Works only if both husbands have remarried. Otherwise aren't both mothers-in-law your mother. Could her taste in clothes really be that bad? And so soon after Mother's Day.
Welcome to the list!
Herb
Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of English
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306
[log in to unmask]
________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ingerman, Prudence (INGERMAN) [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: May 12, 2009 1:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: a grammar question
Alas, but can you really do this? Both my first and second husband's mothers-in-law's tastes in clothing were abominable. What about singular of taste? Guess not, but it sounds better.
Prudence
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry Beason
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: a grammar question
But what's really fun is to pluralize such nouns AND show possession. I'm just tossing this out for possible correction, but my recollection is that you pluralize the 'major noun' in such as phrase, such as 'mothers in law.'
Yet how does one show possession now (besides just recasting the whole durn sentence to avoid the awkwardness)?
Would it be 'mothers in law's'? if we abide by the possession guideline separately from the pluralization guideline for this structure?
argh
Larry
Larry Beason
Associate Professor & Composition Director
Dept. of English, 240 HUMB
Univ. of South Alabama
Mobile AL 36688
(251) 460-7861
>>> Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]> 05/12/09 10:40 AM >>>
Oops. I meant possessive marker, not plural marker.
On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> You were right. It is* brother-in-law's*. The apostrophe-s plural marker
> is appended to the end of the noun phrase, even if the noun is not the last
> word:
>
> the attorney-at-law's ethics
> the Queen of England's horses
> Ben and Jerry's new flavor
> my son the doctor's fancy-schmancy office
> the jerk who lives upstairs's obnoxious music
>
> Dick
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Ingerman, Prudence (INGERMAN) <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I am delighted to join this group of grammar gurus.
>>
>>
>> I have a brother-in-law. I have two brothers-in-law. My elder
>> brother-in-law's son is also a doctor.
>>
>> My sister is an attorney-at-law. Her three siblings are also
>> attorneys-at-law. The attorney-at-law's office is on the 3rd floor.
>>
>> Is there a rule about this? That's the question. Why is it incorrect to
>> say - the attorney's-at -law office. What is special about that tacked-on
>> prepositional phrase?
>>
>> Thanks for your thoughts.
>>
>> Prudence Ingerman - IEP Juniata College
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:
>> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of R. Michael Medley (GLS)
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:45 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: how confidential is ATEG?
>>
>> I recently received a post on another listserv where a grammar question
>> was being discussed. Since there is a wide range of language teaching
>> issues discussed on that listserv, I posted a message to other members
>> that if they really love grammar and would like to participate in some
>> excellent dicussion of grammar issues, they might subscribe to the ATEG
>> list. One of them accepted this invitation, subscribed, and got a welcome
>> message with the following lines included:
>>
>> "IMPORTANT: This list is confidential. You should not publicly mention its
>> existence."
>>
>> Have I broken a rule in recommending the ATEG list to others?
>>
>> R. Michael Medley,Ph.D.
>> Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
>> [log in to unmask] (540) 432-4051
>>
>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
>> at:
>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>> and select "Join or leave the list"
>>
>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>>
>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
>> at:
>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>> and select "Join or leave the list"
>>
>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>>
>
>
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
