Since this is a writing board, I thought I might regularly post a few grammatical and stylistic pointers that arise from common errors that I see on the board. I am not singling out anybody. No names, no links, just some things to serve as teaching examples. How long will I do this? I don't know. If people feel that it is beneficial, I will continue.
Grammar/Style Tip of the Day
ORIGINAL:
I was basing my character's dialogue off of several different writer's material.
CORRECT:
I was basing my character's dialogue on several different writers' material.
DISCUSSION:
(1) Correct preposition: *on*.
(2) Possessive noun:
Grammar/Style Tip of the Day
ORIGINAL:
I was basing my character's dialogue off of several different writer's material.
CORRECT:
I was basing my character's dialogue on several different writers' material.
DISCUSSION:
(1) Correct preposition: *on*.
(2) Possessive noun:
The form *writer's* is the possessive of a single writer. If you are talking about more than one writer, the plural is *writers* and the possessive is *writers'*. Think of the meaning. You are really saying *material of several different writers*.
To form the plural possessive:
To form the plural possessive:
- First make the noun plural.
- If the plural ends in *s*, then add an apostrophe after the *s*: writers (plural), writers' (plural possessive).
- If the plural does not end in *s*, then you add *'s* to the word, as in: men, men's; children, children's.
The singular possessive is usually easy. You just add *'s* to the singular noun in most cases. If the singular already ends in *s* or an s-sound (Jesus, Moses, Laos, France, Francis, Sophocles, Gladys), the situation is a little more complex. I will save that discussion for another time.
In the example, the writer used *character's*, which wold be the singular possessive. However, I think he really meant the plural, not the singular, and the form should have been *characters'*. If I am right in my assumption, then the meaning of the sentence was:
I was basing the dialogue of my characters on material from several different writers.
Sometimes the best way to handle the possessive, to avoid ambiguity, is to use the form *of + noun* instead of trying to make a possessive of the noun. This is what I did in my recasting of the sentence above.
In the example, the writer used *character's*, which wold be the singular possessive. However, I think he really meant the plural, not the singular, and the form should have been *characters'*. If I am right in my assumption, then the meaning of the sentence was:
I was basing the dialogue of my characters on material from several different writers.
Sometimes the best way to handle the possessive, to avoid ambiguity, is to use the form *of + noun* instead of trying to make a possessive of the noun. This is what I did in my recasting of the sentence above.
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