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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Odd Question about the Genitive Case
Odd Question about the Genitive Case
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Zora
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Odd Question about the Genitive Case
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I �ve looked all over the Internet and cannot really seem to come up with a proper answer to this question.
How should this sentence be written:
a. Daisies, roses and violets are my sister �s, Sally �s, favourite.
Does it use the double genitive case?
Or is the proper sentence:
b. Daisies, roses and violets are my sister �s, Sally, favourite.
Or, third option, which doesn �t seem plausible but grammar is funny sometimes:
c. Daisies, roses and violets are my sister, Sally �s, favourite.
Instinctively, I �d go for the first option but I �ve never come across this before... or taken notice if I have... and I am not too sure.
PS: I need and want to use this type of sentence formation, I am aware that I don´t need to! 
Any feedback or ideas would be helpful.
Thanks!
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24 Aug 2014
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ueslteacher
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Intuitively, I would go for "... are my sister Sally �s favourite" without a comma, but I can �t explain why nor can I state that it �s correct.... Probably, because Sally is the sister�s name and not something that belongs to her.... my sister Sally sounds like one entity to me:) I think it�s different from , for example, "my sister�s friend�s book"... well, I�m sure you as a native don�t need such explanations, it�s just that your question puzzled me and I�m thinking "aloud":) Doesn�t "double genitive" use an of phrase as well as an apostrophe?
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24 Aug 2014
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windflora
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I agree with ueslteacher. Comma is unnecessary btw the sister and the proper name. |
24 Aug 2014
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Zora
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Please understand that I am aware of the fact that the extra commas are not needed. However, I need to know how to correctly form the sentence if I were to use it. |
24 Aug 2014
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douglas
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Third option (as long as we are only talking about Sally and she is your sister)
For me it helped to change sister to friend and see how it sounded |
24 Aug 2014
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Zora
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Yes, Douglas but the info between the commas is extra, it �s not needed, so in theory the 3rd option should not be correct... or not... |
24 Aug 2014
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redcamarocruiser
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I have to agree with the colleagues who opted for the 3rd option. "my sister Sally �s" is the only one that sounds correct to me.
I would use parentheses instead of commas if you like the first construction:
a. Daisies, roses and violets are my sister�s (Sally �s) favourite. |
24 Aug 2014
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Tere-arg
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I would say:
Daisies, roses and violets are my sister Sally �s favourite.
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24 Aug 2014
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class centre
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And what if she has more than one sister? and she wants to underline that the favourite flowers are precisely Sally �s?.........
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25 Aug 2014
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ueslteacher
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@class centre: that �s exactly the meaning that a sentence with no commas suggests. Commas suggest that Sally is the only sister the speaker has. The information that is not essential is usually enclosed with commas. That means that everybody knows what sister the speaker is talking about as she only has one and the name separated with commas can be omitted. |
25 Aug 2014
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