Questions tagged [possessives]
Questions about the possessive, one of several constructions that describe ownership or association between two objects.
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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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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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Using two possessive s in a single word?
A typical church name would use a possessive s, as in St. Peter's Anglican Church.
It is common to shorten the name to just St. Peter's.
If they are hosting a concert, you could say "St. Peter's is ...
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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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When multiple nouns possess the same thing, one 's [duplicate]
Which is better, "... students', staff's and faculty's priorities," or "students, staff and faculty's priorities"?
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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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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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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
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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How do you punctuate what FFS expands to?
I was just having a discussion with a friend, and we were wondering
about appropriate grammar usage when one says For fucks sake.
In my opinion, there are three candidates:
for fucks sake
for fuck’s ...
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Should I put an appositive comma around a possessive appositive
In the process of editing a translation, I came across this sentence: "[That night] was also the opening curtain to the Sheng Yuan Emperor, Li Yi’s unification of the world." (To clarify ...
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World Oceans Day — why is it plural?
Today is the World Oceans Day. Why is ‘World Ocean’ in it plural? There is only one World Ocean. Or did they just omit the apostrophe before the -s?
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Why "thine heart" but "thy whole heart"?
I have somehow picked up the use of the two different forms "thy/thine" from the KJV Bible, and I thought I knew the rule. Use thy before consonants and thine before vowels or before words ...
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Possessive apostrophe in phrasal descriptor [duplicate]
If I want to describe a person/group and then refer to something of theirs. Would these be permissible?
The guy in charge's hat
It is the people of France's doing
It is everyone else's fault
The ...
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Does “Parks Trust” need an apostrophe? [duplicate]
My home town has a charity which maintains our parks - called the “Parks Trust”. I recently got involved in a Facebook debate as I’ve always maintained that it should be “Parks’ Trust”. My main ...
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Possessive apostrophe-s on three nouns in a row
I just read Two possessive nouns in a row, but am still trying to wrap my head around possessive apostrophe-s in English, specifically, I am trying to say something along the following lines:
"...
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Which is correct - you or your in this context? [closed]
Your staring won’t make me walk faster
or
You staring won’t make me walk faster
Which is correct, you or your?
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Why we need two forms of preferred personal pronouns? [duplicate]
Regarding the fact that this is still somehow a hot topiс in English language-speaking communities I need to stress out that is a serious and respectful question without even a trace of intention to ...
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Possessive apostrophe regarding the term 'Logistics'
Just wanted to ask if the word 'logistics' would have a possessive apostrophe in the following sentence.
Halal logistics services are needed to guarantee halal products and maintain halal product ...
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What is the correct grammar for "a days-long wait"
Surely there's a better way; something instantaneous that doesn't involve a days-long wait?
Is the grammar above correct? Particularly, should 'days-long' be hyphenated, and should it contain a ...
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Can adjectives be used like this? (genitive)
It's easier to explain myself with examples like:
The dead's last wish was...
The long-lost's children were found (if long-lost refers to, for example, their long-lost ancestors, or basically anybody ...
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possessive referring to behavior of multiple actors
In
"Alice and Bob's contrary behavior served to"
vs
"Alice's and Bob's contrary behavior served to"
Usually the choice between the two forms hinges on whether the two actors ...
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Genitive of Sunrise: Sunrise' or Sunrise's [duplicate]
I just don't like 'Sunrise's' very much. I want to write "Sunrise' breaking light over the plains" but I'm not sure if it should really be "Sunrise's breaking light over the plains.&...
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Possessive for Name Ending in Apostrophe [duplicate]
One of my colleagues has a name that ends in an apostrophe, namely Faee'. Recently when sending an email I realized I wasn't sure how to refer to something that belongs to them using the typical "...
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Using possessive pronouns for an academic degree (e.g. my masters degree) [closed]
One of my pet peeves...people using the possessive pronoun to refer to a graduate degree. For instance, people saying I'm going to get "my doctorate" or writing "while working on my ...
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Stylistic Advice regarding the two types of possessives before a gerund
I know that, in terms of formal grammar, either a possessive pronoun or genitive form should precede a gerund. So, for example, 'his being', etc.
I am, however, far more comfortable with the former ...
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Lack of possessive marker when taken from a group [duplicate]
I'm confused by this sentence:
One of my best friends band is playing tonight.
What is it that happens here, is the possessive marker completely dropped?
From what I understand:
I can't add an 's ...
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Name of 'rule for sequential possessive'
I've been unable to successfully search for or determine the name of this scenario that involves multiple possessive words in sequence.
We purchased some flowers for the mother of our friend, Jane. I ...
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How to punctuate a phrase that has words between the possessor and possession?
Example: the security policy for Acme Group owned and operated computers...
Obviously I could just reword it as "the security policy for computers owned and operated by Acme Group...," but ...
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Is "of" obligatory when writing "In August of this year"?
I saw there was already some discussion on here about "in this year" vs. "this year." I have a similar question, but this time regarding the use of the word "of," and the ...
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Pronunciation of the possessive form of singular nouns ending in “s”
First, let me point out that this is a non-native English learner asking this question.
I know similar questions have been asked here (some of them found on this page), but (at least of those I saw) ...
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possessive case with plural
How can I use the possessive case with many objects " s' "?
2Jane and 2Mary 2room;
it is right? :
girls’ books
Jane and Maries’ rooms
the children’s toys
the workmen’s tools
Peter and Helens’...
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'Literary' usage when possessive pronoun begins sentence
I am unsure the correct wording of this question. Could anyone point me to usage notes or guidance on a construction such as this:
'Theirs was a position known to few.' Or, 'His was a car without ...
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I need either a confirmation or a refutation regarding the following theory of mine about the pattern"“noun phrase + of + possessive pronoun”
I've been thinking a lot about this matter, and this is what I came up with as a rather complicated yet seemingly airtight rule regarding when not to use the aforementioned pattern. It goes like this:
...
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Use of a possessive determiner or "the"
I want to know if, in the sentence below, being the last two collections of mine, it is mandatory to use the possessive determiner MY_other one… Or can I use the determiner THE_other one…?
I will sell ...
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Is there a technical term for the situation where a possessive noun compounded with another noun form the name of a very specific object?
I'm not a linguist so please excuse this clumsily worded question: Is there a technical term for the situation where a possessive noun compounded with another noun form the name of a very specific ...
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Correct way to use multiple possessive apostrophes in sentences? [closed]
I find multiple possessive apostrophes confusing, and so I'm having trouble deciding which of the sentences below would be correct.
Example:
The bicycle's frame colour is red.
The bicycle frame's ...
