Search results for 'tag:Grammar tag:Possessives' matching tags 'Grammar' and 'Possessives'

use of their

innamuris — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:13:07 GMT

Hi,

Can anyone explain when 'their' - possessive pronoun is used? Is it used to refer possession of something with respect to 'people' only or 'objects' like planets etc..

thanks

that of "Japan" or "Japan's"?-a quick question...

mogumo — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:20:49 GMT

Sentence:
Your future will be tied up with that of Japan?
or
Your future will be tied up with that of Japan's?

Does "Your future will be tied up with Japan's future" sound better?

Re: Â«...clean grimy hands...Â»

MissMandy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:30:41 GMT

Haha, you gave me a funny picture in my head. If you told Paul to wash a weary face, he would probably be looking around for someone else's weary face to wash because you can't tell him to wash his own face that way; a tells the listener that we are being generic. If you wanted him to wash his own weary face, you'd need a possessive determiner (your). So, yes, you seem correct.

When thinking about determiners (articles are a category of determiners), you always need to decide if the noun is count or non-count, and if it is count, if it is plural or singular as well as if it is generic of specific. With non-count nouns you need to decide if the noun is specific or generic. Once all of that has been decided, you still have lots of choices.(Go to Wikipedia's "Determiners" page to see the long list.)

If you want, send me an email and I'll send you a PDF graphic that I give to all my grammar students. Determiners are tiny, but powerful and confusing, little words. I'll send the file to anyone who wants it. Just send me your email.

~Miss Mandy

Re: Grammar Doubts?

Clive — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:37:41 GMT

Hi,

(1) John and Paul were the obvious stars and spokespeople of the group. George and the band confined himself to a background role, quiet, reserved, somewhat mysterious.

Should it be themselves? Please advise.Yes

(2) The inferiority Harrison felt as a songwriter resulted in strained band relationships, especially between he and McCartney. Others point out that the tension also existed between he and John as well. George felt neither took him very seriously as a songwriter; and he really resented being pushed around by Paul in the studio. In fact, that friendships grew so strained that in early 1969, Harrison actually quit the group.

Should it be him? Yes Does felt neither sound odd? No. 'Neither ' refers to Paul and John Should it be friendship? Yes Please clarify.

(3) George Harrison began playing guitar in the late 1950s and earliest 1960s in the style of Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry, playing his big Gretsch Country Gentleman.

Should it be early? Yes

(4) His Gretsch infused colors of country, rockabilly, and even jazz chord voicings into the work traditional and pop/rock compositions of his colleagues.

Any preposition missing in work traditional? I can't see the meaning here.

(5) Of all the Beatlesâ Harrison had his ear to the ground the most, and he absorbed the various styles that were happening in musicâs most explosive decade.

Should it be Beatles without possessive? yes, and followed by a comma

(6) Georgeâs was finished in sunburst with a B7 Bigsby tremolo and was his main guitar for the last tour and also showed up on Sgt. Pepper.

Should it be George was finished? No. It refers to George's guitar.

(7) But on the day before he was set to leave England with the band, tragedy struck. While working in a sheet metal factory, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand in an industrial accident. He was only 17 when it happened.

"sheet metal factory and industrial accident" is it redundancy? Or, the complete sentence lacks sense? Please rephrase.It's all fine. He worked in a factory and he lost some fingers in an accident. I suppose you could elimintate 'industrial', but 'industrial accident' is quite a common phrase.

(8) The turn of the new millennium has brought a resurgent interest in virtuoso guitar work and this groundswell continues to build so you can continue to look to Shrapnel to be at the forefront of a whole new generation of guitar excellence.

Should it be so? It's fine. I'd put a comma in front of it.

(9) He rarely partied, never didnât any drugs, and spent more time learning the craft of the guitar than anything else in his life.

Is the usage never didn't ok?No. 'Never did'

(10) It was also during this time that Randy petitioned Grover Jackson to build another flying V built, this time with a more distinctive design.

Can built be deleted? Yes, it should be

(11) At the center of Santana sound remained Carlosâ guitar, lyrical, sweet, flowing, even at this early age.

Should it be Santana's? Yes

(12) But his work on Appetite was astonishing. As a lead guitarist, he knew the value of a great rhythm player like Izzy Stradlin, ad they both collaborated can enhance how his own lead playing sounds.

Please check ad usage here? Provide suitable word?and

(13) Most all of his live guitars are equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers.

Can it be Most of his? Deleteall? 'Most all of ' is a colloquial way of emphasizing 'most of'.

(14) Jonesâ had the kind of grasp on American blues that Richards and Jagger had set their own sites on; his slide soloing mesmerized Richards and they were drawn to Jonesâ outstanding work.

Should it be Jones? No possessive? Yes, just Jones.

It seems to me that your instincts about what is right and wrong are very good. In future, I suggest you just post those things that you are really, really uncertain of.

Trust your own judgement!

Best wishes, Clive

Grammar Doubts?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:45:10 GMT

(1) John and Paul were the obvious stars and spokespeople of the group. George and the band confined himself to a background role, quiet, reserved, somewhat mysterious.

Should it be themselves? Please advise.

Should it be him? Does felt neither sound odd? Should it be friendship? Please clarify.

(3) George Harrison began playing guitar in the late 1950s and earliest 1960s in the style of Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry, playing his big Gretsch Country Gentleman.

Should it be early?

(4) His Gretsch infused colors of country, rockabilly, and even jazz chord voicings into the work traditional and pop/rock compositions of his colleagues.

Any preposition missing in work traditional?

(5) Of all the Beatlesâ Harrison had his ear to the ground the most, and he absorbed the various styles that were happening in musicâs most explosive decade.

Should it be Beatles without possessive?

(6) Georgeâs was finished in sunburst with a B7 Bigsby tremolo and was his main guitar for the last tour and also showed up on Sgt. Pepper.

Should it be George was finished?

(7) But on the day before he was set to leave England with the band, tragedy struck. While working in a sheet metal factory, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand in an industrial accident. He was only 17 when it happened.

"sheet metal factory and industrial accident" is it redundancy? Or, the complete sentence lacks sense? Please rephrase.

Should it be so?

(9) He rarely partied, never didnât any drugs, and spent more time learning the craft of the guitar than anything else in his life.

Is the usage never didn't ok?

(10) It was also during this time that Randy petitioned Grover Jackson to build another flying V built, this time with a more distinctive design.

Can built be deleted?

(11) At the center of Santana sound remained Carlosâ guitar, lyrical, sweet, flowing, even at this early age.

Should it be Santana's?

(12) But his work on Appetite was astonishing. As a lead guitarist, he knew the value of a great rhythm player like Izzy Stradlin, ad they both collaborated can enhance how his own lead playing sounds.

Please check ad usage here? Provide suitable word?

(13) Most all of his live guitars are equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers.

Can it be Most of his? Delete all?

(14) Jonesâ had the kind of grasp on American blues that Richards and Jagger had set their own sites on; his slide soloing mesmerized Richards and they were drawn to Jonesâ outstanding work.

Should it be Jones? No possessive?

Re: Grammar point, please help clarify this

Huevos — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:50:05 GMT

Raen
1. As far as I know, all 3 articles are "always" followed by a noun and/or adjective+noun. Why are they labeled as "adjectives" when coming before a noun or adjective+noun? Why not just call them adjectives to begin with? and why can't they stand as their original identity which is "articles".

Here's what Wikipedia says: An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. The three main articles in the English language are the, an and a. It is sometimes wondered which part of speech articles belong to. Despite much speculation, articles are adjectives, as they do describe nouns; Linguists place them in a different category, that of determiners.

Raen
2. "my, your, our, their" are always adjective. A layman would say why not the other possessive pronouns: "her, his, her, its...". What's so special abut the first 4?

Wikipedia says no on this: Depending on the theory the grammar subscribes to, English "possessive adjectives" are determiners or pronouns: possessive determiners,[1] possessive pronouns,[2] dependent genitive pronouns,[3] weak possessive pronouns,[4] and so forth. They are not adjectives, because they can be substituted for and cannot co-occur with another determiner such as an article or a demonstrative.

So the answer to your question: "So would you say this particular grammar point is widely accepted by native-speakers and/or linguistic community?", is no.

Re: Grammar point, please help clarify this

Raen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:12:17 GMT

Thanks Huevos for you enlightment. But could we, just for the sake of arguement, allow me to examine the merit of this grammar point:

It says: There are 7 words that are "always" adjectives: articles "a", "an" and "the" and possessive pronouns "my", "your", "our" and "their".

1. As far as I know, all 3 articles are "always" followed by a noun and/or adjective+noun. Why are they labeled as "adjectives" when coming before a noun or adjective+noun? Why not just call them adjectives to begin with? and why can't they stand as their original identity which is "articles". An example in the practice that asks us to identify the part of speech for each word:

Q: Both the big girl and a small boy were happy with the results.

A: Both - conjunction, the - adjective, big - adjective, girl - noun, and - conjunction, a - adjective, small - adjective, boy - noun, were - verb, happy - adjective, with - preposition, the - adjective, results - noun.

Both "the" were identified as adjective. Why can't they just be "article"? What is the big idea for them to be labeled as "adjective"?

2. "my, your, our, their" are always adjective. A layman would say why not the other possessive pronouns: "her, his, her, its...". What's so special abut the first 4?

Anyway, I know it's not good to over think. But this is just one of the grammar points I find hard to comprehend. Thanks to everyone for their imput, and thanks for the good-will wish on my test, I sure hope I'll pass.

Regards

Raen

Re: Grammar point, please help clarify this

Cool Breeze — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:16:35 GMT

Terminology simply varies from country to country. In many European countries terms like "possessive adjective" are not used. I had never heard it until I hit these forums! On the other hand, I think I'm the only one here who talks about "clause equivalents". I hope you pass the test.

Re: Grammar point, please help clarify this

Huevos — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:08:46 GMT

Raen
So would you say this particular grammar point is widely accepted by native-speakers and/or linguistic community?

Whether or not people choose to accept it is irrelevant, it's a fact. Have a look at this:

smooth coat
chihuahua
domesticated
dog
canis
caninae
canidae
carnivora
mammal
chordata
animal

Now when you see a chihuahua ask the owner if it is a "chordata". Most would say no, it's a "chihuahua", but of course it is a "chordata", it's just that someone who doesn't understand the heirarchy or is not familiar with greater terminology wouldn't even know what a chordata was.

Words follow a similar heirarchy with lexical classes within lexical classes, within lexical classes. In the case of your question "adjectives" are a super class that contains, among others, determiners. Then in the determiner class we have, among others, articles, possessive derterminers (possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns), etc. And so on and so forth.

Grammar point, please help clarify this

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:17:42 GMT

Hi, I need help with this grammar point.

I was preparing myself for an English Grammar test, the material I'm studying to prepare for the test says that there are 7 words, namely 3 articles (a, an, the) and 4 possessive pronouns (my, our, your, their), are always "adjectives". What?! Could someone be kind enough to explain the logic or reason for that? I just simply can't wrap my head around that concept. Thanks.

Raen