TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Years of experience From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Mon, 3 Mar 1997 10:24:07 -0600
I had stated <<Grammatically, it would probably be "2
years' experience" because, as others have noted, it is
"the experience of [possessed by] two years".>>
To which John Ahlstrom responded <<How in the name of all
the angels (idiomatic emphatic) can a year possess
anything?>>
I replied to John off-list to note that years can possess
duration, quality (e.g., a good year), etc., but that he
was right that I was being a bit imprecise in attributing
ownership to a year. John pointed out that what I was
really getting at is the "genetive case", which relates
both to possession and the _source_ of the comment. The
genetive specifically describes things such as "years of
experience" (the "of" is the clue); genetives seem to be
something of an old usage, but represent an interesting
historical-grammatical note on this discussion.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
