Today let\u2019s look into a seldom-discussed subject that\u2019s quite a mouthful: compound possessives with nouns and pronouns.<\/p>\n
Have a look at this sentence: Cesar\u2019s and Maribel\u2019s houses are both lovely<\/em>. Note the \u2019s<\/em><\/strong> at the end of each name. This tells us that Cesar and Maribel each own their own house.<\/p>\n But when two people share ownership, the \u2019s<\/em><\/strong> goes after the second name only. The sentence Cesar and Maribel\u2019s houses are both lovely<\/em> refers to houses co-owned by Cesar and Maribel.<\/p>\n However, if one\u2014or both\u2014of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, the possessive form is required for both: his<\/strong> and Maribel\u2019s<\/strong> house, Cesar\u2019s<\/strong> and my\u00a0<\/strong>house, her <\/strong>and my<\/strong> house, your<\/strong> and their<\/strong> house. <\/em><\/p>\n As the above examples demonstrate, compound possessives with pronouns require possessive adjectives<\/strong> (my<\/em>, your<\/em>, her<\/em>, our<\/em>, their<\/em>). Avoid\u00a0possessive pronouns<\/strong> (mine<\/em>, yours<\/em>, hers<\/em>, ours<\/em>,\u00a0theirs<\/em>) in such constructions.<\/p>\n It should be mentioned that compound possessives are often clunky as well as confusing. For instance, a picture of her and Cesar\u2019s house <\/em>could refer to a photo of \u201cher\u201d in front of the house that Cesar owns or a photo of the house that she and Cesar co-own. Big difference. Such ambiguous sentences should probably just be rewritten.<\/p>\n * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/strong><\/p>\n Last week we received this interesting note from a correspondent in Cambridge, Massachusetts:<\/p>\n \u201cThe M.C. and I\u201d is the title of a New York Times Book Review piece on Joel Grey\u2019s new memoir. When I saw it I thought, Is that grammatically correct? I don\u2019t even know how to think about figuring that out. Most titles aren\u2019t sentences. I doubt <\/em>The King and I would have gotten by all these years if it weren\u2019t correct. <\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019ve found that for every title like \u201cThe M.C. and I\u201d and\u00a0The King and I\u00a0<\/em>there are several like You,\u00a0<\/em>Me, and<\/em> the Apocalypse<\/em> (TV series), Me Talk Pretty One Day<\/em> (book), Me and the Colonel <\/em>(movie), \u201cMe and Bobby McGee\u201d (popular song), and on and on.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s our theory: the subject pronoun I<\/em> in a title like\u00a0The King and I<\/em> sends a subliminal message that what you are about to experience is high-minded and edifying. The King and I<\/em> is a beloved Broadway musical about a prim Englishwoman who served in the court of the king of Siam in the 1860s. Consider the exotic subject matter and the sophisticated target audience and you can understand why The King and Me <\/em>was not an option.<\/p>\n Now look at those other examples. The titles are meant to disarm us with humor or folksiness. They encourage a bond of easy intimacy between author and audience. There\u2019s something comfortable about Me<\/em> in a title and something more reserved and aloof about I<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n Choose the best sentences. Our answers are below.<\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. 2<\/strong>. 3<\/strong>. 4<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. B Today let\u2019s look into a seldom-discussed subject that\u2019s quite a mouthful: compound possessives with nouns and pronouns. Have a look at this sentence: Cesar\u2019s and Maribel\u2019s houses are both lovely. Note the \u2019s at the end of each name. This tells us that Cesar and Maribel each own their own house. But when two people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,34,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-possessives","category-pronouns"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA) Randy returned to he and his wife\u2019s<\/em> farm in Kansas.
\nB) Randy returned to his and his wife\u2019s<\/em> farm in Kansas.
\nC) Randy returned to him and his wife\u2019s<\/em> farm in Kansas.
\nD) Randy returned to himself and his wife\u2019s<\/em> farm in Kansas.<\/p>\n
\nA) Chris and my screenplay is almost finished.
\nB) Me and Chris\u2019s screenplay is almost finished.
\nC) Chris\u2019s and my screenplay is almost finished
\nD) Myself and Chris\u2019s screenplay is almost finished.<\/p>\n
\nA) They and their children\u2019s house was getting a new porch.
\nB) Their and their children\u2019s house was getting a new porch.
\nC) Them and their children\u2019s house was getting a new porch.
\nD) Them and their children were getting a new porch for their house.
\nE) They and their children were getting a new porch for their house.<\/p>\n
\nA) Your and her dog is on my lawn.
\nB) Yours and her dog is on my lawn.
\nC) Hers and your dog is on my lawn.
\nD) Rewrite the sentence.<\/p>\n
\n2<\/strong>. C
\n3<\/strong>. E (B is correct, but awkward)
\n4<\/strong>. D (A is correct, but awkward)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"