[General] My dogs

[Kazuo]

Hello!

Are there any ways to refer to one of his or her dogs other than “one of my dogs, a dog of mine”?

Thanks

 

[mmasny]

'My dog' could do the job. But it doesn't stress the fact that there are more your dogs.

 

[Kazuo]

Hello!

I had been thinking “one of my …” and “a … of mine” were interchangeable.
But you seem to say it isn’t. On the Internet, there are many examples of sentences using that expression.
Is this perhaps a question of "good" English, "perfect" English, etc?

Thanks

 

[mmasny]

No, it's rather that 'a ... of mine' and 'my ...' are interchangeable. It may be counterintuitive, but that's how it is.

I am not a teacher.

 

[Kazuo]

Thank you for your reply.

I’m afraid that to say 'a ... of mine' and 'my ...' are interchangeable is overgeneralization.

Thanks

 

[mmasny]

I think even if it is generalization it's not very drastic. If I had just one friend I still could say:

It's a friend of mine.

Maybe it's not logical, but I believe no one would say it is wrong. But I can be wrong myself of course.

 

[Barb_D]

It is very strange that either "one of my friends" and "a friend of mine" sounds perfectly fine, but only "one of my dogs" sounds okay and that "a dog of mine" sounds a bit odd. Not ungrammatical -- just a bit odd.