teleostomi
05-09-2006, 03:02 AM
(1) the car of my father.
(2) the car of my father's.
Which is correct and not correct when we want to mean "my father's car"?
Mister Micawber
05-09-2006, 03:23 AM
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With humans we do not normally use the of-possessive, so #1 is wrong-- well, not wrong, but very stilted and seldom met except in places like poetry and the Bible.
On the other hand, #2 is common: it is called the double genitive or post-genitive. Usually, however, it occurs in indefinite situations-- a car of my father's, some relatives of my wife's. So your #2 sounds a little odd.
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