Following is two example sentences to exemplify my confusion in the use of possessive pronoun. (A comparison of charges between two shipping agents)
a. Globlelink’s rates are a bit higher than FTD’S.
We must use " 's " behind FTD, right? Otherwise, it won’t be grammatically correct?
b. The rates of Globlelink are a bit higher than those of FTD.
Can we write it like: The rates of Globlelink are a bit higher than FTD or The rates of Globlelink are a bit higher than FTD’s. And these two new sentences would still be grammatically correct?
I agree (a) and (b). A true comparison would have to be between similar things - ‘rates of Globelink’ would have to be compared with other ‘rates’ (FTD’s)
Can we say:
The rates of Globlelink are a bit higher than FTD’s.
Or the two structures at the beginning and end of the sentence must keep strictly the same, that is, it must be: The rates of Globlelink are a bit higher than those of FTD.
I understand what Alan said. In fact the second time of my post is about the two structures in the same sentence. Must they be strictly identical? For example:
We absolutely can say “A’s rate is higher than B’s”, but can we say “A’s rate is higher than that of B’s”? That is my question here.
This time your post is clearer to me. Well, to my knowledge and from what Alan said, I think “A’s rate is higher than that of B’s” is not correct, because it means A’s rate is higher than the rate of B’s rate. “That” stands for rate, and “B’s” stands for B’s rate or the rate of B.
Tortoise: that may happen in longer, more complex sentences; but in simple sentences I’d say it is all right to use both constructions, so long as there is no ambiguity. However, It is usually better to use the same construction twice if possible.
Just to confirm my understanding of your reply.
A’s rate is higher than B’s.
The rate of A is higher than that of B.
The above two sentences are perfectly right.
A’s rate is higher than that of B.
Strictly speaking, this sentence ,although causes no ambiguity, should be avoided.
Hi,
Please, help to understand the correct usage of pronoun: A few days ago, Davis, his wife Sarah and their children, Sam and Tom, moved into a new house. It was wonderful and its garden even had trees and a pond. The children were very happy to have their own bedrooms.
The question is Why do we need to use its garden, is it correct? Isn’t it better to say their garden?
Hello Marina, welcome to our forum and many thanks for you interesting question. The possessive adjective ‘its’ relates to the noun ‘garden’ and since ‘garden’ is not a living being we use ‘its’ rather than ‘their’. However, you are right in saying the garden also belongs to people (Davis, Sarah and their kids) so it’s also ‘their’ garden when speaking of Davis and his family. Please let me know if this makes sense.
Torsten, I’m sorry but your answer did not make much sense to me
Here “its” is a possessive pronoun referring to the house. In this sentence, the house has a garden, and the garden belongs to the house. “Its” in the sentence means: “It was wonderful and the house’s garden even had trees …”
As Marina says, the garden belongs to the family as well, so “their garden even had trees …” would also be correct. “Their” in the sentence means: “It was wonderful and the family’s garden even had trees …”
Ah, I need to spend more time when composing my messages Thank you very much for pointing this out. Yes, I meant to say that ‘its’ relates to the house of course.
That is interesting, I was never really taught the difference between a possessive adjective and possessive pronoun in this sense - they were all just referred to as “possessive pronouns”, thanks!
Thank you very much for pointing this out. Yes, I meant to say that ‘its’ relates to the house of course.