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  1. He is a friend of mine.
  2. He is a friend of me.
  3. He is a friend of my father's.
  4. He is a friend of my father.

Which of them are correct?
What is the difference between 3 and 4?

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It is customary in English, though it may not make sense to you, to use the so-called "double possessive":

He is a friend of mine.

He is a friend of my father's.

Even in cases like

That is a favorite book of mine.

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  • I found both-one with double possesive and one without double possesive. What's the difference between the two?
    – Abu Naim Muhammed Kalil
    Commented Dec 19, 2016 at 23:32
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    There's not really a difference in meaning - it's just customary to have the double possessive. In the case of a pronoun (as in your examples #1 and #2), it's required. Of that group, #2 is the only one that is incorrect, but I would prefer #3 over #4.
    – PMV
    Commented Dec 20, 2016 at 0:03
  • @AbuNaimMuhammedKalil Personally, I think there is a slight difference in meaning as elucidated by PLL in another StackExchange, here.
    – Teacher KSHuang
    Commented Dec 20, 2016 at 9:15

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