Reply
Mon 13 Mar, 2017 02:12 pm
when you qualify an object of a sentence that you wish to be possessive, is it acceptable to place the apostrophe on the last of the qualifying words?
I had trouble with wording my question, but essentially this example is doubly possessive, and something people often say but is rarely written (I think).
I've heard that this form is looked down upon: That country's chef's cooking is sublime,
so is this better: The chef of that country's cooking is sublime. Is it acceptable to write this?
Thanks.
@perennialloner,
perennialloner wrote:I've heard that this form is looked down upon: That country's chef's cooking is sublime
That is fine. Whoever told you otherwise is mistaken.
perennialloner wrote:The chef of that country's cooking is sublime. Is it acceptable to write this?
It's awful.
@perennialloner,
Peren I'm not sure which q I should answer but the last two seem okay tho as you say the first seems a bit awkward
Cen, Fil, Punk, Oli help
Quote:The chef of that country's cooking is sublime
Still doesn't seem right somehow; we're not sure whether it's a chef of a country or a chef of cooking
Help help
@dalehileman,
dalehileman wrote:we're not sure whether it's a chef of a country or a chef of cooking
Exactly. When describing successive or cascading possessive situations, you can either use the apostrophe plus a letter s style, with the ultimately possessed object last: my mother's friend's daughter's boyfriend, or you can use the 'of' construction with the order reversed: the boyfriend of the daughter of the friend of my mother. Trouble comes when you try to mix them.
@centrox,
Why, thank you Cen, I thought I might be losing it entirely
By the way, perennialloner, there is a wrong use of an apostrophe in your title for this thread:
Quote:question about using apostrophe's for possession
This is illiterate, and is an example of what is often called the "greengrocer's apostrophe".
@perennialloner,
Quote:wrong use of an apostrophe
What Cen means, Loner, is that there just shoudn't be one
However the plural get very complicated
https://www.google.com/?client=safari&channel=mac_bm#channel=mac_bm&q=apostrophe+s+or+ies&*
@dalehileman,
Thank you, Dale. I know what he means. It was a mistake. Not one I usually make. I think my mind was just on apostrophes since that's what the question was about. And thank you both for your help. I understand the issue and will not use that form.
@perennialloner,
Nial you're most welcome, wish we could be of more help
@perennialloner,
Just to add, when using its, only use an apostrophe when short for it is.
Eg.
It's a cat, these are its whiskers.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace