{"id":148915238,"date":"2024-09-24T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T07:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/writing-tip-3-possessives\/"},"modified":"2024-09-24T07:00:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T07:00:25","slug":"writing-tip-3-possessives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/zh\/writing-tip-3-possessives\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Tip 3: Possessives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming to you from the writer’s desk, not the desk of the writer <\/h2>
\"photo<\/figure>

English is a magnificent language for many reasons. One of which is the mind-blowing innovation of the possessive apostrophe. <\/p>

In Spanish, one can\u2019t say \u2018Laura\u2019s house\u2019 \u2014 it has to be la casa de Laura<\/em>. Any time a possessive hoves into view, the noun+of+noun construction is mandatory; and this is true across the Romance languages<\/a>.<\/p>

Quel ennuyeux. <\/em><\/p>

Noun+of+noun (or as I prefer, X of Y) possessives slow down sentences and place the critical information (who owns what) at the end. <\/p>

Yuck. <\/p>

According to the Quora<\/em> hive mind, English is the only language that uses an apostrophe-s to form the possessive<\/a>, an option that permits writers tremendous flexibility in sentence craft. <\/p>

Yet many seem oblivious to this gift and silt their prose with X of Y constructions.<\/p>

C\u2019mon. Using the possessive apostrophe is as easy as falling off a bike (something I\u2019m a bit of an expert in) and it makes for crisp writing. <\/p>

There aren\u2019t many fixes easier than this, so give it a try. <\/p>

X of Y possessives\u00a0<\/h1>

Where its found: Can crop up anywhere<\/em><\/p>

How it happens: Native English speakers may think it sounds more serious or formal; non-native speakers may be emulating the possessive formation of their native language<\/em><\/p>

Why delete? Adds words without adding meaning; imposes an illogical order on information; slows sentences<\/em><\/p>

Examples<\/h3>

  1. the support of superintendents of six districts<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

    Edit: six district superintendents\u2019 support\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>

    1. the click of the metronome<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

      Edit: the metronome\u2019s click<\/p><\/blockquote>

      1. the lengthy names of chemicals<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

        Edit: the chemicals\u2019 lengthy names<\/p><\/blockquote>

        1. the corridor of the hospital\u00a0<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

          Edit: the hospital\u2019s corridor\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>

          1. the car of my neighbor\u00a0<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

            Edit: my neighbor\u2019s car<\/p><\/blockquote>

            Exception<\/h3>

            Opt for the X of Y construction to avoid awkward possessive plurals, i.e., better to write \u2018the best of the 80s\u2019 than \u2018the 80s\u2019s best\u2019.<\/p>

            \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Coming to you from the writer’s desk, not the desk of the writer <\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148915238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWriting Tip 3: Possessives - Write To Success<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/zh\/writing-tip-3-possessives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing Tip 3: Possessives - 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