Possessive case question

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Breaker

#443541 Sat, 17 Nov 07 12:17 PM

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with the following sentence, and why? Thanks.

"My friend Jack's house is on the market."

There might not be anything wrong with it, but I think there is.

Any help appreciated.

Breaker

Joined on Sat, Nov 17 2007

New Member (02)

Possessives

Mister Micawber

#443579 Sat, 17 Nov 07 03:34 PM

I see nothing wrong with the sentence.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (22,610)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Possessives

Anonymous

#443640 Sat, 17 Nov 07 06:23 PM

Thanks for the reply.

If I were to say: "My good, old, bad-tempered friend Jack's house is on the market", would that be also okay?

Anonymous

Possessives

Clive

#443647 Sat, 17 Nov 07 06:42 PM

Hi,

Yes, except that it's ugly English.

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (22,480)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

Possessives

Anonymous

#443689 Sat, 17 Nov 07 09:12 PM

Clive, thanks a lot. I appreciate your taking the time and making the effort to answer.

Anonymous

Possessives

Mister Micawber

#443733 Sun, 18 Nov 07 12:23 AM

My good, old, bad-tempered friend Jack's house is on the market

There's nothing wrong with this in spoken English-- it seems quite natural to me. The pauses as represented by your commas here would not exist.

Mister Micawber

Possessives, Commas

Breaker

#443836 Sun, 18 Nov 07 07:11 PM

Thanks, Mister Micawber.

The origin of my question is that the name of the friend is "Jack" and not "Jack's". Some time in the past, someone must have pointed this out to me, and, ever since, I have carefully avoided this construction.

Breaker

Possessives, Constructions