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How to Write Compound Possessives with Pronouns

By Erin Wright 10 Comments

Image of Windy the Cairn Terrier | How to Write Compound Possessives with PronounsToday’s post explores compound possessives with pronouns. For example, is Windy the cairn terrier Doug and my dog, Doug’s and my dog, or Doug and I’s dog?

Before we answer this intriguing question of canine custody, we’ll define compound possessives and then look at how to write them in a sentence with pronouns.

What Are Compound Possessives?

Compound possessives, also called joint possessives, occur when two or more nouns (usually names) share ownership of something.1 Compound possessives can also include one or more pronouns instead of nouns.

Compound Possessive: Mr. Heckle and Mr. Jeckle’s cat tree is in the living room. (Mr. Heckle and Mr. Jeckle share one cat tree.)

Compound Possessive with a Pronoun: John’s and her car is in the driveway. (John and a woman, indicated by the pronoun her, share one car.)

Important Reminder: When using a nonpersonal pronoun (e.g., he, his, she, her, they, their, it), ensure that the pronoun is identified earlier in the content. For example: “Do you know where Kate is? No, but John’s and her car is in the driveway.”

How to Write Compound Possessives with Pronouns

Possession is usually indicated by attaching an apostrophe s to a noun. However, only contracted pronouns (e.g., it’s for it is) end with an apostrophe s.

To show pronoun ownership, we rely on the possessive forms, such as my, mine, his, her, hers, their, theirs, our, ours, and its.

So, if we return to the question of Windy the Cairn terrier’s ownership, we can eliminate Doug and I’s dog as a possible option because I isn’t a possessive pronoun.

Now we are left with Doug and my dog versus Doug’s and my dog.

When combining nouns and pronouns in compound possession, attach an apostrophe s to each noun.2 In this case, the noun is the name Doug.

Therefore, the correct format is Doug’s and my dog.

By attaching an apostrophe s to each noun, we avoid awkward sentences like “Doug and my dog Windy rolled in the grass,” which could mistakenly be interpreted as “Doug, and a dog named Windy that I own independently, both rolled in the grass.”

Of course, we all know that no one actually owns a dog—dogs own us!

Further Reading: You and I versus You and Me: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

References

  1. “Possessives and Attributives,” Style Q&A, The Chicago Manual of Style Online, accessed October 21, 2018, http://bit.ly/2OFsUEq.
  2. William A. Sabin, The Gregg Reference Manual, 11th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011), 643.

10 Comments Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: grammar, usage

Home » How to Write Compound Possessives with Pronouns

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Technical Writer and Editor Erin WrightHello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares step-by-step software tutorials and writing tips for the real world on this blog and YouTube

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Comments

  1. Lisa says

    September 28, 2012 at 7:01 am

    I hope Doug’s wife is able to get the grass stains out of his clothes, after all that rolling in the grass! Great post.

    Reply
  2. Erin says

    September 28, 2012 at 8:06 am

    Thank you, Lisa! That crazy Doug goes through a lot of Tide, haha!

    Reply
  3. Holly says

    October 16, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    I am seriously so tickled at “Doug and my dog Windy rolled in the grass.” I have a case of the giggles. Hopefully it will help me remember to use the name and pronoun correctly!

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      October 18, 2017 at 6:36 am

      I am glad you found their antics helpful! :)

      Reply
  4. Ravindra says

    December 15, 2018 at 8:54 am

    Which is correct: “Your and Mary’s cars have been stolen” or “Yours and Mary’s cars have been stolen”

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      December 19, 2018 at 7:08 am

      Thank you for reading my blog. I would write that sentence as “Mary’s and your cars […]”

      Reply
      • Christopher Garvey says

        July 23, 2020 at 1:01 am

        Thank you for this clarification!

        Is there an unavoidable ambiguity when working with possessive pronouns and distinguishing between separate or joint ownership?

        Doug and Mary’s children are in the yard. (joint ownership)
        Doug’s and Mary’s children are in the yard. (separate ownership)

        but

        Doug’s and her children are in the yard. (ambiguous?)

        I know there are ways to reword a sentence to be clear, but is this simple case the only grammatical option for both joint and separate ownership and impossible to make explicit?

        Reply
        • Erin Wright says

          July 24, 2020 at 10:55 am

          Thank you for visiting my blog! I do believe your last example is difficult, if not impossible, to make explicit. So, I’m afraid rewriting may be the only option.

          Reply
  5. Carrie Taylor says

    November 23, 2020 at 8:44 am

    Help please! I am trying to make a custom shirt. I currently have requested “Jake and Jack’s mom” which I though was correct, but now I have doubts and am wondering if it should say “Jake’s and Jack’s mom”

    I could say “Mom to Jake and Jack” but that sounds a little too formal for this fun shirt…

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      November 23, 2020 at 11:02 am

      Thank you for reading my blog! I would stick with the joint possessive “Jake and Jack’s mom.” In this case, Jake would only need an apostrophe s if he preceded a pronoun (e.g., Jake’s and his mom). Best of luck!

      Reply

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