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Heavenletter #4967 Pennies from Heaven

Posted May 17th, 2014 by Luus

Dear Gloria,

Is: "... your beloved one's having moved ... " in the following paragraph correct? It seems to be it is not, but I may be mistaken.

Even if what you face is your beloved one’s having moved on from Earth, your difficulty is not that your loved one’s body died. Your difficulty lies in your aching and mourning for your loved one, beloveds. This, that which is called death, you see as loss, and you see it as heartache. All the while, there is more for you to see than a loved one stolen from you.

Thanks.
Luus

‹ Heavenletter #4971 Who What When Where Why? May 17th Heavenletter ›

Hi Luus~ This one is a real

On May 18th, 2014 Charles Fi... says:

Hi Luus~ This one is a real puzzler to me. It sounds okay but it doesn't look right. This might take the grammar lady to solve. I'm thinking that "one's" is what Gloria actually heard and it does seem to be acting like a possessive. but it just looks strange. No doubt there is a name for this usage but I have no idea what it is unless possibly a gerund.

The problem for me may be that it is way more formal than I would ever use. I would say "Even if what you face is your beloved one having moved on . . ." without the apostrophe-s. It may indeed be correct as is. Gloria can decide.

You both are so kind!

On May 18th, 2014 Gloria Wen... says:

You both are so kind! Charles, you are right, one's is more formal. And Luus, you are right too that because it is not always used, it does sound strange.

I do believe that one's is meant to be possessive. We have no objection to using your in such a case. Your is possessive. It doesn't require an apostrophe s, however.

The usage as given here is not commonly used. I suspect it is on its way out.

Charles, you make me smile! Gerunds I know well. To the best of my knowledge, gerunds always end in ing. Now, why gerunds are not simply called i-n-g words in English, I don't know.

Did you two happen to see the recent blog about language. You might be interested in the blog called Asparagus. Very young children are absorbing grammar rules of language without knowing the word grammar, of course.

Love you, Gloria

Gloria, "having" is an "ing"

On May 19th, 2014 Charles Fi... says:

Gloria, "having" is an "ing" word but I have no idea whether its a gerund. Not enough time to look it up, not that time exists, of course.

Of course, you're right. It

On May 19th, 2014 Gloria Wen... says:

Of course, you're right. It depends. You found me out!