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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 2 of 3 1 2 3 Post deleted by Wordwind #91744 01/13/03 10:52 PM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... W Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: An apostrophic problem #91745 01/13/03 11:41 PM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 508 Metro Detroit (MI) N nancyk addict nancyk addict N Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 508 Metro Detroit (MI) I cast my vote with TEd here. His explanation is the one that makes sense to me logically; however, I must admit "one of the partners' birthdays" to me makes more sense aurally. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: An apostrophic problem #91746 01/14/03 12:00 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York Aren't we all voting for the plural possessive? Am I missing something here? edit Oh, now I see. We're arguing about whether birthday should be singular or plural. I gotta think on that.... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: An apostrophic problem #91747 01/14/03 01:03 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 1. One of the partners' birthday was celebrated. 2. One of his was celebrated. The sense of the sentence is lost. It's lost because you changed the meaning. The correct 2. should be 2. His birthday was celebrated. His is replacing One of the partners' not the partners' birthday. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Post deleted by Wordwind #91748 01/14/03 01:03 AM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... W Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Let's face it, awkward is awkward #91749 01/14/03 01:07 AM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,561 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA W wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,561 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA always...recast the sentence for clarity said TEd R, umpteen posts above in flat mode. Hear, hear. Not to digress or anything, but somehow the original question brings to mind the futility of trying to understand the meaning of "the man who owned the lumbermill's daughter". (Probably it should have been the steel mill, because it sure needs re-casting.) It's an ambiguously written sentence, and it sounds wrong either way, and we oughtn't be arguing about which wrong way is the correct one! (Now did I mean the birthday sentence or the one I just quoted in blue...) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: An apostrophic problem #91750 01/14/03 01:09 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 The question here is whether One of is refering to one of the partners or one of the birthdays. One way out of the ambiguity is to recast the sentence as TEd suggested. The birthday of one of the partners was celebrated. One of the birthdays of the partners was celebrated. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter One of the partners' birthdays was celebrated #91751 01/14/03 01:17 AM Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 3,467 Marion NC TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 3,467 Marion NC DubDub: Your sentence differs dramatically from mine, and both are correct. (though mine's more correct than yours ) "One of the partners' birthdays was celebrated." Starts out as "One was celebrated." We don't know what it is yet that was celebrated, but when we add the main or primary modifier it becomes "One of the birthdays was celebrated." We know what was celebrated but we don't know whose. Then we add the secondary modifier and we have "One of the partners' birthdays was celebrated." My sentence was "Today is one of the partners' birthday." The basic sentence is "Today is birthday." Yup. Not much information. We add the primary modifier "Today is one's birthday", grammatically equivalent to "Today is the birthday of one." We know now that we're dealing with a specific person, but no information about who it is. Then add the secondary modifier and we have "Today is one of the partners' birthday" or Today is the birthday of one of the partners." What's tricky here is that in English that pesky apostrophe s can't stay with "one" where it belongs. Other languages use better constructions to make clear whom we are speaking of. I cannot remember the details after all these years, but I'm virtually certain that the same sentence in classical Latin would be completely unambiguous. I wish we had the ability to diagram sentences here. It'd be a lot clearer. But both your sentence and mine are correct, though it's my firm belief that passive voice should not be used by us. If you recast the sentence as "We celebrated one of the partners' birthdays" it becomes grammatically equal to the sentence I used. TEd TEd Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Whose birthday is it anyway? #91752 01/14/03 02:56 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta B Bingley OP Carpal Tunnel OP Bingley Carpal Tunnel B Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta If anyone cares, the original sentence was Today's one of the partners' birthday. How about the sentence, "I got a lift in one of the partners' car(s)." Can we differentiate between one (of the many) cars belonging to one (of the many) partners (cars), and one car belonging to one (of the many) partners (car)? Bingley Bingley Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: #91753 01/14/03 07:14 AM Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 122 Poland, Cracow R rav member rav member R Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 122 Poland, Cracow i lose myself :( Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Page 2 of 3 1 2 3 Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. 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