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Questions tagged [possessives]

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for questions about words and word forms used to indicate ownership, belonging, or a similar relationship.

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The rule says that we can use a possessive adjective or an object pronoun before a gerund. Is there a rule that says when to use each or are they interchangeable? Some say that it's wrong to use an ...
Vic's user avatar
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8 answers
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I am firmly convinced he is innocent and his accusation is the result of the police conspiracy. I am firmly convinced he is innocent and his accusation is the result of the police's conspiracy. ...
bart-leby's user avatar
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I have often heard people say "x of his" or "x of mine". But since his and mine point out ownership, isn't using "of" here doubles that ownership? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say "x of him" or "...
Mertcan Ekiz's user avatar
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I know all the pronunciation rules for the plural -s endings. After a voiced sound, it is z, after an unvoiced one it is s, after s, sh, ch it is iz. In phonetic notation, respectively, /z/, /s/, /ɪz/....
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Which is the correct gerund clause that should be used here? People killing animals is a bad thing.. or People's killing animals is a bad thing.. John being late is a bit inconvenient. or John's ...
Dinusha's user avatar
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Are these expressions syntactically correct and semantically equivalent? What is general rules for "number-time noun" and "number time' noun" from semantic point of view? "a day's work" vs "one-day ...
Real Dreams's user avatar
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1 answer
948 views

Is it "The case' closure" or "The case's closure"? How exactly do I pronounce it?
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3 answers
1k views

I notice that in some cases people skip the 's in the possessive case. But I cannot understand what rule they use. For example: attribute declaration, but not attribute's declaration or declaration ...
Haru Atari's user avatar
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1 answer
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Sometimes when I write, for example, "the boundaries of segments", I am suggested to use "segments' boundaries" or even "segment boundaries". Or "the page's content" vs. "the content of the page" vs....
Ahmad's user avatar
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1) Alex's house 2) Alex' house When the noun ends with the letter 's' or 'x', do I need to put 's' after an apostrophe or not? I remember I read some rules related to this in my school grammar ...
T2E's user avatar
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4 answers
97k views

Which one is correct? 1: Well, you canceled on Tuesday and our policy is 24 hours' notice for all cancellations. 2: Well, you canceled on Tuesday and our policy is 24 hours notice for all ...
Michael Rybkin's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
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The king underwrote the journey of Spain's prince. The king underwrote the journey of Spain's prince's. We have a double possessive here, we are referring to the journey of the prince of Spain. How ...
Pedro's user avatar
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1 answer
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Chicago (edit: The Chicago Manual of Style) says that when two nouns “possess” the same entity, only the second takes an apostrophe (‘): my aunt and uncle’s house Gilbert and Sullivan’s ...
Zeeshan Ali's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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My friend (or "a friend of mine"?) told me that anytime I need to express such expression, it's always better to say "of mine", because it sounds more naturally. Like "two brothers of mine" rather ...
gnoulv's user avatar
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4 answers
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My brother's friend's opinions My brothers' friend's opinions Now, let us suppose that the brother in "1" is a brother-in-law and that all the brothers in "2" are brothers-in-law. ...
user avatar
8 votes
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"This is Lord Henry, a good friend of mine" What differences are there? It is just stylistic differences? Isn't? Can I freely use such construction instead of "my/our etc"? For example: This is a ...
user79871's user avatar
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Which one is correct or are both correct? The boy's name is nice. The name of the boy is nice. I'm really confused these two sentences? Which one is more suitable?
I don't know who I am.'s user avatar
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Today my daughter and I were listening to directions in a children's course where the speaker said something like "[in the] student book"; I was not really sure about "in the" part. My daughter said ...
learner's user avatar
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2 votes
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I know that the "s" becomes "z" when it comes after a voiced sound. And it is pronounced as "s" when it comes after a voiceless sound. I also know rules about possessives ...
user avatar
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1 answer
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My best friend of the moment - 'Essential Grammar in Use' for elementary students by Raymond Murphy - says that 'we normally use -'s for people.' I stayed at my sister's house. (not the house of my ...
viery365's user avatar
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I got this quiz: The carpenter repaired __ . (A) the table's legs (B) table's legs (C) legs of the table (D) the legs of the table ...which says the right answer is D. But I ...
尤慕李's user avatar
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4 answers
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I abbreviated Peter as P in the title for brevity; feel free to abbreviate thus. Please explain user Ed Staub's answer below, since it only seems to present this stance? To me, both 1 and 2 mean that ...
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41 votes
5 answers
10k views

Does it indicate a possessive adjective or just a plural noun? If noun, why it is not CPUs (without apostrophe)?
aryndin's user avatar
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8 answers
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How do I say something like "my company," "my plane," "my bus", etc. without making it sound like I own the company/plane/bus/etc? "Our company" makes it seem like both me and the person/people I'm ...
clickbait's user avatar
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23 votes
3 answers
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This always nags me... I would prefer a logical as well as a grammatical explanation of it. We enjoyed each other's company. We enjoyed each others' company. Which one is correct? Why is the other ...
Neil D'Silva's user avatar
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22 votes
6 answers
9k views

Anita is Neil's wife. Neil is one of my friends. Now, how do I refer to Anita? Think that I'm telling someone who does not know the couple. One of my friend's wife OR One of my friends' wife I ...
Maulik V's user avatar
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15 votes
4 answers
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I was pretty confirmed of not using any article before a proper noun that shows possessiveness. The Maulik's car -incorrect Maulik's car -correct But then, I came across this piece of news on ...
Maulik V's user avatar
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11 votes
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Apostrophe or apostrophe + s is used to show possession; e.g. StackExchange's English Language Learners or Webmasters' favorite, just to name a few examples. But what if a proper noun ends in ...
Templ8's user avatar
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10 votes
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If the sentence in the singular is: The butcher's and the hairdresser's are closed on Sunday. What happens to the genitive if I want to make it plural? Butcher's and hairdresser's are closed on ...
HQQ's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
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Which one is grammatical? "Wow! Nice! I smelled you baking cake!" "Wow! Nice! I smelled your baking cake!" Both of them are acceptable, maybe?
Damkerng T.'s user avatar
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I can think of this sentence - (Don't touch that) That is my brother's company's CEO's son's dog's toy. - I can still come up with many more apostrophes! ;) Is there any rule that talks about the ...
Maulik V's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
278 views

I always feel uncertained when using apostrophe s. For example, company's rules. and company rules. I am not sure when to use apostrophe s. More examples The Pepsi's logo. vs The Pepsi logo. ...
Ook's user avatar
  • 535
4 votes
1 answer
4k views

Can a possessive S be attached to nouns that are not human beings (or animals)? For example, instead of saying "the back of the chair", can I say "the chair's back"? I remember learning that not ...
Virtuous Legend's user avatar
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4 votes
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I very often come across different words which I need to use as nouns or as adjectives. For some words I can look up in a dictionary whether they can be an adjectives or not. But many of them are not ...
Zlyuuka's user avatar
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1 answer
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I have run across such a sentence: Yesterday I was ill, so I went to the doctor's. What is the function of possessive here, that is doctor's?
olegst's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
4k views

Back in school I learned about the Saxon genitive, but I see it's rarely used in both written and spoken English. Is it true? Should I avoid to use it? It seems to me that it's more common when I'm ...
Naigel's user avatar
  • 191
3 votes
3 answers
4k views

As an esl teacher I'm a bit embarrassed about this one. I have some groups on WhatsApp to practice English and in one of them a student put: "Today is birthday of my father and my." What would the ...
Prof Willy Brasil's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
9k views

Here are my constructions: Only minimal signs of corrosion on the vehicle body surface which have been removed. Only minimal signs of corrosion on the vehicle's body surface which have been ...
Heniek Kowalski's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
744 views

Many native English speakers would say that it is "women's clothes". However, when I asked non-native English speakers, they say that "women clothes" would be preferred by them. In the UK many ...
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
29k views

I would like to simultaneously introduce my thesis partner Lisa and refer to our thesis. I.e. summarise the following in one sentence: I conducted a thesis project with Lisa. As outlined in our ...
FerventHippo's user avatar
  • 206
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Should the apostrophe and the s of genitive Saxon be used after plural forms or words ending with the letter s? For example: airplanes wings must be defrosted before taking off or airplanes's ...
Palolo64's user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Advertising informs consumers about new products available on the market. It gives us information about everything from shampoo to toothpaste to computers and cars. But there is one serious ...
Mori's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
328 views

I have to work on my laptop with Windows 7's being installed. Can the possessive gerund be used in this way? In case this phrase doesn't make sense: I'm trying to say that on my laptop Windows 7 is ...
athlonusm's user avatar
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2 votes
5 answers
13k views

Would anyone like to comprehensively explain? I am not sure peoples word exist or not. Kindly request to you all please explain about this. Thanks.
Ajit Kumar Dubey's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
352 views

Consider a group of 10 friends (Jack, Mike, Harry, Peter, Ian, Ted, Stoney, Julie, Maria, and Samantha) named 'Spartans' in some residence colony. They have collected money and bought a brand new car. ...
Maulik V's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
211 views

In the coursebook 'New Round-Up 3' by Virginia Evans, Jenny Dooley and Irina Kondrasheva (Pearson, 2010) I have come across a title "A Day in the life OF a Farmer'. Michael Swan in his fully revised '...
Yukatan's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
5k views

He is a friend of mine. He is a friend of me. He is a friend of my father's. He is a friend of my father. Which of them are correct? What is the difference between 3 and 4?
Abu Naim Muhammed Kalil's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
3k views

(1) Do you know any friends of hers? (2) Do you know those friends of hers? (3) Do you know a friend of hers? Both in (1) and (2), ‘hers’ seems to be ‘her friends.’ But in (3), is it ‘her friend’...
Listenever's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
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Is "whom" in that sentence correct? She's a mother of one of my students whom I am teaching on Skype
Bartłomiej Kwapisz's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
183 views

If I want to use the plural of "moderator" and also add the apostrophe plus S, how do I pronounce it? How do native speakers pronounce it? Moderators = moderatorz Moderators's = ...
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