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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2011 13:46:31 GMT
Ok:
Friends of Jane's or
Friends of Jane.
In theory, Jane's is already claiming ownership of the friends and so the first example is saying Friends of of Jane.
but does Friends of Jane sound right ?
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Post by Twoddle on Aug 14, 2011 22:08:23 GMT
Welcome, Cathys.
Double possessives are a strange quirk of English, but useful nevertheless. If I write, "A picture of my brother", I'm probably referring to a likeness of my brother, but, if I write , "A picture of my brother's", I mean a picture that's owned by my brother. (And if I write, "My brother's picture", I could mean either of those.)
In your example I don't think it matters which style you use, as both make the meaning clear. On balance I'd probably use the first one, because it parallels "Friends of mine" (double possessive), rather than "Friends of me" (single possessive) which doesn't work.
Others may now disagree!
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Post by Tone on Aug 15, 2011 19:33:34 GMT
I'll go with Twoddle on that one. And he put it much more succinctly than I might have done.
Tone
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