Ally of

[tufguy]

"France is an ally of America's". Please check.

 

[bhaisahab]

"France is an ally of the USA."

 

[Skrej]

You'll commonly hear the OP's version as well, at least in spoken language.

 

[Tarheel]

But I wouldn't say "an ally of America's". Instead I would say "an ally of America". Also heard, of course, is "an American ally" or "a US ally".

 

[tufguy]

But why not America's? We say he is a friend of john's or a fan of tom cruise's.

 

[Tarheel]

See post #3.

 

[Tdol]

But why not America's? We say he is a friend of john's or a fan of tom cruise's.

We don't say that he is a fan of Tom Cruise's. We could say that he is a fan of Tom Cruise.

 

[tufguy]

But we say "He is a friend of john's" but why "He is a fan of Tom"?

 

[tufguy]

We say "He is a fan of tom" but we say "He is a friend of tom's". I am confused, it has also been told that my version is also used in spoken english like "France is an ally of america's".

 

[emsr2d2]

But why not America's? We say he is a friend of John's or a fan of Tom Cruise's.

But we say "He is a friend of John's"​. [STRIKE]but[/STRIKE] Why do we say "He is a fan of Tom"?

We say "He is a fan of Tom" but we say "He is a friend of Tom's". I am confused. [STRIKE]it has[/STRIKE] I have [STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] been told that my version is [STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] used in spoken English like "France is an ally of America's".

Tufguy, is the "Shift" key intermittently broken on your keyboard? You really must concentrate on your use of capitals.

 

[Tdol]

We say "He is a fan of tom" but we say "He is a friend of tom's". I am confused, it has also been told that my version is also used in spoken english like "France is an ally of america's".

John is probably also a friend, but Tom Cruise is unlikely to be a fan- there's no reciprocation.

 

[GoesStation]

We say "He is a fan of tom" but we say "He is a friend of tom's". I am confused, it has also been told that my version is also used in spoken english like "France is an ally of america's".

The usage "He is a friend of mine/yours/Tom's" is an oddity in English. We use the possessive after "a friend of" and other phrases involving amity like "a pal of" or "a buddy of." Some other types of phrases may allow this usage but I can't think of any at the moment. I don't think reciprocity has anything to do with it; rather, I think it's a fixed usage which you should memorize.

 

[tufguy]

Could you please elaborate. I am still confused, please tell where to use "'s" and where not to use it in these kind of formations and how to make sure that where we have to use it?

 

[Tarheel]

Well, if it's still confusing to you you can avoid it altogether. You can say:

I am Dave's friend.

OR

Dave is my friend.

OR

Dave and I are friends.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I prefer all of those to the original.

 

[tufguy]

We use "friend of mine" or "friend of my brother's" because of reciprocation both are friends to each other whereas interms of fan the person who is a fan of tom cruise is the only fan and tom has noghing fo do with it. Is it correcf?

 

[Tarheel]

Well, you don't need to use the possessive at all. I certainly don't. I would say:

Tom is my friend.