Questions about the possessive, one of several constructions that describe ownership or association between two objects.
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1answer
34 views
Several tricky questions about the use of possessive case
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'...
1
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0answers
49 views
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 ...
0
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0answers
23 views
Does possession change with tense? [duplicate]
So I've always believed that you can use either "Jules' shirt." or "Jules's shirt."
I got some feedback on a story I was working on. They told me that in present tense writing you have to add the 's'...
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2answers
181 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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0answers
29 views
Can a possessive pronoun be a subject or an object in a sentence?
For example 'This is my sister's book' a question asked in a quiz I took and it said what role does 'my' play, so I wrote my answer as it played as the nominative case of the sentence. It turned out ...
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1answer
30 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 ...
2
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0answers
42 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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0answers
30 views
Why do we say that side of you instead of “that side of yours”
Why do people say "I have never seen that side of you" instead of "I have never seen that side of yours"? I am asking this question because "that side" belongs to the person, therefore why can't use ...
2
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1answer
27 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 ...
1
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1answer
35 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
54 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
32 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
155 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 ...
0
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1answer
64 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?
2
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1answer
44 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 ...
2
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3answers
91 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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0answers
13 views
'Task description' - why isn't possessive used here? [duplicate]
Why is 'task description' form used instead of possessive 'task's description'?
0
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1answer
69 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 ...
0
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3answers
57 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
45 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
69 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?
4
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1answer
71 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 ...
0
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1answer
86 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 ...
0
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1answer
62 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
179 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
75 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
50 views
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.)
0
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1answer
64 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 ...
0
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1answer
33 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
80 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 ...
0
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0answers
38 views
Is this a possessive gerund?
In an episode of Top Gear one of the hosts say the following
"Terrible pity about the 350Z Jeremy not liking."
Is the "not liking" bit a possessive gerund?
That is, is the word (liking) a gerund and ...
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0answers
19 views
Possessives of implicit nouns
Let's assume that we've got a sentence:
"your language acquisition was similar to your students' language acquisition"
can we make it shorter to:
"your language acquisition was similar to your ...
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0answers
44 views
“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
13 views
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 ...
1
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1answer
86 views
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
648 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
58 views
“A men's washroom” — unusual usage of the indefinite article
An article placed in front of a possessive noun normally refers to that noun. However, every once in a while I come across expressions like "a men's washroom" in which the possessive form of "men" is ...
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0answers
70 views
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
27 views
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?
0
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1answer
64 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?
0
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1answer
57 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
91 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 ...
0
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2answers
61 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
65 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",
...
1
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1answer
294 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? ...
0
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1answer
56 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
59 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
157 views
Are there nouns that undergo no change when used in the possessive (Saxon genitive)?
I’m looking for the existence of English nouns (common or proper) that
undergo no change when used in their possessive (Saxon genitive) form,
i.e. that do not take the usual ’s appendage the way radio’...
0
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0answers
139 views
How do you pronounce the possessive form of Las Vegas? [duplicate]
How do you pronounce the possessive form of Las Vegas? Example: Las Vegas' best radio station
Is it correct to put only an apostrophe after the 's' when writing the possessive form of this noun?
1
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1answer
2k views
Which is correct Jess' or Jess's [duplicate]
Please help us solve our debate.
One person says to write "Jess' Bridal Shower", the other says to write "Jess's Bridal Shower".
What is the correct way, or are the both correct?
