Seeds of flowers

[Sweatpea]

I am writing about the seeds (of one type of flower) I got from my friend. How should I say?

1) the seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

2) the seeds of flowers my friend gave me

3) seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

3) the seeds of a flower my friend gave me (because it is only one kind of a flower)


Thank you,

Sweet pea

 

[crazYgeeK]

I think you should use the sentence "the seeds of flower my friend gave me" or "the flower seeds my friend gave me". These sentences say about "the seeds" and don't care about what species/race of flower they are.
I don't know "the seeds of a flower" can express whether well or not. I think we need some teachers to help.
Thank you !

 

[apiz]

I am writing about the seeds (of one type of flower) I got from my friend. How should I say?

1) the seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

2) the seeds of flowers my friend gave me

3) seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

3) the seeds of a flower my friend gave me (because it is only one kind of a flower)


Thank you,

Sweet pea

The first thing is you must know how to use Possessive. Flower is a living thing.So we can use Possessive Case in this problem.

I would prefer:
1) The flower's seeds that my friend gave me.
( It refers to one kind of flower only)
2) The flowers' seeds that my friends gave me.
( It refers to more than one flower here.)

The usage of Possessive here means those seeds belong to the flower/s.

For Singular Noun, it must be " noun + 's"
For Plural Noun, it must be " noun + s' "

But you must remember that you can use Possessive for Living Things only.

P/S: Correct me if I am wrong. I'm a learning teacher.;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

I would only ever say 'The flower seeds my friend gave me.'

But you must remember that you can use the possessive for living things only.

Not so, Apiz. 'The driver was killed when his car's brakes failed' is just fine.

Rover

 

[emsr2d2]

I would only ever say 'The flower seeds my friend gave me.'

Rover

I agree.

 

[BobK]

I am writing about the seeds (of one type of flower) I got from my friend. How should I say?

1) the seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

2) the seeds of flowers my friend gave me

3) seeds of the flowers my friend gave me

4) the seeds of a flower my friend gave me (because it is only one kind of a flower)


Thank you,

Sweet pea

You could use any of these (though 2 implies a strange habit - 'over the years I collected the seeds from flowers she gave me [at various times]'). You could not (as CrazyGeek suggested) write 'the seeds of flower'. ;-)

I don't really understand the popularity of 'flower seeds'. To me that implies that your friend gave you seeds (having collected or bought them as seeds). If s/he gave me a flower, and I collected seeds from it, I'd use "of" or "from".

 

[emsr2d2]

You could use any of these (though 2 implies a strange habit - 'over the years I collected the seeds from flowers she gave me [at various times]'). You could not (as CrazyGeek suggested) write 'the seeds of flower'. ;-)

I don't really understand the popularity of 'flower seeds'. To me that implies that your friend gave you seeds (having collected or bought them as seeds). If s/he gave me a flower, and I collected seeds from it, I'd use "of" or "from".

But the original post said "I am writing about the seeds ... I got from my friend." It said "of one type of flower" in brackets so I was under the impression that the friend only gave him/her the seeds.

 

[BobK]

Yes. I don't think my assumption was the most likely one, but it's the one I made!

b

 

[Sweatpea]

Thank you, teachers. You are all so nice. I now feel like studying English harder than ever.

The reason I posted my question is this.

A friend of mine gave me the seeds she collected from a plant. I sowed them in my garden and enjoyed the flowers which bloomed profusely in spring. Now, I want to share the seeds with other friend of mine. Writing her a letter, I wondered what is the right way to say about the seeds. If I wrote, "Here are the seeds of the flowers, which I got from so and so", I might make her believe that the seeds came from more than one type of flowers. If I wrote 'the seeds of a flower', I might make her believe that the seed came from a piece of flower. The word 'flower'' is so tricky, isn't it? It is a countable noun, but almost like a uncountable. To avoid confusion, I will just say 'the seeds from a plant which flowers profusely'.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'd still say 'Here are some flower seeds. . . .'

Or I'd probably be more specific:

'Here are some sweet pea seeds. . . .'

Rover

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd still say 'Here are some flower seeds. . . .'

Or I'd probably be more specific:

'Here are some sweet pea seeds. . . .'

Rover

Again, I'm with you.

"Here are some flower seeds for you. A friend gave me some seeds a little while ago and the plant is flowering beautifully so I thought you might enjoy them too..."

 

[BobK]

:up: Just the thing! ;-)

b

 

[crazYgeeK]

I think "the flower seeds" is so fine. I wonder is there corresponding adjective to the noun "flower". If there is, can we use it instead of "flower" in "the flower seeds" ?
Thank you so much !

 

[Rover_KE]

I think "the flower seeds" is so fine. I wonder is there corresponding adjective to the noun "flower". If there is, can we use it instead of "flower" in "the flower seeds" ?
Thank you so much !

'Flowery' and 'floral' are adjectives connected to 'flower', but neither can replace 'flower' here.

'Flower seeds' is just about perfect. There's no need to complicate it.

Rover

 

[apiz]

I would only ever say 'The flower seeds my friend gave me.'



Not so, Apiz. 'The driver was killed when his car's brakes failed' is just fine.

Rover

What is the difference between "flower seeds" and "flower's seeds"?

 

[Rover_KE]

What is the difference between "flower seeds" and "flower's seeds"?

The first is more colloquial. 'Flower' is an example of a noun used attributively (like an adjective).

Compare the difference between brain function and brain's function.

Rover