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Eehao Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Possessive's forms before -ing forms

I come across below sentences but I don't understand why possessive's forms are used. Is it because of formality? Can we use object forms as shown in the brackets?

1) She was angry at Lina's trying to lie to her. (She was angry at Lina trying to lie to her.)

2) Excuse my interrupting you. (Excuse me for interrupting you.)

Thank you.

  

Top answer

1) She was angry at Lina's / Lina trying to lie to her . ( She was angry at Lina for trying to lie to her. ) 2) Excuse my / me interrupting you .

— BillJ

  • 1) She was angry at Lina's / Lina trying to lie to her .
  • ( She was angry at Lina for trying to lie to her.
  • ) 2) Excuse my / me interrupting you .
  • ( Excuse me for interrupting you.
  • ) It all boils down to formality and tradition.
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1 Answers
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1) She was angry at Lina's / Lina trying to lie to her. (She was angry at Lina for trying to lie to her.)

2) Excuse my / me interrupting you. (Excuse me for interrupting you.)


It all boils down to formality and tradition.

Older grammars tend to insist on the use of the more formal genitive (possessive) case.

But modern gram

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