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English 1b3 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Possessive or compound noun

1. Figures for March are looking terrible.

a. March figures are looking terrible.

b. March's figures are looking terrible.

Are there rules around when we use a instead of b as an alternative/shortended form of 1?

Thanks
  

Top answer

English 1b3 Are there rules No. This is a question of style rather than of grammar. There are many cases where all three forms are grammatical and in common use, so in these cases it's a matter of authorial preference.

— CalifJim

  • English 1b3 Are there rules No.
  • This is a question of style rather than of grammar.
  • There are many cases where all three forms are grammatical and in common use, so in these cases it's a matter of authorial preference.
  • My guess is that the form with the apostrophe is the least often chosen.
  • CJ
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3 Answers
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English 1b3Are there rules
No. This is a question of style rather than of grammar. There are many cases where all three forms are grammatical and in common use, so in these cases it's a matter of authorial preference. My guess is that the form with the apostrophe is the least often chosen.

CJ
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Good to know. Thanks.

As long as the intended meaning in bold is clear, can we accept this style invariably?

March figures...

Learning its acceptability might be tricky for people trying to learn the language:

The car for Andrew is definitely a late-model Nissan seddan.
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'March figures' is a good all-round use, I think, but its relevance to your other sentence escapes me, since the dictionaries list more than 30 meanings for the preposition.
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