Questions tagged [saxon-genitive]
This tag applies to questions on possessives formed with an apostrophe and "s" ('s) for indicating ownership.
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Why is an article often used with (the) Rubik's cube, although other "name+'s" constructions usually don't use one?
As far as I know (being non-native and not having studied linguistics), you usually do not use an article before a name + genitive. For example, you would say "this is Harry's ball" or "...
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Why doesn't "The Screwtape Letters" have the Saxon genitive in its title?
I was recently asked a question regarding the book "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, and I am not sure about the answer.
The title of the novel does not contain the Saxon genitive "...
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1
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Am I wrong to 'bracket' the Saxon possessive? [duplicate]
I recently wrote, on Stack Exchange, in regard to the books of the bible :
... Paul, Mark and Luke's contributions ...
I did so instinctively and afterwards realised what I had done.
Am I wrong to '...
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Is this usage of "whoever's" acceptable?
This question sparked a long conversation in the ELU chatroom and I figured the crowd might have some additional insight.
Is the following sentence correct?
Whoever’s car is blocking my driveway must ...
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What is enough to qualify for ownership in the use of the genitive? [closed]
In some cases it is crystal clear, for instance in
my mother's nose
the nose clearly belongs to my mother.
In cases where the name is adjectival, it also makes sense not to use it.
But what is "...
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Is using possessive pronouns after a name to show possession instead of apostrophe grammatical, like “John his car” for “John’s car”? [closed]
I've sometimes seen people use this so I was wondering if it is actually correct grammar or not. Couldn't find anything saying that this is correct nor anything saying that this is wrong online.
What ...
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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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0
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1
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Can quotation marks be followed 's?
In academic publication, I must use inverted commas.
"The fact that they had accepted the offer was sufficient to give rise to a binding contract, notwithstanding
the fact that the plaintiffs ...
user50720
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1
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Genitive without ('s) or (of) [duplicate]
Can I use "Teachers portal" instead of "teachers' portal"? Which of them is more accurate?
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Ways to express possession
Is this grammatically correct? The survival kit of an English teacher.
I doubt if this should be written as follows: An English teacher's survival kit.
While I know the second one is grammatically ...
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Why is the apostrophe positioned differently in "ones' complement" than "two's complement"?
There is a concept in computer science which deals with how to demonstrate negative binary numbers. Two methods for achieving this goal are ones' complement and two's complement.
Since I got ...
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What's the proper grammar for "My and my roommate's home..."?
What's the proper grammar for "My and my roommate's home..."
The rule I learned is it should still be grammatically correct after removing the second part. E.g. after removing "and my roommate's", "...
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Saxon genitive for company products
Is it correct to use the Saxon genitive when talking about the products of a given company? For example:
Apple's iPhone / Apple iPhone?
Of course, I have no doubt with products whose denomination ...
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For the reader's convenience
Let's say that, for the reader's convenience, I want to repeat in Chapter 7 an equation that I stated in Chapter 2.
What is the correct way of saying "for the reader's convenience"?:
a) For ...
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How do you make a phrase possessive? [duplicate]
I just read a post where someone said "That's a friend of mine's house." My first thought was, "mine's" is a double possessive! The friend owns the house, and the one posting the comment owns the ...
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Proper form of "user request"
The context is an Internet platform to which http requests are sent. In a sentence like this:
The system behaves differently when users' requests increase.
what is the correct usage of user request ...
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What "of" should I replace with Saxon genitives? Avoiding too many "of"
I'm trying to write a short scientific article and ended up with this sentence:
Now we show the result of the analysis of the sequences of events with the data from the study.
As you can see there ...
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Every/All person/people 's time
We have 10 people.
We assign a time interval to each one. For example, they could live 1 year, 2 years,... 10 years.
And I want to calculate the sum of all their times.
What's the proper way to tell ...
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Variable's value / variable value / value of the variable
What's the right and more formal way to tell it?
(In physics or mathematics):
The variable's value.
The variable value.
The value of the variable.
There are rules to use the Saxon genitive and "of"...
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You and Ted's dinner conversation tonight
This was addressed to a family regarding what they should talk about at dinner that night. Should "you" be "your"? What is the rule?
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2
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If someone famous owns a dog, is it "someone famous’ dog"? [duplicate]
If my two neighbors own a cat, it’s "my neighbors’ cat". If someone famous owns a dog, what's the correct way to describe it: "someone famous’ dog"?
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2
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Found in Mary'r Room [closed]
Why am I not to say "… found in Mary'r room," which ought to be the logically correct way to use the genitive apostrophe?
Something could as reasonably be found in Mary'r room if it could be ...
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What is the genitive of "service"?
Is it "a delivery service's terms and conditions" or "a delivery service' terms and conditions"?
Follow-up question: If the answer is "service'", how is it pronounced, just as "service"?
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"Leader's Workshop" or "Leaders' Workshop"? [duplicate]
Leader's Workshop
or
Leaders' Workshop
Which is correct? A team of twenty leaders will be attending the workshop.
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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’...
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"One of the perpetrator’s faces" or "One of the perpetrators’ faces"? [closed]
I'm a transcriber and this has been a debate. An attorney says: "One of the perpetrators faces." Would you use 's or s'?
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"My and my sister, Anna Smith's records" or "My and my sister's, Anna Smith, records." [duplicate]
I'm writing a request letter to my and my sister's high school but I don't how to properly say it.
I, Rebecca Smith, would like to request a copy of my and my sister, Anna Smith's Transcript of ...
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2
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What form, for the Saxon genitive of a noun phrase with a plural noun?
Please confirm reception of my emails dated Jan. 15.
With Saxon genitive:
Please confirm my emails dated Jan. 15's reception.
Please confirm my emails dated Jan. 15' reception.
Which of 2 or 3 (or ...
user50720
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What is the ’s-possessive form of "the king of Troy, Priam"? [duplicate]
“This was brought about by the king of Troy’s, Priam’s, death.”
In this sentence, should the ’s be tagged on to “the king of Troy”, “Priam”, or both?
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Ambiguity with "the players' gloves"
I try to avoid possessives in formal writing, but in some cases the brevity is necessary. With a plural possessive construction such as
the players' gloves
is it ambiguous grammatically whether ...
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Why does “today’s lesson” seem to be possessive?
Why do we say the following?
I'll have an hour's wait at the airport
Today's lesson
Yesterday's programme
Two weeks' worth of groceries.
They are not possessive, or are they? ...
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Is it physics’s or physics’? [duplicate]
For a sentence such as "physics’ greatest...", would you use physics’s or physics’ ?
Microsoft Word highlights physics's as incorrect; however, I have seen it be used.
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"What are Liam and Noel's jobs?" versus "What are Liam's and Noel's jobs?" [duplicate]
This question is about use of the group genitive versus joint possessives in a phrase and/or list.
Where two or more distinct persons, animals, etc., are in the genitive, the group genitive ...
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On the idiomaticity of attributive proper nouns, proper adjectives, and either singular or plural possessives when describing Imperial Possessions [closed]
When talking about something which is owed by an empire or is considered to be a part of that empire, which of the many ways to express this relationship are most commonly used and generally accepted ...
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Is the noun "device" correctly used as a modifier in the phrase "the device box"?
For example, "the instruction manual can be found in the device's box". "Device's" doesn't sound right to me, so I thought of using: "the instruction manual can be found in the device box".
Is it ...
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Should "children" or "children's" be used in "London's children('s) and family portrait photographer"? [closed]
"London's children and family portrait photographer" or "London's children's and family portrait photographer"?
Any help gratefully appreciated
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A friend of John's / John's friend
The question:
Suppose John is my friend, and I am introducing myself to his brother, should I say
"I am a friend of John's"
or
"I am John's friend"
??
I would use the former, but some ...
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What's wrong with "One of my children's name IS John"?
Please don't throw this one out as a duplicate of “one of …” singular or plural? I'm not asking about the plurality of the noun immediately following those two words - I'm interested in exactly why ...
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Quoted Titles & Possessives -- Journalistic Style
The Associated Press (they never use italics) punctuates the possessive of titles in quotes like this:
"Jeopardy!'s" subtleties of language ... . (actual excerpt from The AP)
If a question mark ...
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the genitive of 'one' (used instead of 'you') in formal contexts [closed]
It's better to use 'one' instead of 'you' in formal writing but what about the genitive of 'one'?
your body => one's body/ ones body / ...?
What is correct?
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Possessive for Mothers' Day
OK, so we just passed Mothers' Day and I was curious as to why the card manufacturers all seem to think that the holiday is about one mother, i.e., mother's day vs. all mothers, mothers' day?
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What would be the possessive of "Defendants Smith"?
In a legal pleading, we had described several defendants, collectively, as "Defendants Smith". How do I create a possessive for that? Is it "Defendants Smiths' argument" or is it "Defendants Smith's ...
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When did possessive *it's* fall out of favor?
Here are two parts of the US Constitution that would today be treated as having spelling errors:
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts
or Duties on Imports or ...
user31341
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Is it "John or Mary's house" or "John's or Mary's house"? [duplicate]
I understand that if John and Mary own a house together, it is John and Mary's house. If they jointly owned multiple houses, they would be John and Mary's houses. I also understand that if John and ...
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"mammal exhibit" vs. " mammals exhibit" vs. "mammals' exhibit" [duplicate]
Ok, I'm writing a story where the character visits a museum. Does she visit:
the mammal exhibit
the mammals exhibit
the mammals' exhibit
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Adding a possessive to a singular noun phrase that ends in a plural noun
Which of these sentences is correct: "The clock under the curtains' hour hand broke off", or "The clock under the curtains's hour hand broke off"? The actual thing being made possessive, "The clock ...
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Plural Possessive (With Mom and Dad's Love) [duplicate]
What is the best way to say "With Mom and Dad's Love"
With Mom and Dad's Love
With Mom's and Dad's Love
Option 1 sounds better, but I guess you could interpret that as Mom the person and Dad's love.
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Apostrophes in a list of people
Imagine that a boat belonged to three separate people, who each paid an equal share for the boat. Which one is correct?
"That is Kyle, Joey, and Mark's boat."
"That is Kyle's, Joey's, and Mark's boat....
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Do I add " ’s " after the number on a pope/king’s name? (e.g. Pope Paul VI’s)
Which of these is it supposed to be?
Pope Paul VI's
or
Pope Paul's VI
I know that the second one sounds funny (and silly), but isn't the number technically not a part of the pope's name?
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