possessive + gerund without pronoun











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I think I understand the possessive + gerund construct but in some cases I'm still finding it difficult to get it sound right in my head. I think this mostly has to do with the subject's being a noun/name and not a pronoun (the bold part is an example of this).



So, are these correct?




  • The notion of a body's having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father's being a Swiss citizen...


Or should I rather use these, which, right now, sound better to me?




  • The notion of a body having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father being a Swiss citizen...


But these I can more easily accept (though still awkward, maybe they are just not good examples):




  • The notion of my having a constant temperature...

  • Due to his being a Swiss citizen...


ETA: In case it's not clear, I'm not a native English speaker, so my feelings about what sounds good or not are not to be taken seriously ;)






grammar gerund-phrases







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  • 1




    The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
    – John Lawler
    1 hour ago

















up vote
0
down vote

favorite












I think I understand the possessive + gerund construct but in some cases I'm still finding it difficult to get it sound right in my head. I think this mostly has to do with the subject's being a noun/name and not a pronoun (the bold part is an example of this).



So, are these correct?




  • The notion of a body's having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father's being a Swiss citizen...


Or should I rather use these, which, right now, sound better to me?




  • The notion of a body having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father being a Swiss citizen...


But these I can more easily accept (though still awkward, maybe they are just not good examples):




  • The notion of my having a constant temperature...

  • Due to his being a Swiss citizen...


ETA: In case it's not clear, I'm not a native English speaker, so my feelings about what sounds good or not are not to be taken seriously ;)






grammar gerund-phrases







share|improve this question




















  • 1




    The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
    – John Lawler
    1 hour ago















up vote
0
down vote

favorite









up vote
0
down vote

favorite











I think I understand the possessive + gerund construct but in some cases I'm still finding it difficult to get it sound right in my head. I think this mostly has to do with the subject's being a noun/name and not a pronoun (the bold part is an example of this).



So, are these correct?




  • The notion of a body's having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father's being a Swiss citizen...


Or should I rather use these, which, right now, sound better to me?




  • The notion of a body having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father being a Swiss citizen...


But these I can more easily accept (though still awkward, maybe they are just not good examples):




  • The notion of my having a constant temperature...

  • Due to his being a Swiss citizen...


ETA: In case it's not clear, I'm not a native English speaker, so my feelings about what sounds good or not are not to be taken seriously ;)






grammar gerund-phrases







share|improve this question















I think I understand the possessive + gerund construct but in some cases I'm still finding it difficult to get it sound right in my head. I think this mostly has to do with the subject's being a noun/name and not a pronoun (the bold part is an example of this).



So, are these correct?




  • The notion of a body's having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father's being a Swiss citizen...


Or should I rather use these, which, right now, sound better to me?




  • The notion of a body having a constant temperature...

  • Due to my father being a Swiss citizen...


But these I can more easily accept (though still awkward, maybe they are just not good examples):




  • The notion of my having a constant temperature...

  • Due to his being a Swiss citizen...


ETA: In case it's not clear, I'm not a native English speaker, so my feelings about what sounds good or not are not to be taken seriously ;)






grammar gerund-phrases




grammar gerund-phrases






share|improve this question















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edited 1 hour ago

























asked 1 hour ago









Jellby

1033




1033








  • 1




    The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
    – John Lawler
    1 hour ago
















  • 1




    The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
    – John Lawler
    1 hour ago










1




1




The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
– John Lawler
1 hour ago






The choice between the ACC-ing complementizer (me having a constant temperature) and the POSS-ing complementizer (my having a constant temperature) is entirely optional and at the pleasure of the speaker. There is no grammatical difference between them -- as long as you don't use I, you can use any other first person pronoun -- and there is no meaning difference. Different people have different speech habits; follow your own. Oh, and there's no difference between pronoun and noun, either; again, different people will have different frequencies of use.
– John Lawler
1 hour ago












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I honestly toyed with a couple of ideas, and I have no idea how the two proposed phrases differ in meaning. They are both grammatically correct, and they both convey a nearly identical meaning. If there's a distinction, it's too subtle for me to notice. It's probably a complicated and altogether irrelevant linguistic curiosity rather than a concrete and applicable grammatical rule.






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    I honestly toyed with a couple of ideas, and I have no idea how the two proposed phrases differ in meaning. They are both grammatically correct, and they both convey a nearly identical meaning. If there's a distinction, it's too subtle for me to notice. It's probably a complicated and altogether irrelevant linguistic curiosity rather than a concrete and applicable grammatical rule.






    share|improve this answer








    New contributor




    Sam is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.






















      up vote
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      down vote













      I honestly toyed with a couple of ideas, and I have no idea how the two proposed phrases differ in meaning. They are both grammatically correct, and they both convey a nearly identical meaning. If there's a distinction, it's too subtle for me to notice. It's probably a complicated and altogether irrelevant linguistic curiosity rather than a concrete and applicable grammatical rule.






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Sam is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.




















        up vote
        0
        down vote










        up vote
        0
        down vote









        I honestly toyed with a couple of ideas, and I have no idea how the two proposed phrases differ in meaning. They are both grammatically correct, and they both convey a nearly identical meaning. If there's a distinction, it's too subtle for me to notice. It's probably a complicated and altogether irrelevant linguistic curiosity rather than a concrete and applicable grammatical rule.






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Sam is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        I honestly toyed with a couple of ideas, and I have no idea how the two proposed phrases differ in meaning. They are both grammatically correct, and they both convey a nearly identical meaning. If there's a distinction, it's too subtle for me to notice. It's probably a complicated and altogether irrelevant linguistic curiosity rather than a concrete and applicable grammatical rule.







        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Sam is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer






        New contributor




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        answered 1 hour ago









        Sam

        92




        92




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