicate]
How should I create possessives (for joined and separate ownerships) if each individual isn't a noun but a pronoun?
Knowing that: Peter and Dave's car means Peter and Dave own one car. And that Peter'...
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Ok to write "motivation" as possessed by a program instead of program's creator? [closed]
Let's say group X developed a program (or club, business, group, etc.) given some underlying motivation. The program was successful thus affirming said motivation.
I'm curious: can the more concise ...
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Possessives with gerunds
When a phrase, such as “doing something” is used used as a noun, I understand it becomes a gerund phrase. When it includes a pronoun subject, the phrase becomes a clause, in which the pronoun ...
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1
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Question about ambiguity of possessives [closed]
per say X is an attribute or part of the Ys, if I want to say
"my X is bigger than all of your Ys combined "
how do I make sure they do not misunderstand that I meant
"my X is bigger ...
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1
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'Team's interaction' or 'team interaction'?
I'm not sure which one is correct here:
It has influenced our (team/team's) interaction and coordination skills.
Is it team's since the interaction is possessive? Or team?
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1
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Benfica badge or Benfica's badge [duplicate]
Should I say: I kissed Benfica badge or I kissed Benfica's badge.
How are football teams' names used as adjectives?
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What is correct? "My cat's, Tiger's, food is on sale." "My cat's, Tiger, food is on sale." [duplicate]
What is correct?
My cat's, Tiger's, food is on sale.
My cat, Tiger's, food is on sale.
My cat's, Tiger, food is on sale.
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Possession 's form and articles
I am starting my question with the Wikipedia page on Young's modulus and its usage of the possessive 's form on the proper name Young. According to me, the text starts well with the definition of ...
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"One of your chip's performance" or "One of your chips' performance"
What I mean to say is that you have several microchips, and I'm offering to boost the performance of one of them. In that case, is it correct to say ...?
You can improve...
one of your chip's ...
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Possessive of company name already ending in 's [duplicate]
If one were speaking of, say, something belonging to the company named Denny's, would the correct punctuation be Denny's'? Thanks!
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Possessive construction using 's and "of" [duplicate]
What is the difference between possessives using an apostrophe, like "God's name" and using "of," like "name of God"?
Other languages consistently use the "of" ...
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1
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Do you compare your memories with others or others'?
You (plural) have different memories. Suppose you are all students in my class. Now I want to ask you to compare your memories by talking to students in another class and hearing about their memories. ...
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1
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Predicate genitive [closed]
Can anyone give me a syntactical description for this of-construction, does it imply possessiveness or the characteristic of something?
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all ...
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Which is MORE correct; Bob and Joe`s or Bob`s and Joe`s? [duplicate]
It says it all in the title. Common is Bob and Joe's. But is it grammatically correct?
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How to determine the literal meaning of the phrase 'instead of' in two related but independent conditional statements
Consider the following statements from an airline's terms and conditions:
If a flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a refund
If a flight is cancelled for external factors, you are entitled to a ...
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Why do we use the possessive in "doctor's appointment"? [closed]
Doctors seem to be unique among professions in that we use the possessive when referring to their appointments. "Doctor's appointment" is many times more common than "doctor appointment&...
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What's correct: "I saw him eating" or "I saw his eating"? [duplicate]
I was always taught that if you can replace a participle with a pronoun, then you should use the possessive case. So instead of "I saw him eating", because I can substitute "it" ...
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Discovering their self and discovering themselves
In adolescence, teenagers discover their self. (as in the “self” with a possessive their)
OR
In adolescence, teenagers discover themselves (reflexive pronoun).
I think both are potentially acceptable. ...
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Possessive apostrophe with a parenthetical [closed]
All Realtor(s), dog(s), and cat(s) transactions are forbidden by this agreement. Where do I place possessive apostrophe(s) in the foregoing sentence?
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"every" + possessive + noun
I naively asked a question about the use of "every" with possessives on the ELL thinking there will be a very simple answer. I was pretty sure that saying either
Every your thought is ...
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Function of genitive
What is the function of the genitive case in the sentence below? More precisely, what type of relationship between the two nouns does it imply?
The man’s tale was interesting.
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its vs. their in the following example
I am not sure whether the possessive pronoun can refer to the plural noun or only to the singular noun in the following example:
Clarity on the non-identity between the underlying algorithms and
...
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Both their three cars [closed]
Both indicates that the action or state denoted by the verb applies individually to each of two entities. Both books weigh more
than five pounds means that each weighs more than five by
itself, not ...
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Possessive apostrophes with names in speech marks [duplicate]
I'm translating a text that refers to a person who goes by a nickname, so in the text this nickname is always shown in speech marks - "El Cuco". How do I use a possessive apostrophe ...
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