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Teal lime Posted 8 years ago
Vocabulary

Her or hers

The sentence below is taken from a British newspaper. Do you find the use of "her" correct or should the reporter have used "hers"?

Prince Charles is caught up in a racism row after a woman said he joked about her not looking like she came from Manchester.

Thank you

  

Top answer

I will take a guess at what I think motivates your question. If instead of "her" we look at a non-pronoun, say "Mrs Smith": 1. "....

— GPY

  • I will take a guess at what I think motivates your question.
  • If instead of "her" we look at a non-pronoun, say "Mrs Smith": 1.
  • "....
  • " 2.
  • "....
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1 Answers
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I will take a guess at what I think motivates your question. If instead of "her" we look at a non-pronoun, say "Mrs Smith":

1. ".... he joked about Mrs Smith not looking like ..."
2. ".... he joked about Mrs Smith's not looking like ..."

then (2) is formally correct according to traditional opinion, but a bit unnecessary or pedantic for others. In reality, most people would use

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