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Karasu
Which is correct? picture of yours/you I want to say "You look different from the picture of yours/you"
Which is correct? Please advise..
Jun 4, 2019 4:47 AM
Comments · 15
6
They are both correct, but have different meanings. In your example, it should be “a picture of you”. In real life, I would not use either one in your case; I’d simply say “you look different from your picture.” Although it could mean either “a picture of you” or “a picture of yours”, the meaning is obvious in context. 

As far as the two phrases that you asked about:

1. A picture of you = a picture representing you, depicting you, a picture in which you appear.

2. A picture of yours = a picture that you own — it may represent absolutely anything, for example, your brother, your cat, someone else’s car, the White House Rose Garden — whatever.

June 4, 2019
3

 "You look different than you do in your picture."

I would guess that maybe 90% of the American population would say this.  I tend to say different from.

"You look different from how you look in the photo."

I use than in comparisons:

"You look far more beautiful than you do in your photo."

But as I said, most Americans would say than in the original sentence.

So is it correct?  Hmmm.   Most of the American population would tell you "Lay down!" instead of "Lie down!"    If millions of people use it incorrectly for long enough, does it become correct?

June 4, 2019
2
"partitive"
Phil, as in
a [one] friend of his [many freinds]
?

P.S. I also suspect that when M.L. King says "I have a dream" it is a dream of his, not a dream of him.
June 4, 2019
2
Alf, usually "of" is used with "him". E.g. "because of him/you".
"a picture of him" (Phil's sense 1)

But I think in the sense of owning it becomes "of his": 
"a picture of his" (Phil's sense 2)
"a friend of his"  (Phil's sense 2)

June 4, 2019
2
Yes, Alf, it is always “friends of mine”. We use the short form “my” before the noun it modifies (along with any adjectives). Otherwise, we use the long form “mine”. The same with her / hers, etc. While natives never say “friends of me”, you will often hear people say “friends of John” instead of the correct (according to the prescriptive grammar) “friends of John’s”. This is supposedly a sort of partitive, although to be honest, it doesn't really seem to make much sense in the context of English grammar.

June 4, 2019
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Karasu
Language Skills
English, Japanese
Learning Language
English
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