Apostrophe S

[d.george@uol.com.br]

Where does the apostrophe S come in, in a sentence with a proper noun and a common noun? Does it come in the first, second or in both nouns?

Which of the following sentences are correct?

1. Neusa's mother's name.
2. Neusa mother's name.
3. Neusa's mother name.


Thank You

 

[Horsa]

The first example is right

 

[Grablevskij]

It is clumsy, isn't it? I would say one shoule awoid two words with apostrophes in a row. Am I right?

Michael

 

[d.george@uol.com.br]

I Don't think it's "clumsy" to use a sequence of apostrophized words. The situation arises in our everyday use of the English language. You can avoid them in situations where the interlocutor bears a relationship with the said persons in his or her speech; then you can opt to identify the person with an accepted common noun - aunt, mother-in-law, sister-in-law etc. Just check this out! MY BROTHER HAS A FRIEND (WHOSE NAME I DON'T KNOW OR REMEMBER) WHO OWNS A COMPANY. How could I best say this in standard English? Help me out on this one, Mike!

 

[Grablevskij]

The company of my brother's friend.

I would replace the second apostrophized word with an of-phrase.

Michael

 

[cabledetached]

when speaking in a casual setting, i'd have no qualms about saying "my brother's friend's company", as long as the context helped to disambiguate the function of the apostrophe (ownership vs. place of employment).

in writing, i'd probably use "the company owned by my brother's friend".
"the company of my brother's friend" seems clumsy.

then again, i speak american english, so your mileage may vary;-).