- My brother-in-law’s opinion;
- the commander-in-chief’s orders;
- the lady-in-waiting’s duties;
- the coal dealer’s prices;
- Edward VII’s reign;
- the King of England’s portrait;
- half a year’s delay;
- in three or four months’ time;
- a cable and a half’s length;
- the pleasure of Major Pendennis and Mr. Arthur Pendennis’s company (Thackeray).
Note. Noun-phrases often contain two substantives, the second of which is in apposition with the first. In such phrases, of is generally preferable to the possessive. Thus, we may say either “Tom the blacksmith’s daughter” or “the daughter of Tom the blacksmith”; but “the son of Mr. Hill the carpenter” is both neater and clearer than “Mr. Hill the carpenter’s son.” The use of ’s is also avoided with a very long phrase like “the owner of the house on the other side of the street.”
An objective may stand in apposition with a possessive, the latter being equivalent to of with an object. Thus,—“I am not yet of Percy’s mind [= of the mind of Percy], the Hotspur of the North” (Shakspere).
96. The noun denoting the object possessed is often omitted when it may be readily understood, especially in the predicate.
- Conant’s [shop] is open until noon.
- I buy my hats at Bryant’s [shop].
- We will dine at Pennock’s [restaurant].
- That camera is mine. (See [§ 122].)
This construction is common in such expressions as:—
- He was a relative of John’s.
- That careless tongue of John’s will get him into trouble.
In the first example, “a relative of John’s” means “a relative of (= from among) John’s relatives.” The second example shows an extension of this construction by analogy. See [§ 122].
Objective Case
97. The objective case, as its name implies, is the case of the object. Most of its uses are covered by the following rule:—