re: Possessives? page 3
This dog is a friend of mine's.
Apparently the apostrophe (plus the "s") is modifying the whole phrase "a friend of mine" even though it looks as if it's modifying only "mine". (mine is already a possessive so it wouldn't make sense to add an apostrophe to it)
My question is "How do we call this use of the possessive?".
BTW, it seems that we cannot say "This dog is my friend's." so we're forced to use the above construction or something like "This dog belongs to a friend of mine". (objective case)
Apparently the apostrophe (plus the "s") is modifying the whole phrase "a friend of mine" even though it looks as if it's modifying only "mine". (mine is already a possessive so it wouldn't make sense to add an apostrophe to it)
My question is "How do we call this use of the possessive?".
BTW, it seems that we cannot say "This dog is my friend's." so we're forced to use the above construction or something like "This dog belongs to a friend of mine". (objective case)
Comments (Page 3)
This use of the possessive is called "double genitive", "oblique genitive", or "double possessive".
In contrast, expressions like a friend of his's (dog, house, ...) sound wrong to my ear.
CJ
Like GG, it is incorrect to me. I cannot find "mine's" in BNC or in my dictionaries.
Below is the usage of the word given by Collins Cobuild Dictionary and Longman Dictionary respectively.
Mine is the first person singular possessive pronoun. A speaker or writer uses mine to refer to something that belongs or relates to himself or herself.
Her right hand is inches from mine...
I'm looking for a friend of mine who lives here.
I want you to meet an old friend of mine.
CJ
Oh, it's a friend of his's.
What is Miranda doing with that dog?
Oh, it's a friends of hers's.
What are you doing with that dog?
It's a friend of mine's.
Are we all in agreement that the top two would never be used?
In any case, I'm in on that agreement.
CJ