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wholegrain

#545635 Wed, 23 Jul 08 11:49 PM

Denis Tull is not alone in his observation that ‘sizeable benefits of China’s return will accrue to state elites’.

Shouldn't we say "...will accrue to state elites' hands"?

Can we really say something such as "...will accrue to ours"

or

"...will accrue to his son's"???

wholegrain

Joined on Thu, Jun 19 2008

Full Member (299)

Mr Wordy

#545640 Thu, 24 Jul 08 12:34 AM

The last ' is a closing quote mark, not a possessive apostrophe. "... will accrue to state elites" seems OK to me.

"... will accrue to state elites' hands" does not sound quite right to me. It's not usual for something to accrue to someone's hands. ("Fall into someone's hands", yes.) Your other two examples with "ours" and "son's" are, as you suspect, wrong.

Did you mean to highlight "China"? I can't quite see the significance of that in relation to your question. Apologies if I've misunderstood.

Mr Wordy

Joined on Tue, May 27 2008

Regular Member (960)

Native British English speaker

Apostrophes, Possessives

Clive

#545645 Thu, 24 Jul 08 12:52 AM

Hi,
I'm not sure what you mean by China’s return. Return from where? Do you possibly mean China's revenue/income?

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (22,268)

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

Mr Wordy

#545649 Thu, 24 Jul 08 01:27 AM

Clive
I'm not sure what you mean by China’s return.

I wondered about that too, before I found the full text at [link]. It's actually referring to China's return to Africa.

Mr Wordy

CalifJim

#545666 Thu, 24 Jul 08 03:00 AM

... that >‘sizeable benefits of China’s return will accrue to state elites’<

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. Surprise

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,568)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Mr Wordy

#545736 Thu, 24 Jul 08 05:14 AM

Mr Wordy
Your other two examples with "ours" and "son's" are, as you suspect, wrong.

Clarification: By this, I mean that the example with "ours" is wrong if it's supposed to mean "... will accrue to us". It is possible if "ours" means "our <suitable noun>", such as "our account".

Similarly for "his son's".

Mr Wordy

Nouns