three cousins

[navi tasan]

Which are correct:

1) I met three cousins of John.
2) I met three cousins of John's.
Meaning: I met three of John's cousins.

3) Tim met the four cousins of John.
4) Tim met the four cousins of John's.
Meaning: Tim met John's four cousins.

Gratefully,
Navi.

 

[emsr2d2]

If John has only three cousins, say "Tim met John's three cousins". If he has more than three but Tim met only three of them, say "Tim met three of John's cousins".

 

[Tdol]

I agree with Emsr2d2, but 2) is OK to me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In both cases, the sentences you wrote as "Meaning" are superior to the others.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you all very much.

Yes, the meaning sentences are doubtlessly better.
But I saw a book, the title of which was:
Four Films of Woody Allen

https://books.google.com/books?id=B...ved=0ahUKEwiV-ITqm97KAhVLbD4KHRbtBsMQ6AEIMTAB

That was what brought the questions up in my head.

I don't think the title of the book could be considered wrong. I don't suppose 'Four of Woody Allen's Films' would be a good title. But would 'four films of Woody Allen' work in a normal sentence?

A) I have seen four films of Woody Allen.

It doesn't sound too good, I guess.

In any case, that was where the question came from.

Gratefully,
Navi.

 

[Tarheel]

"Four of Woody Allen's films"would work better for a normal sentence, but the other would be okay for a title.

 

[allenman]

Not a teacher

I can tell you that as a native we say "I met three cousins of John's" in normal speaking. Is this correct? By ear, yes. By grammatical analysis? -- someone here will prove me wrong. It may just be that the that sound "John's" is more due to the way we speak. Abruptly cutting off the sound "of John" is harsh.

Are there other ways to say it? Of course, those have been presented above. But do we say them that way? Hardly ever.

Hope that helps.