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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Grammar issue ...
Hi,
Maybe someone can help me here:
1. In the next sentence: "Sir Francis Galton was a cousin of Darwin's." - why do I see the use of the apostrophe in the end? We do have, after all, the preposition "of" before Darwin..
2. "... their material, intellectual and physical riches were not spreading throughout the population ..." - in this sentence the use of "Riches" is not so clear to me.
I know that the plural form of Rich is Rich (rich man/rich people), and I getthe feeling the use here is different. Actually, I do get the meaning but something is still not so clear to me. Can someone help here with this word? (I also see that "spiritual riches" is another way to use it).
Thanks.
Maybe someone can help me here:
1. In the next sentence: "Sir Francis Galton was a cousin of Darwin's." - why do I see the use of the apostrophe in the end? We do have, after all, the preposition "of" before Darwin..
2. "... their material, intellectual and physical riches were not spreading throughout the population ..." - in this sentence the use of "Riches" is not so clear to me.
I know that the plural form of Rich is Rich (rich man/rich people), and I getthe feeling the use here is different. Actually, I do get the meaning but something is still not so clear to me. Can someone help here with this word? (I also see that "spiritual riches" is another way to use it).
Thanks.
Top answer
1 I refer to that as a double possessive and avoid it whenever possible. ' It sounds a bit archaic to my ear (Elizabethan or Biblical).
- 1 I refer to that as a double possessive and avoid it whenever possible.
- ' It sounds a bit archaic to my ear (Elizabethan or Biblical).
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3 Answers
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1 I refer to that as a double possessive and avoid it whenever possible. It is, however, very common, as is the construction 'he is a cousin of mine'."
2.Here, 'riches' = 'wealth.' It sounds a bit archaic to my ear (Elizabethan or Biblical).
2.Here, 'riches' = 'wealth.' It sounds a bit archaic to my ear (Elizabethan or Biblical).
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Anonymouswhy do I see the use of the apostrophe in the end? We do have, after all, the preposition "of" before Darwin..This is a typically English pattern. Both of and 's (or possessive pronoun). It may not seem logical, but it is grammatical.
a friend of Joe's (one of Joe's friends)
a colleague of mine (one of my colleagues)
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