Questions tagged [possessives]
for questions about words and word forms used to indicate ownership, belonging, or a similar relationship.
485
questions
1
vote
1answer
33 views
Multiple definite articles
The example:
"The/- managers of the/- individual centers will attend the upcoming meeting."
Should I use both definite articles or not when I talk, in this case, about specific managers in charge ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
Second “s” in names that ends with the s [duplicate]
Well, it's one particular name from One-Punch Man, Genos.
Sometimes i see it's written as Geno's arm/body parts or something along the line, but not the Genos's arm/body parts.
Where did second s go?
0
votes
3answers
87 views
Can we say “The sound of what is this?” or “This is the sound of what?” (American English)
In American English, can we say either of these sentences interchangeably?
The sound of what is this?
This is the sound of what?
Context: Imagine I heard a sound at home which sounds like it ...
2
votes
3answers
100 views
Use of '“s” only in possession? [duplicate]
I am writing a scientific paper and I wonder if 's is only used refering to a possession.
For example, I think "bird's feathers" is a correct expression, but I wonder if "bird's exposure", meaning ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
Usage of “be of”
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 ...
1
vote
2answers
44 views
possessive needed? …“to impact patients' lives by…”
Is a possessive needed on the word patients in the following mission statement? I feel it clutters the phrase somewhat and need advice.
To meaningfully impact patients' lives by democratizing ...
4
votes
1answer
113 views
What is the possessive of Saint John's?
We have a city here in Canada named Saint John's. It is always spelt that way; the 's is part of the name (this must be a very unusual case, I'm not sure).
What would be the correct way to refer to ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
“the legs of the table” vs “the table's legs”
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
131 views
How to compose a sentence for possession? Apostrophe or preposition?
I would like to know the difference between these sentences:
I have never seen any of his father's cars (I think it's correct). I have never seen any cars of his father (I think it's wrong).
In ...
0
votes
2answers
687 views
Whom I am teaching?
Is "whom" in that sentence correct?
She's a mother of one of my students whom I am teaching on Skype
2
votes
1answer
1k views
“drivers” or “driver's”?
The Autopilot feature is designed to allow Teslas to cruise highways without drivers steering, braking or accelerating.
Source: Mosher, Alexandra, “Tesla drivers play Jenga, sleep, using Autopilot in ...
0
votes
2answers
111 views
Are possessive nouns with apostrophe plural?
The center's much-hyped attempt to privatise Air India by disinvesting 74 percent equity has come a cropper.
I am still not able to understand how "attempt" is considered as noun rather then verb.
...
1
vote
1answer
50 views
Possessive case in 'Jacobi identity'
I am not sure this is the right place to ask, but I give it a try anyway.
I am reading a book about how to write math. At some point the author shows the grammar rule for the possessive case: e.g. ...
1
vote
1answer
149 views
Question about genitive case
How should I put the genitive case in this sentence:
The investors’ and businessmen’s trust.
Or
The investors and businessmen’s trust.
I know if two nouns are sharing something we ...
0
votes
1answer
315 views
I had handed in projects which were past the deadline
Let's say you were storytelling your past academic shortcomings. And you say:
"I was not a perfect student when I was still studying at school. For instance, I had handed in projects which were ...
3
votes
2answers
52 views
When can two pronouns being compared in a sentence be of different types?
I came across a sentence on one of the pages on stackexchange today -
He resents your being more popular than he is
I always thought that while comparing two pronouns they should always be of the ...
2
votes
1answer
44 views
What is the difference between using in possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns structures?
What is the difference between using in possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns structures?
For example:
You car is faster than my car. (possessive adjective)
Versus
Your car is ...
2
votes
1answer
27 views
Possesive Adjective Problem
Which one is true when the gender of the person is not accurate?
The writer must state his/her own opinions in the paper
The writer must state its own opinions in the paper
1
vote
1answer
22 views
Today's departure or Today departure
I write this phrase every day in my emails and every time it bothers me which way is correct.
"Please assist with today departure". (or today's departure).
"Cargo will leave on today flight". (or ...
0
votes
2answers
96 views
The Use of s-Genitive
I'm writing my essay about corruption (Part II.) and I have already come across two words (one of which is rewritten for political reasons)...
MAMESZ
and
police
...that have to be put into the ...
0
votes
2answers
376 views
Why do they use “her” for Titanic?
I was reading the Wikipedia's page on RMS Titanic and just noticed numerous references to the ship by possessive her.
Why don't they simply use "its" for Titanic?
3
votes
2answers
89 views
Galois Theory — an implied genitive or not genitive at all?
In the field of mathematics there are many concepts named after certain individuals: the Pythagoras's theorem, Galois theory, Hilbert space and so forth. In my native tongue of Finnish the person's ...
1
vote
1answer
217 views
Saxon genitive or Of
Why do people use "of" in some phrases, like this one:
•"These are the contacts of my dad"
And not
•"These are my dad's contacts"
I've seen sentences like the first-one so often.
0
votes
0answers
2k views
How often -if any- are the possessive pronouns “its” or “his” used?
How often -if any- are the possessive-pronouns "its" or "his" used?
Based on many sites and books, the possessive pronouns for 3rd person singular for people or nouns it's "its" (for "it") or "his" ...
2
votes
1answer
59 views
“Device calibration” or “calibration of a device”?
I need to know how to specify something in English, I mean for example in the following case:
"Device calibration" or "calibration of a device"?
How can I know which is the right one?
What is ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Is the definite article omitted in this sentence?
I ran into this sentence in a Fortune article:
The life sciences arm of Google umbrella company Alphabet is bugging out.
Is the definite article missing in this sentence? Should it be written as:
...
0
votes
1answer
99 views
Would it be correct to say “this is of him” instead of “This is his” or “This belongs to him”?
Would it be correct to say "This is of him" instead of "This is his." or "This belongs to him."?
The same question I would ask about "It is of me." instead "It is mine.", or "It of of you." instead "...
2
votes
1answer
38 views
When to use “one of”?
Although the question is about possessives, I got it wrong because I am confused whether to use one of or not.
The correct answer is D. I marked C because I thought that D is awkward and wordy.
...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Can we use ' 's ' with the names of the cities or towns?
Which of these can we say?
London's people are happy.
The people of London are happy.
People are happy in London.
People in London are happy.
1
vote
1answer
49 views
“Body tissues” or “body's tissues”?
How can I determine what's the correct way to use the possessive 's in cases like the following one?
"Body tissues"
or
"body's tissues"?
I'm always confused in that and I would like to know ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
What's the correct usage of “something of something” and “something's something”? 'S and OF
First of all, I don't know how to correctly call this. Possessive case? Educate me, please. Lol.
I've been confused a long time when using 's and of in different cases when I try to point out the ...
0
votes
1answer
149 views
Genitive Case, when use apostrophe and why not allways
I'm writing an article about computer science and I have the following problems:
Is method's name the same as method name?
Is attribute’s name the same as attribute name?
Is property's name the ...
1
vote
1answer
694 views
Are"the name of my brother's friend's father is John' or 'My brother's friend's father's name is John' grammatical?
How can we say complex possessive patterns?
Are these sentences grammatical?
"the name of my brother's friend's father is John' or
'My brother's friend's father's name is John'
There are ...
0
votes
1answer
154 views
what is the pronunciation of boys' with both possessive s and plural s?
We are having a debate about the pronunciation of boys' with a plural s and a possessive s.
Is there a pause at the end of the s or we just pronounce it with no pauses? is there a rule we should ...
0
votes
1answer
5k views
Whose name vs. The name of whom
The book whose name is "Manwatching" is written by Jellison.
Or
The book the name of which is "Manwatching" is written by Jellison.
EDIT: After reading the comments below, I've revised the ...
2
votes
1answer
30 views
“Russia's regions” or “Russian regions”?
In other words, if X contains Y, do you say "X's Y"? Does the fact that X contains Y constitute possession of Y by X?
"Russian regions" is 10 times more popular on Google Scholar, so "Russian" is ...
1
vote
2answers
416 views
Which adjective to use for a personification of living being (her/his or its)?
Which adjective to use for a personification of living being (her/his or its)?
Nature offers its/her lap to one who seeks it.
Death completes its/his course, no one can stop it/him.
I was ...
1
vote
3answers
105 views
Is it possible to form possessive just changing the order?
I saw this two examples:
The emperor of China and China's emperor.
Is it possible to say: "China emperor" without the apostrophe? I saw some examples in ficcion books, like:
The England's king ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
What does “one's” mean in this definition?
Google Dict defines "Reside": Have one's permanent home in a particular place. Does "one's" mean other person's home which doesn't belong to the speaker?
2
votes
3answers
1k views
My father and my birthday/My father's birthday and mine/My father's and my birthday…something else?
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
675 views
Meaning of “your” in “Do you know your ABC?”
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary's article for "ABC" contains the following example:
Do you know your ABC?
I wonder why "your" is used in this example sentence. ABC in the stated meaning ...
1
vote
2answers
497 views
“Our class’ picnic” or “Our class picnic”
I have an exercise which requires me to choose the incorrect word or phrase in a sentence and correct it:
We all looked forward to going on our class's picnic on the last day of the semester.
It ...
-1
votes
1answer
39 views
which is correct either “my playing” or “playing my” [closed]
Do following two words can be used interchangeably for making a sentence?
which is correct either "my playing" or "playing my".
3
votes
1answer
512 views
Look at all those Eggman's robots! — is this grammatically correct?
In Sonic Heroes, Tails often says: "Look at all those Eggman's robots!" when there are a lot of robots that belong to Eggman in the area.
Now, all over the web, this is sarcastically referred to as "...
1
vote
2answers
119 views
Her hand, of which arm's elbow… (Possessives)
The back of her right hand, of which arm's elbow rested on the door
panel, pressed against her lips.
The context is that she was weeping with stifled sobs, and smothered her sniffs.
My concern ...
3
votes
1answer
574 views
Possessive Pronouns Usage: Mine, Hers, His
It's mine
Which is simple and I can use it without any doubt anywhere. However, the below examples with "his" & "hers" are not that simple to me to use in my daily usage. I want to know how a ...
-1
votes
1answer
187 views
“driver contact details” vs. “driver's contact details” [duplicate]
You’ll receive your driver contact details.
You’ll receive your driver's contact details.
Can you tell me please which of these sentences is correct? Is 's necessary or not in this context?
3
votes
2answers
626 views
Possession without using apostrophe ( ‘s ) or ( of )
Is there a rule to show possession without using apostrophe ( ‘s ) or ( of ). There are expressions such “car tyre”, “ windshield wipers”, “bike rack” or “quality control process” all these examples ...
3
votes
1answer
210 views
Is a possessive apostrophe required after minutes in “After a few minutes' use…”?
Wondering if a possessive apostrophe is correct after 'minutes' in the sentence: "After a few minutes' use, the hairdryer stopped working."? I know it's correct to have one in the sentence "In a few ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
quarter results or quarter's result?
I'd like to know whether the possessive 's is needed in the following:
The manager is satisfied with the quarter's results.
I'd appreciate your help.
