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Kangiten Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
"of"/"'s" in a disclaimer
Hello 
Yet another weird question.
I have a disclaimer that looks as follows:
"This document is the property of [company's name]. It cannot be used, reproduced or disclosed, even partially, without the prior written consent of [company's name]"
Now, I don't why but I have a feeling that a genitive would be appropriate in the second part as in
"This document is the property of [company's name]. It cannot be used, reproduced or disclosed, even partially, without the prior written [company's name]'s consent"
I cannot explain it, it's just a gut feeling. Am I right? And if so, what would be the justification of this wording?
Yet another weird question.
I have a disclaimer that looks as follows:
"This document is the property of [company's name]. It cannot be used, reproduced or disclosed, even partially, without the prior written consent of [company's name]"
Now, I don't why but I have a feeling that a genitive would be appropriate in the second part as in
"This document is the property of [company's name]. It cannot be used, reproduced or disclosed, even partially, without the prior written [company's name]'s consent"
I cannot explain it, it's just a gut feeling. Am I right? And if so, what would be the justification of this wording?
Top answer
No, the form "the prior written X's consent" would be wrong, chiefly because both "the" and the possessive ('s) form act as determiners, and you can't have more than one determiner in a noun phrase. It would be like saying, "Please hand me the my hat", which is more clearly incorrect. If you removed "the" and placed the possessive in its position, you would have a correct alternative phrasing: "without X's prior written consent" Stylistically, I wouldn't change the original sentence if the company name is very long.
- No, the form "the prior written X's consent" would be wrong, chiefly because both "the" and the possessive ('s) form act as determiners, and you can't have more than one determiner in a noun phrase.
- It would be like saying, "Please hand me the my hat", which is more clearly incorrect.
- If you removed "the" and placed the possessive in its position, you would have a correct alternative phrasing: "without X's prior written consent" Stylistically, I wouldn't change the original sentence if the company name is very long.
- Only a short name sounds better in the possessive position in that sentence (in my opinion).
- CJ
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3 Answers
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No, the form "the prior written X's consent" would be wrong, chiefly because both "the" and the possessive ('s) form act as determiners, and you can't have more than one determiner in a noun phrase. It would be like saying, "Please hand me the my hat", which is more clearly incorrect.
If you removed "the" and placed the possessive in its position, you would have a correct al
If you removed "the" and placed the possessive in its position, you would have a correct al
00
Hi CalifJim
Just realised that I typed a totally wrong sentence.
The second one was indeed [company's name]'s prior written consent.
****** typos
Just realised that I typed a totally wrong sentence.
The second one was indeed [company's name]'s prior written consent.
****** typos
00
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