In Expressions^x, Genitives^x

Hello GGI feel the English expression "superior to me" comes from a Latin phrase "me superiorem (elder than me)" where "me" is the ablative case of the pronoun for the first person singular but incidentally the same in form as the accusative "me". On the other hand "my superior" might have its...

Hi, CliveI don't know that use of "we" necessarily means the king and the country were taken as the same entity. The OED, a mere dictionary for a British dialect of your language, quotes "We, Dermot, prince of Leynester (1425)" as the oldest use of "we" of that usage. The OED says the "we" was...

Hello Hela"King of England's castle" is more natural than "England's King's castle". One reason of this may be that "King of England" is more natural than "England's King". I personally have a feeling that repetition of s'-genitives is a convenient expression in certain contexts. (EX) I love my...

Hello Hela 1) So what we call "the genitive case" is the apostrophe s and the relative whose, and the "possessive case" is any expression with of to express possession? Would you please give me sentences where we CANNOT use the 's but rather the of form? — I would use "genitive" to describe the...

Dear MrP and all the other teachers, 1) So what we call "the genitive case" is the apostrophe s and the relative whose, and the "possessive case" is any expression with of to express possession? Would you please give me sentences where we CANNOT use the 's but rather the of form? 2) Would you...

So you think that all five sentences can take the possessive case? Even #3 ? 3) The figures published last year show an increase in the number of Asian immigrants. = Last year's figures show an increase in Asian immigrants' numbers. possible ? Now we said that time expressions normally take...

Hello AnonYour question is interesting. “Eat of” is an expression new to me. So I looked for the phrase in my dictionaries. OED says it is an archaic expression popular in Middle English (as Mr Micawber said). The ‘of’ is a relic of the Old English’s genitive case of nouns and gives a partitive...

Hello, with expressions of time: the noun + noun structure is used for the names of things that happen or appear regularly, as in: the evening news a Sunday paper the 's structure is preferred to talk about particular moments and events, as in: yesterday's news last...

Hi MrP and Casi Here's another article supposedly relating to our discussion, which I just skimmed it. Sounds the construction " in a part of the entry of the indefinite article a like this: A follows the adjectives as in many a, such a, what a! and the obsolete or dialectal each a, which a; it...

1. Plural nouns not ending in 's' take both the apostrophe and the 's': "The children's toys." "The men's cars." 2. Nouns that take -s for the plural add only the apostrophe to indicate possession (this is called 'zero genitive'): "The boys' toys." "The dogs' tails." 3. The 'zero form' is also...