Dear Readers,
What is a possessive adjective? It is a word that describes the noun that follows it. It tells us who owns (or possesses) that noun by relating the subject or owner to the noun. Follow the below chart:
SUBJECT/OWNER POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE + NOUN
I my cat
you your dog
he his house
she her car
it its roof
we our children
they their parents
I bring this up because lately I have come upon a few cases where either the wrong possessive adjective was used or an entirely wrong word was used in the adjective's place. Let me give you some examples.
Example: In the "Royal Pains" episode entitled "Imperfect Storm", Hank Lawson is a concierge doctor working in the Hamptons. He meets with a new patient and wants to leave his agreement with her but doesn't have one with him so he says, "I'll just have my business partner person get back to you with one." The new patient asks, "What's their name?" Since the reference is the business partner, and it is not clear whether the partner is male or female, the possessive adjective should be his or her, but it should never be their.
Example: On the TV show "King and Maxwell", the titular characters are former U.S. Secret Service agents turned private investigators. During the episode entitled "Loved Ones", one of the investigators explains to a colleague, "Every agent plays their part." Once again, the reference is agent without it being clear if that agent is male or female. The writers, wanting to be politically correct and not wanting to offend anyone, don't know what to say, so they have the character say their instead of his or her. It used to be perfectly ok to use the male reference when gender was unknown, but not any more. Now people think that it's better to use an awkward possessive adjective than to sound sexist. Personally, I would not be offended if writers were to use correct English.
Example: Queen Latifah's character, Vi Rose, in the 2012 film "Joyful Noise", defends her life choices to her sassy daughter's criticisms. She says, "I work hard to put food in you and your brother's stomachs..." In the first example, she did not even use a possessive adjective at all but rather the subject pronoun you. In the second example, the correct possessive adjective was used.
What would have been the correct phrase? "... in your and your brother's stomach." [Note that "stomach" should actually be singular because each of us has only one stomach.] But writers don't always take the best path, do they?
Read the following examples. I was aghast at how incorrect they were. I hope you feel the same way.
Example: On the February 8, 2013 airing of "Shark Tank", a potential entrepreneur of My Cold Snap explains to the sharks, "Carlos and I's goal is to move this thing forward." I am pretty sure he meant to say, "Carlos' and my goal..." Right? Perhaps even better would have been to say, "Our goal ..."
Example: The titular character on the TV show "Whitney" lives with her boyfriend Alex. In the episode entitled "Two Broke Hearts", Alex's ex-girlfriend is visiting. While there, she is texting Alex's mother. He begs her to stop because his mom is "confused enough about Whitney and I's relationship as it is." What would be better: "Whitney's and my relationship... " Come on, writers.
Example: During an off-camera interview, Arie (a suitor of Bachelorette Emily Maynard) says to the camera, "Today was a huge step in Emily and I's relationship."
Example: Bachelor Ben Flajnik was heard saying, "Courtney and I's relationship ..." I guess it's a Bachelor thing to speak improperly and ignorantly. Maybe this is why the relationships never last.
Since when is it ok to make the subject pronoun I into a possessive adjective by adding 's ?
That is just SO wrong it actually made me laugh.
Now for some examples of good writing and good use of the possessive adjectives.
Example: Jim Fergus wrote the novel One Thousand White Women. The fictional diary of May Dodd is introduced by one of her descendants. He writes, "This was the story that fueled my and my brother Jimmy's imaginations." Excellent writing.
Example: On the TV show "Nashville", Teddy Conrad is the newly elected mayor. Tandy, his sister-in-law and political advisor, has been meddling. He rants, "Let's just get something straight right now. None of this...not whom I appoint or who I talk to over the phone is your or your father's business. OK?" This is similar to Queen Latifah's rant, only ranted correctly.
Example: In the episode "The Surrogate" of TV's "Rules of Engagement", betrothed Adam is upset with his friend Russell's derision at Adam and Jen's wedding website. He storms into Russell's office and declares, "Now, that website was dedicated to the most important day of Jen's and my life and you are going to stop your tasteless jokes." Bravo to the writers of this sit-com.
Well, Readers, I leave it to your discretion as to whether or not you find the possessive adjectives as important as I do.
