double genitive

[Vavie]

Hi! I'm a new member of this forum. I hope to not make too many mistakes.
My questions are:
1) Is it correct : Freddy’s New Year’s intention was to give up smoking.
2) Can I use this double genitive?
thank you

 

[Raymott]

1. "Freddy’s New Year’s resolution was to give up smoking." That's what we call it.
2. Yes

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

You could use a triple/quadruple genitive if it were necessary.

"Freddy’s friend's New Year’s resolution was to give up smoking."
"Freddy’s friend's wife's New Year’s resolution was to give up smoking."

It's perfectly correct but eventually gets awkward.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I wouldn't normally refer to that construction as a double genitive. The term "double genitive" is used to refer to using both types of genitive constructions for one word. Examples would be "a friend of John's (uses both "of" and the apostrophe s) or a friend of mine (uses "of" and a possessive pronoun). I have heard your construction referred to as serial possessives.