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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

British English or American English

Hi Grammarians!,

I'm really confused. I've come across a structure which baffles me and could you shed some light on what you understand by the 'possessive '. Look at these sentences:
  • Ron's refusing to stand up made him a symbol of defiance.
  • Dr King's being there at the time made all the difference.
  • Do you mind my coming to the demonstration?
  • I'm angry about their missing the party
  • I hope there's nothing wrong with our showing support
I'm British and curious as to whether this is acceptable and common in American English. There would be a conflict between pronoun and gerund in some of the above sentences. They would be restructured to read as follows
  • Ron's refusal to stand up made him a symbol of defiance.
  • Dr King's presence there at the time made all the difference
  • Do you mind me coming to the demonstration
  • I'm angry about them missing the election
  • I hope there's nothing wrong with us showing our support
I'm curious about the use of the possessive pronouns. It sounds disjointed and grammatically unusual. Is it common/used in American English

Peter
Brazil
  

Top answer

The first 5 sentences are still more correct in formal written English in both nations, though the form is falling out of use, and the object pronoun is very common in spoken English. As for your 5 alternatives: #1 is fine; it is merely a choice between the gerund and another noun form. I like yours better and would use it in AmE, too.

— Mister Micawber

  • The first 5 sentences are still more correct in formal written English in both nations, though the form is falling out of use, and the object pronoun is very common in spoken English.
  • As for your 5 alternatives: #1 is fine; it is merely a choice between the gerund and another noun form.
  • I like yours better and would use it in AmE, too.
  • #2 As for #1.
  • #3 is still unacceptable in careful English, though it is certainly common informally.
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1 Answers
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The first 5 sentences are still more correct in formal written English in both nations, though the form is falling out of use, and the object pronoun is very common in spoken English.

As for your 5 alternatives:

#1 is fine; it is merely a choice between the gerund and another noun form. I like yours better and would use it in AmE, too.
#2 As for #1.
#3 is still unaccepta
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