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Sb70012 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Possessives
Hello,
Would you please be kind enough to tell me which one are incorrect and which ones are correct? I feel I have received different responses when I asked it before in an other forum. I want to compare the answers. I will be glad if you comment on the correctness of these. Many thanks.
1. It's Alex's book. ==> correct
2. It's the book of Alex.
3. It's the book of he.
4. It's the book of him.
5. It's the book of his.
6. It's the book of me.
7. He's a friend of me.
8. He's a friend of mine.
9. He is my friend. ==> correct
10. He is a friend of ALex.
11. He is a friend of Alex's.
Would you please be kind enough to tell me which one are incorrect and which ones are correct? I feel I have received different responses when I asked it before in an other forum. I want to compare the answers. I will be glad if you comment on the correctness of these. Many thanks.
1. It's Alex's book. ==> correct
2. It's the book of Alex.
3. It's the book of he.
4. It's the book of him.
5. It's the book of his.
6. It's the book of me.
7. He's a friend of me.
8. He's a friend of mine.
9. He is my friend. ==> correct
10. He is a friend of ALex.
11. He is a friend of Alex's.
Top answer
1. It's Alex's book. -- correct 2.
- 1.
- It's Alex's book.
- -- correct 2.
- It's the book of Alex.
- -- not natural in the sense "Alex's book" (appears to mean something else more unusual) 3.
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14 Answers
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1. It's Alex's book. -- correct
2. It's the book of Alex. -- not natural in the sense "Alex's book" (appears to mean something else more unusual)
3. It's the book of he. -- incorrect
4. It's the book of him. -- not natural in the sense "his book"
5. It's the book of his. -- not natural
6. It's the book of me. -- not natural in the sense "my book"
7. He's a friend of me. --
2. It's the book of Alex. -- not natural in the sense "Alex's book" (appears to mean something else more unusual)
3. It's the book of he. -- incorrect
4. It's the book of him. -- not natural in the sense "his book"
5. It's the book of his. -- not natural
6. It's the book of me. -- not natural in the sense "my book"
7. He's a friend of me. --
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Book of ____ would usually describe the contents of the book rather than the ownership.
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sb70012Thank you.But why 2 is ok 10 is not?Aren't they similar?"the [noun] of Alex" is not usually natural for possession/ownership of physical objects. It may be possible for more abstract possession, such as "the opinion of Alex", "the life of Alex", "a friend of Alex", etc.
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Everybody, thanks for answering.
What about: It's a book of Alex's.
Is it incorrect even if I say "Alex's"?
What about: It's a book of Alex's.
Is it incorrect even if I say "Alex's"?
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sb70012What about: It's a book of Alex's.Is it incorrect even if I say "Alex's"?That's different. You can say that. I meant that if you say the book of recipes you normally mean the book containing recipes, and so the book of Alex would be a book about Alex. A book of Alex's would mean a book belonging to, or w
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Thank you.
I have another example in my mind. What if we replace the book by a shirt?
I mean:
1. It's Alex's shirt. == correct
2. It's the shirt of Alex.
3. It's the shirt of Alex's.
I think, 3 is correct and 2 is incorrect. Do you agree with me?
I have another example in my mind. What if we replace the book by a shirt?
I mean:
1. It's Alex's shirt. == correct
2. It's the shirt of Alex.
3. It's the shirt of Alex's.
I think, 3 is correct and 2 is incorrect. Do you agree with me?
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sb700121. It's Alex's shirt. == correct2. It's the shirt of Alex.3. It's the shirt of Alex's.I think, 3 is correct and 2 is incorrect. Do you agree with me?I don't find either (2) and (3) natural in normal circumstances. I find "It's a shirt of Alex's" more natural. "It's the shirt of Alex" seems dramatic to me, as if describing some kind of discovery
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Hello again,
Thank you so much for your patience. I think I have learned 80 percent about the possessives. If I know the difference between these beneath I will learn it almost completely. You know what my confusion is? That why the ones with articles "a" are more acceptable than the ones with articles "the"? Would you please comment on 1, 3, 5, 7, 8?
1. He is
Thank you so much for your patience. I think I have learned 80 percent about the possessives. If I know the difference between these beneath I will learn it almost completely. You know what my confusion is? That why the ones with articles "a" are more acceptable than the ones with articles "the"? Would you please comment on 1, 3, 5, 7, 8?
1. He is
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I don't think I would quite go so far as to say that (6) is "widely used". Also, the sentence seems less likely to me with "car" than with "shirt" (I guess because people tend to have lots of shirts that are often fairly interchangeable, which is not normally the case with cars).
In the case of (1), (3) and (5), there needs to be a contextual justification for "the". For example, "He is t
In the case of (1), (3) and (5), there needs to be a contextual justification for "the". For example, "He is t
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