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Sb70012 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Body organs + possessive of

Everybody, thank you so much for answering to my previous questions regarding to possessives.
Would you please be kind enough to check these ones as well? These are a little bit confusing too.

1. He is a friend of my wife's brother's. = correct
2. He is a friend of my wife's brother. = correct
3. He is a father of Alex. = correct
4. He is a father of Alex's. = incorrect (because on that time it would mean Alex has many fathers)
5. She is a mother of Alex. = correct
6. She is a mother of Alex's. = incorrect (because on that time it would mean Alex has many mothers)
7. It's a leg of Alex. = incorrect (because it's strange as the heart of his father. Body pats or body organs do not usually take the possessive "of" + "a person")
8. It's a leg of Alex's. = incorrect
9. It's a hand of Alex. = incorrect same as 7
10. It's a hand of Alex's. = incorrect
11. It's an eye of Alex. = incorrect same as 7
12. It's an eye of Alex's. = incorrect

Have I marked them correctly?
  

Top answer

3. He is the father of Alex. (as you say for the other case, people have only one father) 5.

  • 3.
  • He is the father of Alex.
  • (as you say for the other case, people have only one father) 5.
  • She is the mother of Alex.
  • The others look OK.
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1 Answers
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3. He is the father of Alex. (as you say for the other case, people have only one father)
5. She is the mother of Alex.

The others look OK.

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