6
   

The leaves of the tree or the tree's leaves

 
 
Reply Sat 25 Feb, 2017 05:39 am
According to the rules of the of genitive, things tend to generate the genitive of. However I searched both terms and could only find a film named leaves of the tree and a bible quote. What should it be? The leaves of the tree or the tree's leave
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Question • Score: 6 • Views: 1,431 • Replies: 11
No top replies

 
centrox
 
  2  
Reply Sat 25 Feb, 2017 05:51 am
Both are acceptable. A Google search for "the tree's leaves" using quotes (for an exact match) provides lots of examples.
petterwesterstrom
 
  0  
Reply Sat 25 Feb, 2017 07:23 am
@centrox,
Thank you! It seems like the general rules are far from waterproof
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 25 Feb, 2017 08:13 am
@petterwesterstrom,
petterwesterstrom wrote:
It seems like the general rules are far from waterproof

I am not sure what this means.
0 Replies
 
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Sat 25 Feb, 2017 01:23 pm
There aren't general rules, especially in English. That's just the way languages work. Any such "rules" are usually just customary usage. Customs change, and poets or bad writers come along and change everything.

**********************************

Perhaps you might be better to say the leaves on the trees:

The leaves on the trees would be softly sighing
If they heard from the breeze that you left me crying,
They'd be sad, don't be bad to me


Neha28Sharma
 
  0  
Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 03:57 am
@centrox,
"The leaves of the tree or the tree's leave "

"The leaves of the tree" is grammatically correct as in English we use 2nd case with human being.

Eady
 
  0  
Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 05:35 am
@petterwesterstrom,
petterwesterstrom wrote:

Thank you! It seems like the general rules are far from waterproof


I think you mean 'foolproof'.
0 Replies
 
Fil Albuquerque
 
  1  
Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 05:46 am
First can work for a poetic/literature approach but I am under the impression the second version is the usual one. Since I am no native English speaker I am not sure if this is indeed the case. A2Ker's feel free to step in and correct me.
0 Replies
 
camlok
 
  1  
Reply Sun 9 Apr, 2017 09:03 pm
@Setanta,
Quote:
There aren't general rules, especially in English. That's just the way languages work. Any such "rules" are usually just customary usage. Customs change, and poets or bad writers come along and change everything.


Forgive me but that is simply an absurd notion. The rules of English are described in many weighty tomes. If there were no rules you wouldn't be able to converse nor would you be able to write what you write.

Nor would you, and this is the salient point, be able to deploy nuances that we all deploy many times daily without the slightest conception of why we did so.

A writer, attempting to defend a cockamamie rule, said, "It’s always a dangerous thing when politicians get near the English language:".

Certainly not just politicians.
0 Replies
 
camlok
 
  1  
Reply Sun 9 Apr, 2017 09:08 pm
@Neha28Sharma,
Both are fine. There are differences in register.
0 Replies
 
ashwakumar
 
  1  
Reply Fri 5 May, 2017 04:27 am
@petterwesterstrom,
As per the grammar rules, with non-living things we use "of" and with living things we use " 's " for showing possession.
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Fri 5 May, 2017 04:49 am
@ashwakumar,
ashwakumar wrote:

As per the grammar rules, with non-living things we use "of" and with living things we use " 's " for showing possession.

Not true. Bad advice. Read before posting.

0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

show difference - Question by subhrakanta
Assertive to exclamatory - Question by Mushfiq2001
Sentence structure - Question by Rox111
Sentences - Question by Rox111
Difference - Question by Rox111
Anytime vs any time - Question by Rox111
Sentence - Question by Rox111
Dare/dares - Question by Rox111
Past tense - Question by Rox111
 
  1. Forums
  2. » The leaves of the tree or the tree's leaves
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.05 seconds on 10/13/2024 at 07:31:37