a friend of John or a friend of John's?

[idiotmike]

Hello,

If I would say, he is a friend of John. which sentence below sounds more correct?

He is a friend of John?
He is a friend of John's?

If he friend of John's is more correct, why use a son of John, not son of John's?

Thank you

[hester.roodt]

Hi!

Unfortunately I cannot explain why, but the following is grammatically correct:

He is a friend of John.
He is John's friend.

He is the son of John. (very formal)
He is John's son.

I hope this has helped you.

[Raymott]

Hello,

If I would say, he is a friend of John. which sentence below sounds more correct?

He is a friend of John?
He is a friend of John's?

If he friend of John's is more correct, why use a son of John, not son of John's?

Thank you

I remember we had this debate a while back. Some people accept it, others don't.
To me, "a friends of John's" sounds natural.
Also it's analogous to "a friend of mine/yours/his etc." We don't say "She's a friend of me/you/him"