[e.] The "assumed" subject of an infinitive is in the objective case.
- Right: I wanted him to go. [Him to go is the group object of the verb wanted. To go, being an infinitive, cannot assert an action, and consequently cannot take a subject. But to go implies that something is at least capable of action. Him is the latent or assumed subject of the action implied in to go.]
- Right: Whom do you wish to be your leader? [Whom is the assumed subject of the infinitive to be.]
[f.] A noun or pronoun used to express possession is in the possessive case. Do not omit the apostrophe (See [97]) from nouns, or from the pronouns one's and other's. Most of the other possessive pronouns do not require an apostrophe.
- Right: The man's hair is gray.
- Right: The machine does its work well. [It's would mean it is.]
- Right: One should do one's duty.
[g.] A noun or pronoun linked with a gerund should be in the possessive case whenever the use of the objective case might cause confusion.
- Faulty: Is there any criticism of Arthur going?
- Right: Is there any criticism of Arthur's going?
- Right: I had not heard of his being sick.
- Right, but slightly less desirable: I had not heard of him being sick.
[Note.]—In other instances than those in which clearness is involved many good writers use the objective case with the gerund. But even in these instances most writers prefer the possessive case.
[h.] It is usually awkward and slightly illogical to attribute possession to inanimate objects.
- Awkward: The farm's management.
- Better: The management of the farm.
- Awkward: The stomach's lining.
- Better: The lining of the stomach.
[Note.]—Usage justifies many exceptions, particularly (1) expressions that involve time or measure, a day's work, a hair's breadth, a year's salary, a week's vacation, a cable's length; and (2) expressions that involve personification, explicit or implied, Reason's voice, the law's delay, for mercy's sake, the heart's desire, the tempest's breath.