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Old 10-Oct-2004, 10:47
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Default possessive word

Which is more correct? "I was five days' walk from..." or "I was five days walk from..."
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Old 11-Oct-2004, 04:27
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Hi, this is what I can think of. Hope that helps. :)

(1)It took me five days to walk from here to there.
(2)It took a five day walk from here to there.
(3)It took five days' walk from here to there.
(4)It took five days walking from here to there.


I see two versions of this,
Two cents worth and two cents' worth, which one would you use? :wink:
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Old 11-Oct-2004, 04:40
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Default Re: possessive word

Quote:
Originally Posted by J Lynch
Which is more correct? "I was five days' walk from..." or "I was five days walk from..."
What about?

It was a five-day walk from... (Adjective)
I was five days away from... (Adjective + Noun)

Note, five-minute walk, not five-minutes walk. :wink:
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Old 11-Oct-2004, 08:58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacknomi
Hi, this is what I can think of. Hope that helps. :)

(1)It took me five days to walk from here to there.
(2)It took a five day walk from here to there.
(3)It took five days' walk from here to there.
(4)It took five days walking from here to there.


I see two versions of this,
Two cents worth and two cents' worth, which one would you use? :wink:
What about this one? Any comment?
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Old 11-Oct-2004, 10:57
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(1)It took me five days to walk from here to there. :D
(2)It took a five day walk from here to there. :D
(3)It took five days' walk from here to there. :(
(4)It took five days walking from here to there. :(

In (3) 'five days' functions as an adjective, so the apostrophe is not required. As a noun: five-days of a walk, 'of a' is required. In (4), an infintive is required: "It took us five days to walk from here to there." As a modifier -ing is OK: "It took us five days, walking from here to there, to get there.

All the best, :D
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