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Can I say all three of these interchangeably when I want to ask a person about a dog he or she owns (not a dog he or she wants to buy)?

  • "What are your favorite qualities about your dog?"
  • "What are your favorite qualities of your dog?"
  • "What are your favorite qualities in your dog?"
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You could technically say any of these, but they all actually sound kind of awkward. It would be better to say something like "Which of your dog's qualities are your favorite?" You are basically using a prepositional phrase to indicate that the qualities belong to the dog, so the preposition "of" is probably the most appropriate, but just using the possessive works even better.

If you want to sound even more conversational, you might even say, "What do you like best about your dog?"

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    Or, "What do you like most about your dog?"
    – J.R. ♦
    Dec 5, 2017 at 19:59
  • Hey thanks for the answers. So you are saying that all of them are odd, but the one which sounds the least odd is the second sentence between the sentences I gave, right? Also shouldn't I say "Which of your dog's qualities are your favorites?" instead of "Which of your dog's qualities are your favorite?" Or is either ok?
    – Fire and Ice
    Dec 5, 2017 at 20:29
  • Anytime. To be honest, I was going to revise my answer a little bit. Although "of your dog" would often be the appropriate phrase to show possession, with the noun "qualities," the preposition "in" is used often. So, I think "qualities in your dog" sounds most natural of the three. Favorite works either way. There's a subtle grammatical distinction. If it's not plural, you are actually using it as an adjective and omitting an implied noun: "Which of your dog's qualities are your favorite (qualities)?" If you use it in the plural, you are treating favorite as a noun.
    – joiedevivre
    Dec 5, 2017 at 21:08

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