[Grammar] was denied his access

Status
Not open for further replies.

Oceanlike

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
Are both my sentences correct, using the proper noun (Erin)? I am unsure about using the apostrophe 's'.
I think it's correct when I use the pronoun.

- The club denied Erin access to its membership files.
OR The club denied Erin's access to its membership files.

- The club denied her access to its membership files.
 
Access was denied to Erin. I think the possessive, "apostrophe s", is optional.
 
So, the pattern in that context is deny somebody something or deny something to somebody.
 
They're both correct, but I think the second implies that Erin had once had access to these files.
 
The club denied Erin's access to its membership files.
That doesn't work for me. If you want to use "Erin's", then consider changing the verb to something like "blocked".
 
Are both my sentences correct, using the proper noun (Erin)? I am unsure about using the apostrophe 's'.
I think it's correct when I use the pronoun.

- The club denied Erin access to its membership files.

Good.

OR The club denied Erin's access to its membership files.

Bad.

- The club denied her access to its membership files.

Good.
An apostrophe in Erin's would tell us something belongs to her. It would mean something is Erin's. Something is hers. It's a possessive.

So in your sentence, that would not make sense.

The pronoun her is not a pronoun for Erin's. It's a pronoun for Erin:

- Who was denied access? Erin was denied access. She was denied access.

- Whom did they deny access to? They denied access to Erin. They denied access to her.​
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top