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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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41 votes
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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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41 votes
8 answers
20k views

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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29 votes
6 answers
237k views

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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26 votes
5 answers
276k views

Is correct to say "my question is" or "mine question is". When I talk, I automatically use "my question is", but "mine" is a possessive pronoun and somehow when I think about it (and translate it ...
Dantes's user avatar
  • 363
23 votes
3 answers
47k views

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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22 votes
4 answers
5k views

In English, one occasionally sees a replacement of my wife by the wife, such as in this sentence: there was a sudden thud and I joked to the wife that someone had run into us Does this construction ...
gerrit's user avatar
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21 votes
4 answers
75k views

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
18 votes
8 answers
8k views

An English teacher made a comment on my usage of the phrase, "Our last week's meeting", saying that it should be, "last week's meeting", is there a rule for this?
Pavel Orekhov's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
4k views

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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15 votes
4 answers
19k views

Why must we add an 's? Why "she is at the dentist's now" instead of "at the dentist"?
dr_yand's user avatar
  • 271
15 votes
4 answers
3k views

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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15 votes
7 answers
723 views

I've just been told my current understanding of possessives is ungrammatical, it was noticed in this sentence The iPhone has been the most successfully sold Apple 's product and I was advised to use ...
Oscar's user avatar
  • 564
15 votes
8 answers
4k views

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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14 votes
1 answer
2k views

In a sentence where the definite article precedes someone's name, as in this example: The war campaign has boosted the Putin's ratings. could the definite article be used? Would the above example ...
a_hanif's user avatar
  • 501
14 votes
1 answer
72k views

Is this sentence correct? Master thesis to obtain the degree Master of Science I am really not sure about the 's here.
Lukas Brunner's user avatar
  • 151
12 votes
6 answers
6k views

Is this sentence correct? This is John's car, a friend of mine. Or do I need to say this? This is John, my friend's car.
user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
3k views

I came across this New York Times headline: University of Texas Basketball Coach Faces Felony Domestic Assault Charge Shouldn't there be a ('s) in this construction like, "University of Texas's ...
thralho thakles's user avatar
  • 129
12 votes
6 answers
3k views

I want to know whether the sentence one should love everyone's wife is correct grammatically or not. I think it's grammatically correct but meaning differs from the sentence One should love one's ...
Omkar Reddy's user avatar
  • 918
12 votes
4 answers
451 views

Let's open https://www.gatesnotes.com/ The title of the site is "The blog of Bill Gates" Why "The blog of Bill Gates" and not "The Bill Gates' blog"? Is it the possessive case or not?
Jn Liv's user avatar
  • 139
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

I work in software development. In computer vision, a camera matrix is something that describes the mapping of 3D points to 2D image points (see this). A colleague of mine suggests that it should be ...
Milo's user avatar
  • 213
11 votes
5 answers
761k views

What is the difference between S' and 'S? When can we use S' and when can we use 'S??
Ice Girl's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
9k views

To. Vs of I am looking for the key of my room. I am looking for the key to my room. I have just known that the second is right and the first is wrong. However, sometimes it is ...
Bavyan Yaldo's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Since a noun can be used as modifier of another noun (e.g. family in "good family house"), is it grammatically correct to use this week as modifier, or is only the genitive possible with this week? ...
avpaderno's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
2k views

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
  • 111
10 votes
1 answer
4k views

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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10 votes
1 answer
1k views

Let's imagine the following situation: My mom has a boyfriend and her boyfriend has a car. I borrowed this car and I want to tell another person who is the owner of this car, I believe I have to use ...
Merurino's user avatar
  • 503
10 votes
5 answers
14k views

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
  • 203
9 votes
7 answers
12k views

I am working on one of my employer's websites, and we have a video guide up for patients of how a particular procedure works. The guide was previously titled "A patients guide to [X]", but I have ...
McOwen's user avatar
  • 183
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

I've just written on another SE site: My problem is that I can't ignore a file whose name I don't know and I keep wondering whether there's another word for whose in this case. Somehow it sounds ...
malarres's user avatar
  • 203
9 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why do I need to place the preposition "of" before the possessive pronoun "mine" in this sentence? A friend of mine. What would happen if I didn't place it like in the sentence "a friend mine". Is ...
Juan Zarate's user avatar
  • 693
8 votes
3 answers
69k views

Which word is correct and what is the difference between these words? People People's I heard somebody say that "people's does not work in a sentence. People means a group of humans. Why would ...
Vinothkumar's user avatar
  • 143
8 votes
2 answers
4k views

I learn English for years and this is something I don’t understand completely. In my natural language, If I want to say, for example, that an office belongs to a director, I say, “escritório do ...
Duck's user avatar
  • 615
8 votes
2 answers
5k views

"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
  • 323
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

I've just read an article and saw this sentence: Hence, characterization of squat cracks is of particular interest for this research. Why is there a of? If I restructured this like "... cracks is ...
Alperen koç's user avatar
  • 117
8 votes
1 answer
948 views

Is it "The case' closure" or "The case's closure"? How exactly do I pronounce it?
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
478 views

Link to the Youtube video (it's right at the beginning of the video when the reporter says that) Transcript: James Rhein is out on three hundred dollars bail after being charged with criminal ...
Michael Rybkin's user avatar
  • 37.7k
8 votes
2 answers
810 views

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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8 votes
1 answer
320 views

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
  • 235
7 votes
3 answers
23k views

Can I write name then using ('s). For example Janny's 18 years old?
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

What should I say? The "island beaches are clean" or "the island's beaches are clean"? And when shouldn't I use possessives? Thanks in advance.
O A's user avatar
  • 436
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Which sentence is the most natural? I visited Tom and Mary's school. I visited Tom's and Mary's school. I visited the school of Tom and Mary.
Yusuke Terada's user avatar
  • 125
6 votes
5 answers
74k views

My student today asked me why we say "what is your name?" instead of "what are your name?". I think we should say "what are your name?" since your/her takes "are"! Please explain. Thank you in ...
Safi's user avatar
  • 105
6 votes
4 answers
4k views

Which of the following phrases are grammatically correct, meaning "a name for a boy"? A boy's name. A boys' name. A boy name. A boys name. Any response would be appreciated.
shapoor's user avatar
  • 729
6 votes
4 answers
999 views

Why do we say in English things like a Facebook post, an AWS service, the Silicon Valley, etc.? In Portuguese, we would say "A post of Facebook", "a service of AWS", and "the ...
m26a's user avatar
  • 621
6 votes
3 answers
3k views

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
  • 216
6 votes
1 answer
26k views

Let me choose date of birth as the noun because each person exactly has only one. Which is the correct sentence? A or B? A: They write their date of birth on the given form. B: They write ...
Display Name's user avatar
  • 335
6 votes
1 answer
8k views

Is it true that the possessive form is not used for a noun which is being compared to by "that of" or "those of"? For example: ... making your products or services different from and more attractive ...
Oscar's user avatar
  • 564
6 votes
3 answers
6k views

I know 's is a contraction for indicating possession, but I've always wondered which cases it is correct to put 's after the word in. For instance, if I would to indicate the color of a car, how could ...
user12707's user avatar
  • 65
6 votes
1 answer
104 views

When should I use ’s when using days in a week like Monday, Tuesday, and so on when these are used attributively in front of other nouns? I don’t like Monday trips. Does this say that trips take ...
Dominik Petricek's user avatar
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