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Thread: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

  1. #1
    mrbin is offline Newbie
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    Default the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Dear English teachers
    What is the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends?
    regards

  2. #2
    JMurray is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    What is the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends?

    mrbin.
    Assuming that you have several friends, if she is "your friend" then she is also "one of your friends".

    not a teacher

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    billmcd is online now Key Member
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by mrbin View Post
    Dear English teachers
    What is the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends?
    regards
    She is my friend. You are speaking exclusively/only about one person. You might or might not have other friends.

    She is one of my friends. You are speaking about one of other friends you have.

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    mrbin is offline Newbie
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by billmcd View Post
    She is my friend. You are speaking exclusively/only about one person. You might or might not have other friends.

    She is one of my friends. You are speaking about one of other friends you have.
    thanks alot

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    sunsunmoon is offline Member
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    I didn't follow the links, and in case anyone else just looks at your list and thinks they are all okay, I need to say "A friend of mine's" is NOT okay. There is no such thing as "mine's" to indicated possession.

    EDIT: Please see Bob's post to show how this is an incorrect statement. I'd delete, but it's been quoted.
    Last edited by Barb_D; 24-Jun-2011 at 19:36.
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by Barb_D View Post
    I didn't follow the links, and in case anyone else just looks at your list and thinks they are all okay, I need to say "A friend of mine's" is NOT okay. There is no such thing as "mine's" to indicated possession.
    Unless the context is different:

    Mine is clearly bigger.
    Mine's clearly bigger.


    If I am not mistaken, of course.

  8. #8
    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by Offroad View Post
    Unless the context is different:

    Mine is clearly bigger.
    Mine's clearly bigger.


    If I am not mistaken, of course.
    "Mine + s" is not indicative of possession in the same way that "John + s" is. "Mine's" is simply short for "Mine is".

    We don't use "apostrophe + s" to indicate possession in the first person singular.

    Belonging to John = John's
    Belonging to Sarah = Sarah's
    Belonging to my brother = my brother's

    Belonging to me = my

  9. #9
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    BobK is offline Harmless drudge
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by emsr2d2 View Post
    "Mine + s" is not indicative of possession in the same way that "John + s" is. "Mine's" is simply short for "Mine is".

    We don't use "apostrophe + s" to indicate possession in the first person singular.

    ...
    That so? All this time I've been saying things like: 'My hair is short, but a friend of mine's is long'. I knew it was inelegant, but I've never thought of it as wrong... Who'da thunk it?

    b

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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

    Quote Originally Posted by BobK View Post
    That so? All this time I've been saying things like: 'My hair is short, but a friend of mine's is long'. I knew it was inelegant, but I've never thought of it as wrong... Who'da thunk it?

    b
    I should have made it clear that I was referring to the sentence "Mine's clearly bigger"! Your sentence has "mine's" followed by "is" and is used in a different context.

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