Sextus  +  149516 Wed, 19 Oct 05 05:14 PM Hi MrP You've already seen this sentence: "Since it is Annas' and Bett's use, I shall employ the label... in the sense of..." I used the possessive in both names. But now I wonder why in this case I shouldn't use it only in the second. Perhaps because they use the label in question in different papers? Bye, Sextus Sextus Joined on Sat, Nov 6 2004 Buenos Aires Regular Member 731 Possessives

	MrPedantic  +  149597 Thu, 20 Oct 05 12:04 AM Hello Sextus Yes, that's it: if it were a joint paper, you could say "Annas and Bett's use". See you, MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... Possessives

	Bagle Lawyer  +  149606 Thu, 20 Oct 05 12:34 AM Hi, Sorry, I cannot follow at all...  Could you please explain the meaning of the sentence to me!  And what about the possessives?  Do you leave out the apostrophe when two or more people are involved? Sorry, I am totally lost but it seems like an interesting/important question. Thanks! Bagle Lawyer Joined on Sat, Oct 8 2005 New Member 17 Possessives, Apostrophes

	Sextus  +  149614 Thu, 20 Oct 05 12:43 AM Hi Bagle Lawyer, If I say "These two kids are Paul and María's children", I mean that Paul and María are a couple (or at least were a couple at some point). But if I say "These two kids Paul's and Maria's children", in principle I mean that one of the children is Paul's and the other María's. I hope that the examples are correctly chosen. (If they're not, probably MrP will correct me). Sextus Sextus Possessives

	Bagle Lawyer  +  149645 Thu, 20 Oct 05 02:56 AM The example of the children is quite clear but what about the following sentences: 1) When I turned the corner, - I saw Madonna and Arnold's car.  -->  I saw Madonna and the car of Arnold? - I saw Madonna's and Arnold's car.  --> I saw the car, jointly owned by Arnold and Madonna? - I saw Madonnas and Arnold's car.   -->  same meaning, but is the lack of an apostrophe correct? - I saw Madonna and Arnold's cars.  -->  I saw Madonna and the cars of Arnold? - I saw Madonna's and Arnold's cars.  -->  I saw the cars, all jointly owned by Arnold and Madonna? - I saw Madonnas and Arnold's cars.  -->  same meaning, but is the lack of an apostrophe correct? Thanks, this is really confusing! BL Bagle Lawyer Possessives, Apostrophes

	Vorpar  +  149659 Thu, 20 Oct 05 04:03 AM - I saw Madonna and Arnold's car.  -->  I saw a car owned by Madonna and Arnold - I saw Madonna's and Arnold's car.  --> This wouldn't be used. - I saw Madonnas and Arnold's car.   -->  Madonna isn't plural, so this wouldn't be used. - I saw Madonna and Arnold's cars.  -->  I saw cars owned jointly by Madonna and Arnold. - I saw Madonna's and Arnold's cars.  -->  I saw the cars owned separately by Madonna and Arnold. - I saw Madonnas and Arnold's cars.  -->  Not used Vorpar Joined on Tue, Sep 20 2005 Santa Barbara, CA Regular Member 940 Plurals, Possessives

	Bagle Lawyer  +  149666 Thu, 20 Oct 05 04:33 AM Great! Thanks a lot! The only open issue is why MrP implied that adding an "s" to a name but leaving out the apostrophe would be ok as in .... >> Hello Sextus >> Yes, that's it: if it were a joint paper, you could say "Annas and Bett's use". >> See you, >> MrP If someone could comment on this, I'll promise to stop bothering you with possessives ...  Bagle Lawyer Possessives, Apostrophes

	Sextus  +  149691 Thu, 20 Oct 05 05:58 AM Well, actually, MrP didn't say what you think he said, because "Annas" is just the last name of the person I was referring to. It's not "Anna" plus "s".  Sextus Sextus Possessives

	Bagle Lawyer  +  149703 Thu, 20 Oct 05 06:18 AM Thanks, Sextus! I'm really wondering what could have possibly made you think I'm a native speaker ... No, I'm actually from Switzerland, i.e., I don't speak any language properly  ;-)   ...  and my above sentence "could have possibly made"   or   "could possibly have made"   raises another issue .......    :-( Bagle Lawyer Possessives