Search results for 'tag:Possessives' matching tag 'Possessives'

Re: Possessive plural form of "business"

Grammar Geek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:46:25 GMT

One boy's bike. Two boys' bikes.

One dog's bowl. Two dogs' bowls.

One business's plan. Two businesses' plans.

Not businesses as a plural possessive, not businesses's as a plural possessive.

Re: Using an apostrophe

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:16:56 GMT

Possessive Use

If you are using a singular noun to indicate possession, use an apostrophe before the "s."
If you are using a plural noun, use an apostrophe after the "s."

Instead of: Both neighbors dogs barked all night long.
Consider: Both neighbors' dogs barked all night long.

Instead of: Ice hockey is Toms favorite sport.
Consider: Ice hockey is Tom's favorite sport.

(NOUN MEANS - PERSON, PLACE, THING, OR IDEA) - meaining that you would use an apostrophy for non-living things as well...

THIS IS BY WAY OF MICROSOFT WORD..HOPE THIS HELPS

Re: Plural for Curriculum Vitae

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:55:33 GMT

I quite agree with Curricula Vitae (being plural) as it is based on the use of a Latin phrase. A possible alternative is "Work History" as we speak English (not Latin) or resume (as point out by another poster).

Also, if you see CV's this is wrong according to contemporary (Australian) use as the apostrophe denotes possessive. Some would argue that the apostrophe is actually correct as it indicates an abbreviation, this was the case in the 70s and 80s (then we used to write 70's and 80's denoting abbreviation), but not in the 2000s.

David, Sydney (Technical Editor)

Re: HELP WITH PROPER GRAMMER PLEASE.

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:49:17 GMT

NO

Do each of you own something, or do the two of you own one thing in common?
I's is not a word. My or mine are proper possessive pronouns.

Alexa's and my music recorders are the best.
Alexa's and my music recorder is the best.

Re: I'll buy a new one to make it up for you

Neeraj Jain — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:25:12 GMT

I think that the sentence should take possessive form. It should be:

I'll buy a new one to compensate for yours.

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Cool Breeze — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:35:17 GMT

Crokey
how do you feel about possessives before a gerund? "John's singing bothered me". You are constantly told that the possessive should be used before a gerund(unless you are saying something weird and you wish to emphasise the subject of the gerund).

I have given my opinion in an earlier post. Page 1 of this thread offers you a link to it (subject of gerund). As the gerund fluctuates between being a noun and a verb and resembles both to some extent, it stands to reason that a genitive is often possible before it and so is an adjectival attribute - at least in your example.

I don't really care what the ing-form is called in each case. I'm not obsessed with terminology. If anyone thinks the gerund is a complete noun, he should explain why the gerund can have a passive form:

He enjoys being seen in my company.

I would like to see the passive forms of other nouns, like a girl or courage, for example.

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Crokey — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:30:03 GMT

hi cb, its me again!
how do you feel about possessives before a gerund? "John's singing bothered me". You are constantly told that the possessive should be used before a gerund(unless you are saying something weird and you wish to emphasise the subject of the gerund). However, "John's loud singing bothered me", well "loud" is an adjectival attribute modifying singing, and you will never get an adverb to fit in there. "the correct speaking of the english language is important", "correctly speaking english is important". So, is it fair to say that if you can modify the -ing form with an adjecitval attribute, then it is a verbal noun and not a gerund? "john's singing the national anthem bothered me" "john's loud singing OF the national anthem bothered me", I could hardly have changed the nature of the word "singing" from a gerund in the first instance, to a verbal noun in the second, merely by adding an adjective. Furthermore, if in the first case, "singing" is indeed a verbal noun, should it written as "john's singing of the national anthem" , otherwise, without the preposition "of", singing would be taking the object "the national anthem".

have a nice day!

Re: The police searched the house of/for the suspect

Huevos — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:41:40 GMT

Sorry Angliholic, I overlooked the other meaning.

Case 1 ("of"): Your sentence is literary, but most people would form that sentence thus, "The police searched the suspect's house.", i.e. possessive. The house being searched belonged to the suspect, but we don't know what the police are looking for.

Case 2 ("for"): The police searched a house, that may or may not have belonged to the suspect. The purpose of the search was to find the suspect.

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Crokey — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:41:35 GMT

Generally, what follows the "of" in a double possessive will be definite and human, not otherwise, so we would say "a friend of my uncle's" but not "a friend of the museum's [museum, instead]." What precedes the "of" is usually indefinite (a friend, not the best friend), unless it's preceded by the demonstratives this or that, as in "this friend of my father's." - http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/possessives.htm
the nail is never comin out now!!! enjoy the tennis, i'm off to the hardware store to get a few screws, they should be easier to bury than nails!!!

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:36:08 GMT

hi,
i've been struggling with coming to grips with the differences between verbal nouns and gerunds.
e.g. John's singing the national anthem bothered me. or John's singing of the national anthem bothered me.
which is correct, and in the second case is 'singing' a gerund or verbal noun?

The beginning of the book is better than the middle or end sections.
The beginning of a new book is always the most rewarding part. (beginning here meaning starting to read)
the first case is rather clear, i am not speaking of an action and it must be a verbal noun, but you can see where the problem lies.

The writing of a book is always an ambitious undertaking. (writing is the verbal noun)

from an article on verbal nouns on wikipedia,

The gerund is like the participle ..frequently modified by a possessive noun or pronoun.

taken from An English Grammar by W. M. Baskervill & J. W. Sewell

i am really confused as to what makes a gerund a gerund, and when a verbal noun is a verbal noun. any help in this matter would be really appreciated.