Anonymous  +  812854 Thu, 09 Jul 09 03:16 PM How solid is this "rule"?   "As a rule, nouns referring to inanimate things should not be in the possessive. Use an “of” phrase instead." http://blog.instructionalsolutions.com/2008/11/05/inanimate-possessives-two-days-time-or-two-days-time/ Anonymous Nouns, Possessives

	Philip  suggested by Forbes  +  812859 Thu, 09 Jul 09 03:23 PM The "rule" has a certain solidarity that has been well detailed in your source.  If you take it just at face value, it just makes good sense.  The bottom line, as the author suggests, is that the generalization is established, but some exceptions have come to be common in use.   Personally, I don't think the point is worth a great deal of debate.  Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,738 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen

	Anonymous  suggested by Forbes  +  812885 Thu, 09 Jul 09 03:40 PM <The bottom line, as the author suggests, is that the generalization is established, but some exceptions have come to be common in use.>   The exceptions mentioned at that site refer only to those where time is involved.   "possession does not belong only to people and places, but also to time."   Which would put all of these out in the cold:   See the dog? Put its dinner in its bowl. Just look at the leaf's colour. I'll meet you in the hotel's doorway. The departure lounge is in the terminal's lower level.   <Personally, I don't think the point is worth a great deal of debate. >   Are you then happy for folks at that website to proliferate such "rules"? Anonymous

	Yankee  suggested by Forbes  +  813105 Thu, 09 Jul 09 06:56 PM Hi Anon, I see no point in asking anybody on the English Forums website whether we are "happy" about a sentence Mary Cullen posted on her own website. If you would like to protest or criticise what Mary posted on her website last year, it would be more appropriate to contact Mary directly and discuss your point of view with her. Perhaps she will modify her statement. Perhaps not. Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,506 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain