[Grammar] the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends

Status
Not open for further replies.

mrbin

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Hebrew
Home Country
Israel
Current Location
Israel
Dear English teachers
What is the difference between she is my friend and she is one of my friends?
regards
 

JMurray

Key Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
New Zealand
Current Location
Australia
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
 

billmcd

Key Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
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.
 

mrbin

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Hebrew
Home Country
Israel
Current Location
Israel
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
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
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:

Offroad

Key Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Brazilian Portuguese
Home Country
Brazil
Current Location
Brazil
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.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
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
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
"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
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
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.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I know I changed the context, but it seemed to me that you were advancing a general rule ('We don't use "apostrophe + s" to indicate possession in the first person singular') - I questioned that (in case a student thought it was true in all contexts) ;-)

b
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I know I changed the context, but it seemed to me that you were advancing a general rule ('We don't use "apostrophe + s" to indicate possession in the first person singular') - I questioned that (in case a student thought it was true in all contexts) ;-)

b

You're right - my wording was atrocious in that post! Apologies. It should have said "We don't use etc etc in that way to indicate possession..."

Thanks for pointing it out. :)
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
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

You are right and my post was wrong.

Thanks for providing a good counter-example to my bald statement.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top