Possession question (from student)

[Participle]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Thanks!

 

[Kondorosi]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

It is not only proper thus, but that is the only way to handle such syntax.

 

[TheParser]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Thanks!

***NOT A TEACHER***As I understand it, your sentence should be: Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak = Dad's steak, Jeff's steak, and.... If you use only one apostrophe, that means that the three gentlemen are sharing one steak. Hopefully, a teacher will give his/her opinion.

 

[bhaisahab]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Thanks!

I would say either: Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steaks were cooked to perfection.
or Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

 

[Kondorosi]

If they are seen as a group, I inflect only the last noun for genitive case with the aid of the saxon genitive.

 

[bhaisahab]

If they are seen as a group, I inflect only the last noun for genitive case with the aid of the saxon genitive.

The Saxon genitive was "es".

 

[Kondorosi]

The Saxon genitive was "es".

Where did you have that in mind?

 

[2006]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection. :tick:
Strange as it looks and unlikely as it is that three men would be sharing one steak, this is the rule for joint possession.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steaks were cooked to perfection. :tick:

Thanks!

Sometimes a problem arises with this rule for joint possession.
Tom and Mary's cat died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

This probably means that their cat died, but it could possibly mean that Tom, as well as Mary's cat, died. So one has to change the sentence to remove the ambiguity.

One would be inclined to say "Tom's and Mary's cat died from....." But this apparently is not allowed; it's against the rule for joint possession. So one apparently has to say 'The cat belonging to Tom and Mary died from.......'

:roll:

 

[Youngheart2402]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Thanks!

The proper form is the first one. That´s the rule.

 

[Kondorosi]

The proper form is the first one. That´s the rule.

:-D

 

[Kondorosi]

Sometimes a problem arises with this rule for joint possession.
Tom and Mary's cat died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

This probably means that their cat died, but it could possibly mean that Tom, as well as Mary's cat, died. So one has to change the sentence to remove the ambiguity.

One would be inclined to say "Tom's and Mary's cat died from....." But this apparently is not allowed; it's against the rule for joint possession. So one apparently has to say 'The cat belonging to Tom and Mary died from.......'

:roll:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Dad and Jeff were not cooked to perfection, I hope. ;-)

 

[TheParser]

Is it proper to to add 's only to the last entry in a list as in the example below:

Dad, Jeff, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Or should it be:

Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steak was cooked to perfection.

Thanks!

***NOT A TEACHER***The different opinions must be very confusing. Before you decide which advice to accept, may I leave you with this rule from thr Associated Press, which furnishes the news to many newspapers, etc.: Use a possessive form after both words if the objects are individually owned: Fred's and Sylvia's books. Thus your "correct" sentence should, indeed, be: Dad's, Jeff's, and Nate's steakS WERE cooked to perfection. I believe that one of the posters suggested this answer earlier. Good luck on your study of English.

 

[Linguist__]

Looks like this is yet another thing where teachers, those who know more technical things than lay users, native speakers, and learners all say different things.

One thing I've noticed since joining these forums is how much disagreement there really is in language. It's good in some ways, and certainly it's easy to say 'both of those are used a lot by native speakers', but to be an English teacher making an assessment of English! It must be rough!

I can imagine a student going to their English teacher, "No Mr. Blah, Linguist__ from UsingEnglish says your answer is wrong and that he hears it said that way where he lives, and blah_blah from UsingEnglish thanked his post, so he agrees"!!

As for this post, I think I'd say what bhaisahab said, which is the complete opposite to what 2006 said!

Of course, I'd really take the easy way out and say 'all of them are used, so they are all correct'.

 

[2006]

Dad and Jeff were not cooked to perfection, I hope. ;-)

No, because the of the verb "was". And the verb often saves the sentence from confusion.
Anyway, this joint possession issue certainly is one of the messy aspects of English.

 

[Kondorosi]

No, because the of the verb "was". And the verb often saves the sentence from confusion.

:up:

Anyway, this joint possession issue certainly is one of the messy aspects of English.

... and, unfortunately, not the only one and the messiest one, especially for a non-native speaker.