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Subject:Re: Possesive form of nouns From:Laurel Nelson <Laurel_Y_Nelson -at- NOTES -dot- SEAGATE -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 26 Jan 1999 09:13:29 -0600
David: Have you considered buying a good reference manual? If so, I
recommend *The Gregg Reference Manual* by William A. Sabin. This manual
covers everything. For instance, it devotes eight pages to forming
possessives. Some of the subheadings listed under Forming Possessives are:
Possession versus description
Singular nouns
Plural nouns
Compound nouns
Pronouns
Abbreviations
Personal and organizational names; titles
.........................
Under inanimate possessives, Sabin writes:
As a rule, nouns referring to inanimate things should not be in the
possessive. Use an *of* phrase instead.
Examples:
the bottom of the barrel (NOT: the barrel's bottom)
the wording of the agreement (NOT: the agreement's wording)
the lower level of the terminal (NOT: the terminal's lower level)
Hope this helps. I learned something too by reading this. Regards, Laurel
