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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
*of the* versus *'s*
Hello,
I would like to now when to use of the* and *'s.
For instance what is the correct from :
The castle's tower
or
The tower of the castle
The car's wheel
or
The wheel of the car
The cat's head
or
The head of the cat
…
What is the rule to use one or the other ?
Thank you in advance for helping
I would like to now when to use of the* and *'s.
For instance what is the correct from :
The castle's tower
or
The tower of the castle
The car's wheel
or
The wheel of the car
The cat's head
or
The head of the cat
…
What is the rule to use one or the other ?
Thank you in advance for helping
Top answer
Anon: There is no fixed rule. However, my impressions is that "of the" tends to be used in more literary and formal situations, and " 's" is more personal and intimate. In conversation, and the phrase is short, the " 's " form would be more used that "of the".
- Anon: There is no fixed rule.
- However, my impressions is that "of the" tends to be used in more literary and formal situations, and " 's" is more personal and intimate.
- In conversation, and the phrase is short, the " 's " form would be more used that "of the".
- Examples: Famous places: The gardens of Babylon The Tower of Babel Movies and book titles Return of the Jedi; Revenge of the Siths The Hound of the Baskervilles Idioms, and personal phrases Victoria's secret the cat's meow the cat's pajamas Charlie's angels (TV show) .
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5 Answers
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Anon:
There is no fixed rule.
However, my impressions is that "of the" tends to be used in more literary and formal situations, and " 's" is more personal and intimate.
In conversation, and the phrase is short, the " 's " form would be more used that "of the".
Examples:
Famous places:
The gardens of Babylon
The Tower of Babel
Movies and book titles
There is no fixed rule.
However, my impressions is that "of the" tends to be used in more literary and formal situations, and " 's" is more personal and intimate.
In conversation, and the phrase is short, the " 's " form would be more used that "of the".
Examples:
Famous places:
The gardens of Babylon
The Tower of Babel
Movies and book titles
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AnonymousI would like to know when to use of the* and *'s.Actually, you have three choices. "of the", "'s", and forming a compound noun. The last of these is probably the most frequently used. As far as I know, there are no reliable rules on this.
The castle's tower
or
The tower of the castl
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Hello
Thank you for your answers. Because as a french speaker, I would tend to always use the "of the" form !
Is there a property notion in this ?
For example
"Mike's car"
or
"the car of Mike"
or
"Mike car"
I would say the first form is the best, the second is OK but the third isn't. Right ?
But the castle doesn't really "own" the to
Thank you for your answers. Because as a french speaker, I would tend to always use the "of the" form !
Is there a property notion in this ?
For example
"Mike's car"
or
"the car of Mike"
or
"Mike car"
I would say the first form is the best, the second is OK but the third isn't. Right ?
But the castle doesn't really "own" the to
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I would always say Mike's car, and never "the car of Mike". "Mike car" is not correct.
I took Mike's car for a spin. We went in Mike's car. Mike's car was in the shop, so we took mine.
The reason is in my first post - the " 's " form is most common in short expressions. Even in formal writing, I would not write "the car of ***" when *** is a person. For example:
The President's car i
I took Mike's car for a spin. We went in Mike's car. Mike's car was in the shop, so we took mine.
The reason is in my first post - the " 's " form is most common in short expressions. Even in formal writing, I would not write "the car of ***" when *** is a person. For example:
The President's car i
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