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Hello,I have a question here.
What's the difference between "He is a friend of my father's" and "He is a friend of my father"?
I am not sure whether there is something wrong with the second sentence or not.
Thanks in advance for your help.
3 avr. 2022 15:47
Réponses · 3
4
There is no difference in meaning.
Both are correct, in spite of the fact that the apostrophe + 's' seems unnecessary/ superfluous.
Both are commonly used: at least when talking about people.
(So for example you would not say *"the legs of the table's"*, but: "the legs of the table".)
Why can you say both? Well there is a lot of debate about that among grammarians - but no really conclusive answer.
You can often find this type of 'double genitive', or 'double possessive' in English, going back to Shakespeare...
🙂
3 avril 2022
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1
Charlie is correct. Both are acceptable and convey the same meaning: this man is friends with your father.
3 avril 2022
first is not correct, second is. "father's" is possessive. You could say "He is a friend of my father's boss". Or, "He is my father's friend".
3 avril 2022
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Compétences linguistiques
Chinois (mandarin), Anglais
Langue étudiée
Anglais
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