One of the most. Avoid beginning essays or paragraphs with this formula, as, “One of the most interesting developments of modern science is, etc.;” “Switzerland is one of the most interesting countries of Europe.” There is nothing wrong in this; it is simply threadbare and forcible-feeble.
A common blunder is to use a singular verb in a relative clause following this or a similar expression, when the relative is the subject.
| One of the ablest men that has attacked this problem. | One of the ablest men that have attacked this problem. |
Participle for verbal noun.
| Do you mind me asking a question? | Do you mind my asking a question? |
| There was little prospect of the Senate accepting even this compromise. | There was little prospect of the Senate's accepting even this compromise. |
In the left-hand column, asking and accepting are present participles; in the right-hand column, they are verbal nouns (gerunds). The construction shown in the left-hand column is occasionally found, and has its defenders. Yet it is easy to see that the second sentence has to do not with a prospect of the Senate, but with a prospect of accepting. In this example, at least, the construction is plainly illogical.
As the authors of The King's English point out, there are sentences apparently, but not really, of this type, in which the possessive is not called for.
I cannot imagine Lincoln refusing his assent to this measure.
In this sentence, what the writer cannot imagine is Lincoln himself, in the act of refusing his assent. Yet the meaning would be virtually the same, except for a slight loss of vividness, if he had written,