[Grammar] We don't approve of John/ John's buying this house.

[wotcha]

1. We don't approve of John buying this house.

2. We don't approve of John's buying this house.


One of my grammar books say sentence is correct but not 1, which is totally

different from what I know.


I wonder if my grammar book is wrong or not.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

NOT A TEACHER

1. We don't approve of John. We don't like John.
2. We don't approve of John's buying this house. We don't like what John does, in this case buying this house.

 

[charliedeut]

IMO, both are correct. If you rephrase them, it may be easier to understand:

We don't approve him/you buying the house.
We don't approve his/your buying the house.

 

[charliedeut]

NOT A TEACHER

1. We don't approve of John. We don't like John. I think you'rre modifying the meaning of the verb by leaving out relevant information. IMO, you'd be right if the original sentence ended there, but it doesn't.
2. We don't approve of John's buying this house. We don't like what John does, in this case buying this house.

charliedeut

 

[Tdol]

I wonder if my grammar book is wrong or not.

Traditional grammars prefer the use of the possessive, but most speakers use the object form. In formal language, it's probably better to use the possessive, but I would not agree that it is wrong to use the first- it goes against the real pattern of usage.