noun phrase OF noun phrase + possessive determiner

Point 52 in NOUNS/phrases is defined as:

POSSESSIVE ‘S WITHOUT NOUN

Complex noun phrases with:

noun phrase + ‘of’ + noun phrase + possessive determiner ‘s, omitting the noun where it is previously mentioned.

A Ted corpus search for

{nn} of {nn} * ‘s . 

She got only one sample of tissue that fit her criteria, and it was Thomas’s.

Well, the most promising answer comes from an old idea of Einstein’s.

It’s that pale blue dot of Carl Sagan’s.

Now, I thought it was because I have this totally compelling helmet crusade, this epiphany of Tom’s.

This is the first ever such experiment, sort of the optical equivalent of Galvani’s.

Bellotto was a student of Canaletto’s.

He or she can decide within a very limited amount of time, under great pressure, potentially, depending on the scenario, maybe based on a miscalculation or a misunderstanding, they can decide the fate of millions of lives: yours, mine, our community’s.


 

*I don’t believe the following example qualifies for this grammar because the ‘of phrase’ is not that which is referred to:

We have developed a comprehensive COVID-19 relief and recovery response for our community, that was surfaced from our community, focused on five primary areas of need, and already servicing families like Sean’s.

 


 

This is not a clearly explained point from the English Grammar Profile.  When we turn to the first example they give:

Our_APPGE after-sales_JJ team_NN1 now_RT is_VBZ perceived_VVN as_CSA faster_JJR ,_, more_RGR qualified_JJ ,_, friendlier_JJR and_CC more_RGR efficient_JJ than_CSN our_APPGE competitors_NN2 ‘_GE ._.

there is no ‘of’ in it.  Maybe they are saying that ‘of’ can be elipted as in ‘that of our competitors’.  The next examples they give is easier to understand:

your_APPGE hour_NNT1 of_IO peacefulness_NN1 might_VM considerably_RR differ_VVI from_II your_APPGE neighbours_NN2 ‘_GE ._.

a_AT1 student_NN1 ‘s_GE view_NN1 of_IO the_AT college_NN1 ,_, not_XX only_RR a_AT1
teacher_NN1 ‘s_GE ._.

In conclusion, this grammar point is very hard to locate.  We can try searching in iWeb for:

_N of _N _GE .

but it produces nothing but quite a useless set of data:

1 GAME OF THRONES ‘ . 122
2 RISK OF ALZHEIMER ‘S . 115
3 STAGES OF ALZHEIMER ‘S . 61
4 WAY OF LIFE ‘ . 57
5 SYMPTOMS OF PARKINSON ‘S . 52

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *