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| 48509 |
Is it an error of the grammar book?
I found this sentence in a grammar book, could you tell me if this is a mistake?
She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline's.
Thanks!
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Language pair: Spanish; English
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| 48565 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
> Reply to message # 48509
> Is it an error of the grammar book? Laura Gil
> I found this sentence in a grammar book, could you tell me if > > > this is a mistake?
> She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline's.
> Thanks!
This is correct. What makes you think it is a mistake? How would you have said it differently?
There are two ways of doing possessive for plural possessors. Either the two or more share some possession in common, as Mark and Caroline share their girlfriend, or there are multiple objects and each possessor has their own, in which case you have to put both owners in the possessive:
She brought Mark's and Caroline's toothbrushes to them.
Here, since Mark and Caroline each have their own toothbrush, we say it a little differently.
Likewise, you could say, "David and Leslie were good friends of Mark's and Caroline's," if David is Mark's friend and Leslie is Caroline's friend.
Does that help? Let me know if I've missed your point.
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Language pair: Spanish; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48583 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
i dont think there's anything wrong with the sentence. that's if you're used to some americanisms of the english language. Mark and Caroline in the sentence was taken as one object [of the verb] which american, i believe normally do... however, personally, i wouldn't be constructing my sentence like that. i would normally take Mark and Caroline as seperate objects and as such place possessive markers at the end of each names. in short, i would share your concern/anxiety about the sentence. =)
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Language pair: Spanish; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48644 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
Hi.
I saw your question on the bulliten board. I agree that I don't think it is an error. The English language is one of the hardest to learn, and there are many diffrent ways of saying things. A lot of them don't even sound correct. For example you could say:
The class was instructed to look at the schedule to see who its next speaker was.
This sounds funny because we all know that a class is composed of many people, therefore the natural thinking is to say:
The class was instructed to look at the schedule to see who THIER next speaker was.
But this is wrong because the sentance is referring to a class as a whole, not as individuals. The class is one body therefore you would say its not thier.
So in the sentance you had a question about:
She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline's.
I would say it is correct because if you turn it around, She is Mark and Caroline's good friend, it still makes sense. In the origonal from, the sentance sounds strange because we usually don't speak like this; although it does appear often in text.
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Language pair: Spanish; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48860 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
it is not an error.
both mark and caroline are good friends of she(whoever "she" may be)
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Language pair: English; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48901 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
I don't think it is an error. But I think you should say...She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline. Because when you have Caroline's with the apostrophe that means that there is more than one object..ex:more than one Caroline...or it is also used when you are talking about her possession. ex: Caroline's book. I hope that helped.
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Language pair: Spanish; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48902 |
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
I don't think it is an error. But I think you should say...She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline. Because when you have Caroline's with the apostrophe that means that there is more than one object..ex:more than one Caroline...or it is also used when you are talking about her possession. ex: Caroline's book. I hope that helped.
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Language pair: Polish; English
This is a reply to message # 48509
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| 48974 |
Re:Re:Is it an error of the grammar book?
I may be misunderstanding what you are saying here, but maybe I can help clarify.
In English, regular common and proper nouns (that is, everything but pronouns like us, you, him, her, it) are made plural by adding -s or -es:
Caroline --> Carolines (meaning two people named Caroline)
And possessive by adding -'s
Caroline --> Caroline's (something belongs to Caroline)
Plural and possessive by adding -s'
Carolines (plural) ---> Carolines' (Something belongs to everyone named Caroline, or to several people named Caroline --not a very useful example -- used more often with a last name, so let's look at that:)
Jones (a person named Jones) ---> Joneses (several, maybe the Jones family)
Joneses (The whole family) ---> Joneses' (belongs to the whole family --say, their house, for example: The Joneses' house--plural and possessive at the same time, so the apostrophe follows the s).
Caroline's does not show plural of any kind, because the apostrophe is before the s. This means one Caroline with a possession. The English Language is very consistent about distinguishing from possession and plural. Plurals have s before the apostrophe, and if there's no apostrophe, it's not possessive.
It can get confusing with pronouns, because the rule is just the opposite. Pronouns never use apostrophes: my, his, her, its, your, my, their. And the possessive pronoun "its", is naturally confused often with "it's," which is not a possessive at all, but a contraction of "it is."
Your suggestion of saying: She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline is excellent, because it is always correct, and will save you face if you get confused about the rules.
Nonetheless, the suggestion I gave in my previous message on this topic is a good practice, because native speakers will very often use the other forms, and you'll want to be able translate them correctly.
Mark and Caroline's house (belonging to both gets only one -'s)
Mark's and Caroline's toothbrushes (separate possessions get separate -'s)
Follow this rule and you'll get it right every time.
Mark Springer
English Major and composition instructor
California State University, Sacramento
Re:Is it an error of the grammar book? Kasia
I don't think it is an error. But I think you should say...She is a good friend of Mark and Caroline. Because when you have Caroline's with the apostrophe that means that there is more than one object..ex:more than one Caroline...or it is also used when you are talking about her possession. ex: Caroline's book. I hope that helped.
This is a reply to message # 48509
Language pair: Spanish; English
Category: Vocabulary/Translations
Post date: April 3, 2005
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Language pair: Spanish; English
This is a reply to message # 48901
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