Questions tagged [possessives]
for questions about words and word forms used to indicate ownership, belonging, or a similar relationship.
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Using 's for "ancestors"
Majumder grew up in the house of his _______.
ancestors'
ancestor
Which one of these should I use?
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women's vs woman's
Are the following sentences correct?
These are women’s accessories. They are not men’s.
These are lady’s high heels. They are obviously not men’s.
This isn’t a woman’s vest. It’s a man’s.
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“Office of the director” or “Director’s Office”?
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 ...
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“Which pencil of mine”
Is this sentence correct?
Which pencil of mine did you take?
or is it grammatically wrong and I should say, “Which of my pencils did you take” which I am sure is grammatically correct? “Which pencil ...
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Is it "dog and cat'S communication skills" OR "dog'S and cat'S communication skills"? [duplicate]
Should it be dog's and cat's skills because the possession is separate ownership and not shared?
I have a theory:
Despite the fact that dog or cat's communication skills are not shared, it's the same ...
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Should I use possessive + gerund structure or reduced participal clause?
I haven't seen a perfect participle in a reduced form (I know some aren't keen on using this) so often (eg: a house having burnt). Is it still okay to use it as in the first sentence below, or does ...
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apostrophe after "is a ... of the King('s)"?
Famine is a major concern of the King
If the King is concerned about famine, should the above sentence end "King's" instead?
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Can I say my hobby is my + noun?
I know I can say: My hobby is swimming. But when I'm told to tell which part of speech "swimming" is, I still doubt whether It's a noun or a verb. My guess is I put a noun after "hobby ...
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If I want to avoid the possessive apostrophe, could I write "John his new tires are great" instead of "John's tires are great"?
How to rewrite a sentence to avoid the possessive apostrophe?
Why? I have been told to avoid apostrophes altogether for international English as it's confusing. This is easily done for contractions ...
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actors' or actor's?
Following text excerpt:
…it would have been important to work with real-life photographs of
the actors' faces and to…
Is actors', in this case, correct? – Or should it be:
…it would have been ...
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Should it be "bachelor's program" or "bachelor program"?
I know it should be written "bachelor's degree",
but what a study program that leads students to a bachelor's degree?
Should it be "bachelor's program" or "bachelor program&...
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"The friend of John who I hate" vs "John's friend who I hate" [duplicate]
On another language forum, I was told that sentences like,
This is John's friend who I hate.
This is my car which I've had for two years.
etc. are wrong and we should say these instead:
This is ...
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When to use possessive S?
I have a big problem about when I must use possessive "S". I've tried so many times to understand its indication, but I failed. it may appears easy, but for me it's very confusing, let me ...
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my father's cousin's husband
a. I was driving around in my car with my brother.
Does that imply that I have only one brother?
=======================================
b. My sister's co-worker's husband is an engineer.
Does that ...
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Indicating possession with multiple owners, the last being in pronoun form
The usual rule for indicating multiple owners using using apostrophe-s is to omit 's from all except the last owner in the list. So:
Tom, Dick, and Harry's car is the blue one.
But what if I am one ...
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the dog's barking/the dog barking
a. The dog barking was coming from the house next door.
b. The dog's barking was coming from the house next door.
It seems to me that in (a) the dog is coming from the house next door while in (b) ...
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Is it apostrophe-s or only the apostrophe for singular nouns ending in -s?
This page gives the following examples of correct punctuation showing possession for singular nouns ending in -s:
Thomas's job
the bus's arrival
James's fiancée
Steve Davis's victory
VS
Socrates' ...
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Possessive Case with a Name and a Pronoun
How do I change, for example, "the party/wedding/relationship/... of John and I" into the possessive case (possessive using 's)?
My train of thought goes a little something like this:
The ...
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that cousin of Jane
a. That cousin of Jane who is a doctor was at the party.
(That cousin, not the other cousin or cousins. That specific one)
b. That door of the house that faces east was damaged.
(That door, not the ...
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that brother of Jane who is
a. I am talking about the brother of Jane who is a doctor.
b. I am talking about that brother of Jane who is a doctor.
c. I am talking about the brother of Jane, who is a doctor.
d. I am talking about ...
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the page of the book
a. He tore off the page of the book on which I had written my name.
I'd assume that I had written my name on the page. Is that correct?
==========================
b. He tore off the first page of ...
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the houses of you and
a. I will bring down the ceiling on the heads of you and your father if you don't come out of your house.
b. Thieves broke into the houses of Tom and his neighbors.
c. Thieves broke into the houses of ...
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An old Jeff Buckley('s) song
I wonder about the possessive here. If we add "'s," in my opinion, the phrase will mean that Jeff is old, not the song. However, I saw the phrase like this, without possessive, and am ...
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What would be correct "Businessman's club" or "Businessmen's club"?
What would be correct "Businessman's club" or "Businessmen's club"? If there is a difference, British version.
(just in case, or "Businessman club" or "Businessmen ...
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I was at my parents. Vs. I was at my parents'./I was at Chris. vs. I was at Chris's
I am wondering which sentences from the following sentences is correct:
I was at my parents.
or
I was at my parents'.
I was at Chris.
or
I was at Chris's.
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Should we use possession or can we consider nouns as adjectives?
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 ...
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I will invite my friends
a) If we go on a picnic, I will invite my friends and you invite yours.
b) I used to hang out with my friends in that gym.
Does 'my friends' in these sentences mean 'all of my friends' or could it ...
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Customer's request
I know that customer is a countable noun. Can you explain me why in these sentences an author uses different articles:
We can also customize fairways according to customer's request/Site support (...
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Double possessive case [duplicate]
I am studying the possessive case from here.
The page explains there is also a double possessive, formed by:
owned thing + of + owner + 's
The first case is an indeterminative article:
This is a ...
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What is the structure of "lack of something"?
The word lack can be used either as a verb or noun. When it is used as a noun, such as "lack of water". Is the preposition phrase "of water" an attribute? Just like the window of ...
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Articles with possessives
"An hour's work" and "a two weeks' holiday". In "an hour's work" does the indefinite article belong to the noun "work"? As far as I know, "work" is an ...
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Which one each other's or each others' should be used while refering to more than 2 things?
What if you mean more than two? Like in this sentence: People from 4 different countries met to get to know each other's or each others' cultures, customs and traditions
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How to ask what tree the leaf on Canada's flag belongs to using "of" instead of "belong"?
Canada's flag contains a leaf. I want to ask what tree that leaf belongs to using preposition "of" instead of the verb "belong". Can I ask like this:
What tree does Canada's flag ...
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this mess is yours to
a. The mess your friends made in your room is yours to clean up.
(Meaning: You have to clean up the mess your friends made in your room.)
b. The dessert is yours to make.
(Meaning: You have to make ...
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The Mitla apartment, shouldn't it be the Mitlas'?
Stephen King writes:
Howard Mitla was sitting alone...
Violet Mitla, one of New York's...
The Mitla apartment was on the fourth floor...
I was expecting something like "The Mitlas' apartment&...
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Possessive 's' when having multiple owners - Was it Russell's and Whitehead's book?
Russell and Whitehead jointly published the famous book Principia Mathematica.
Should we write "in Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica", or rather "in Russell's and ...
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Rules for using possessive "s" to describe quantity
I'd like to know how to explain the rules for use of possessive "s" to describe the quantity of something, as in, "two hours' work" to an English learner.
This answer at english....
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"every your thought" or "every thought of yours" or "every one of your thoughts"?
I always felt that every your thought sounded a bit awkward, but because it seemed to me formal and somewhat literary, I used it more in written texts. Here is one instance of it:
A century and a ...
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Is there any rule about when to choose a definite article or a possessive pronoun?
Could you help to explain the usage of either a definite article or a possessive pronoun in the following sentences:
He had a thorn in his/the leg.
The snake bit him in the/his leg.
Before you go to ...
Svetlana
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Does "we inform the next week seminars information." sound natural to native English speakers?
I currently work at a research institution, where various academic seminars are held nearly every week, and I receive a seminar information email from my colleague every week. It's more or less like ...
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Why is the possessivee case not used in names such as Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune or The New York Times? [duplicate]
Why is the possessive case not used in names such as Boston Globe (as opposed to Boston's Globe), Chicago Tribune or The New York Times? I imagine that in the case of The New York Times the absence of ...
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Someone’s home—his, hers, mine?
When I say “we’re staying at his/hers”, it means that we’re staying at his or her home.
Can I say “we’re staying at mine” which I refer to my home?
Poppy Poppy
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My thought about how "the X of Y" can be used. Can you help me check it?
Down below is my thought about how "the X of Y" can be used. Can you help me check if my understanding is grammatically correct? I think this post might help other learners.
The structure &...
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Do we need an aphostrope when using "fan"?
The title is clear enough I guess, do we use an aphostrope, for instance fans of Mike, is it Mike's fans or Mike fans?
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Which one goes after "the"? Possessive or superlative?
I'm trying to construct a sentence, combining possessive and superlative, but confused about the correct placement.
Here's my attempt, tell me which one is correct and why between these two below, ...
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Genitive plural opinions! Which is correct: Tomorrow the sister of a university friend of Clare and John is getting married. Or of Clare's and John's? [duplicate]
Native speaker here confused about genitive case.
Genitive plural opinions! Which is correct:
Tomorrow the sister of a university friend of Clare and John is getting married
Tomorrow the sister of a ...
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the use of possessive
Is the bold part of the sentence correct or shall I use "of structure" as in the second example.
The current study attempts to bridge this gap in ethical misconduct research and address the ...
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Can I use the pronoun “who” immediately after a possessive noun?
Example: The chair was Peter's, who would never again sit at this table.
There is no ambiguity in this sentence - "who" can only refer to Peter. Yet, I'm not sure if it sounds right. Is ...
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Possessive pronoun and object
Definition of their: of or relating to them or themselves especially as possessors, agents, or objects of an action
If I assist them, can I say their assistance (as object of an action)?
user137971
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the use of possessive s with both words before the adjective
which one is correct? should we use apostrophe s with both nouns preceding?
I want to know teachers' and students' favorite movies?
I want to know teachers and students' favorite movies?
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