Possessive forms

Question

a. He is a friend of David's.b. He is a friend David.Is there a name for the possessive case after a of prepositional phrase?When is this possessive case acceptable? c. It is the dog's collar.d. It is the collar of the dog.Why is the possessive used here, when it is not above?e. He is a friend of theirs.Shouldn't it be the non-possessive form 'them'?Thanks

Dokterjokkebrok · Accepted Answer

Hi,

English 1b3a. He is a friend of David's.

b. He is a friend David.

Is there a name for the possessive case after a of prepositional phrase?

When is this possessive case acceptable?

The post-genitive (or double posssessive/genitive). The only case in which the post-genitive cannot be used is when the head word is preceded by a definite article.

This is a girlfriend of my brother's. (NOT: This is the girlfriend of my brother's.)

But,

She's a (indefinite article) girlfriend of my brother's.

Some (quantifier) friends of my sister's.

et cetera
English 1b3c. It is the dog's collar.

d. It is the collar of the dog.

Why is the possessive used here, when it is not above?

I think that, since 'dogs' are living creatures, both genetive and of-phrase are allowed here. The post-genitive is not possible because the head word is preceded by a definite article.
English 1b3e. He is a friend of theirs.

Shouldn't it be the non-possessive form 'them'?

I think it should be 'theirs'. It's the independent form of the pronoun 'they' that is usually used in this case. Indepedent means that they are not followed by nouns.

I, you, he, she, us, you, they subject form They give me ball.
me, you, him, her, us, you, them object form He gave them a ball.
my, your, his, her, our, your, their possessive form He took their ball.
mine, yours, his, ours, yours, theirs independent possessive form That ball is theirs.

That's Mary's pen --> Whose pen is that? – It's Mary's --> Whose pen is that? – It's hers.

Regards,

Ivanhr · Answer

Sometimes using the objective case instead of the possesive can result in ambiguity. That's why I wouldn't use "It's the collar of the dog". This distinction becomes readily apparent in the following examples

This is a picture of Peter's. (= Peter owns the picture)

This is a picture of Peter. (=Peter is shown in the picture)

By applying the same logic to your sentence, it's not clear whether the collar belongs to the dog or the dog is somehow shown in the collar or perhaps the collar resembles the dog. I'm not saying that I'd really think that, I'm just saying that it's grammaticaly ambiguous to say that.

Possessive forms

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