7
votes
Possessives with gerunds
You're tripping up on terminology, which is understandable since it's hard to find reliable information about English grammar, especially online. Everybody uses their own terms, with whatever meanings ...
- 105k
3
votes
Accepted
Possessive case with who(m)ever in an object noun phrase
Whomever’s is never viable — not as a possessive, not as a contraction, not anywhere. That leaves whosever and whoever’s as possibilities (see Later at end for more on that).
You have already learned ...
- 12.6k
3
votes
Accepted
How do you use single quotes and possessive apostrophe on same word?
I agree ‘Open AI’'s doesn't look sleek and the two adjacent punctuation marks might be mistaken for a typo. Is there a reason why you must use the possessive apostrophe?
The ‘OpenAI’ ChatGPT 3.5-...
- 88.4k
2
votes
Accepted
Ok to write "motivation" as possessed by a program instead of program's creator?
The term for referring to something by invoking a related concept in this way is metonymy.
To answer your question directly - yes, it is common to refer to the motivation of a program's developers by ...
- 38.2k
2
votes
How to determine when a noun is an objective genitive versus a subjective genitive?
We might be able to infer the meaning from context, but there is nothing in Augustine's sentence that would allow us to say with certainty whether the women were being fondled or doing the fondling.
...
- 6,872
2
votes
Accepted
"X dollars' worth of Y" construction with "USD"
No possessive
I think it looks best without the possessive, and that matches a few examples I found online:
UNICEF delivers 5 million USD worth of supplies for COVID-19 response in South Sudan. — ...
- 63k
2
votes
Why do we say 'Harry Potter fan' but 'Harry Potter's biggest fan'
In "Harry Potter's biggest fan" there are two sets of nouns: "Harry Potter" and "fan" (specifically the "biggest fan"). The adjective can't be moved or else you'...
- 63k
2
votes
Can the possessive “my” be dropped before father/mother?
This has always been possible in English, no matter whether it’s a longer and more formal version or a shorter and more affectionate version.
Any kinship term used for family members has always been ...
- 133k
2
votes
Possessive case with who(m)ever in an object noun phrase
Somehow you are overthinking this terribly and coming to a nonsensical conclusion. You ask us to choose between incorrect assumptions.
Parents should use who(m)ever's last name is shorter on the form....
- 133k
1
vote
How to write "my and my friend's" to refer to same object ("my and my friend's toys")
You could write the following:
Our toys
The toys belonging to both of us
Our shared toys
The toys we both possess
The toys that belong to both of us
1
vote
Can the possessive “my” be dropped before father/mother?
It was still common in the past century and it can be found nowadays. The word "mother" is often capitalized in this context of omission. Here are some results from the Google research for &...
- 17.4k
1
vote
How to put possessive 's after a full company name
A couple of examples from Google
Jigsaw Homes Group Ltd.'s Sustainable Finance
Framework https://www.spglobal.com › research › pdf-articles ›
22...
S&P Global Ratings said that Jigsaw Homes Group ...
- 38.1k
1
vote
How to use possessive for joined and separate ownerships?
"My car, which is also Dave's," (It seems to me that any other option makes for confusion.)
"Her cat, which is also mine," (same remark as above)
"My car and Dave's&...
- 17.4k
1
vote
How to use possessive for joined and separate ownerships?
Dave's and my car. (I think a lot of people, in casual speech, would say 'me and Dave's car, but it's wrong.)
Her and my cat (but why not 'our'?).
Dave's and my cars.
Her and my cats.
- 22.4k
1
vote
Ok to write "motivation" as possessed by a program instead of program's creator?
I guess you are questioning whether "motivation" can be attached to an action or entity, as well as to a human being.
Lexico has as examples for "motivation":
On the other hand, ...
- 7,945
1
vote
Question about ambiguity of possessives
I think you are asking about
My cannon is bigger than all of your tanks' cannons combined
and omitting the repeated cannon makes the resulting sentence ambiguous when it's spoken because an ...
- 98.5k
1
vote
"every" + possessive + noun
I was amazed to discover that "every" + possessive + noun was grammatical in Early Modern English, apparently present in Shakespeare.
Yes, but "every" is used as a pronoun in your ...
- 38.1k
1
vote
Pronunciation of the possessive form of singular nouns ending in “s”
Many years ago, in the UK when I studied linguistics, my teacher told me there were three forms of plurals in speech namely cats, dogz and horsiz. To a native English speaker like me that’s an easy ...
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