# Grammar - possessive usage with pronouns in a series?



## RangerWickett (Mar 20, 2008)

If Andrew and Trey and I share a house, and I invite people over to it, should I say, "Come over to Andrew, Trey, and my house" or "Come over to me, Andrew, and Trey's house" or "Come over to Andrew's, Trey's, and my house", or something different?


----------



## Ferret (Mar 20, 2008)

I've often wanted a 'version' or our that has the same vous/tu distinction where the our can include the person you're talking to, and one where it doesn't.

Also, they aren't Pronouns, they are Proper Nouns. Regardless, I'd say, "Come over" or "Come over to ours". Sort of gets past that problem, saying so many names doesn't sound right.


----------



## GlassJaw (Mar 20, 2008)

I'm pretty sure this is acceptable:

"Come over to me, Andrew, and Trey's house"


----------



## Bullgrit (Mar 20, 2008)

Being grammatically technical, you say it the same way as if you were saying just one name.

"Come over to Andrew's house."

"Come over to Trey's house."

"Come over to my house."

"Come over to Andrew's, Trey's, and my house."

But when one would actually speak the sentence, it probably wouldn't come out that way because it's too awkward on the tongue. Probably would sound like, "Come over to Andrew, Trey's, and my house."

I'd suggest just saying, "Come over to our house."

Bullgrit


----------



## RangerWickett (Mar 20, 2008)

Ferret said:
			
		

> Also, they aren't Pronouns, they are Proper Nouns. Regardless, I'd say, "Come over" or "Come over to ours". Sort of gets past that problem, saying so many names doesn't sound right.




Ah, my bad.

When I originally thought up the dilemma, I was think of 'his' and 'my'. Like, "We went to Tom and his place." His and Tom's place? They're place.


----------



## Jesus_marley (Mar 20, 2008)

I would simply say 

"Come on over. Bring beer."


----------



## Tewligan (Mar 20, 2008)

Jesus_marley said:
			
		

> I would simply say
> 
> "Come on over. Bring beer."



This. Or, just say "Come over to my house." Andrew and Trey can go to hell. Especially Trey, because I don't like his name.


----------



## Umbran (Mar 20, 2008)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> When I originally thought up the dilemma, I was think of 'his' and 'my'. Like, "We went to Tom and his place." His and Tom's place? They're place.




The easy construction would be, "We went to their place."  

Bullgrit's construction still holds - if you want to mention the names explicitly, you build it up mentioning each if you were talking about them singly:

"We went to Bill's place."

"We went to his place."

Gets us...

"We went to Bill's, Tom's, and his place."


----------



## Stormborn (Mar 21, 2008)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> If Andrew and Trey and I share a house, and I invite people over to it, should I say, "Come over to Andrew, Trey, and my house" or "Come over to me, Andrew, and Trey's house" or "Come over to Andrew's, Trey's, and my house", or something different?





According to my wife Editrix the Grammar Girl (but one of her guises), a not so mild mannered Creative Services Director for a small southeastern university,  the most correct choice is "Come over to Andew, Trey, and my house."  Since the series ends in a possessive pronoun  no 's is needed.

She quoted to me from _The Little, Brown Handbook _ "when two or more words show individual possession, add 's to them all.  If they show joint possession, add 's only to the last word."  Which is supported by the _Chicago Manual of Style _ (15th Edition)

She added that the construction "I went over to Bill, Tom, and his place"  would not convey the intended meaning, because typically a pronoun refers back to the closest proper noun.  Thus the sentence just said "I went over to Bill, Tom, and Tom's place."  So it would be best to change the pronoun to a proper noun for clarity.  "I went to Bill, Tom, and John's place."

Treating the possessives seperately as in "I went to Bill's, Tom's, and John's place"  actually means that the subject went to three seperate locations.   

She always amazes me with this kinda stuff.


----------



## Jesus_marley (Mar 21, 2008)

That's all well and good but did they bring the beer?


----------



## Relique du Madde (Mar 21, 2008)

Jesus_marley said:
			
		

> That's all well and good but did they bring the beer?




What about the food?  Are they going to bring some, after all I paid for their broke asses last night when we went out to eat.


----------



## Jdvn1 (Mar 22, 2008)

Stormborn said:
			
		

> According to my wife Editrix the Grammar Girl (but one of her guises), a not so mild mannered Creative Services Director for a small southeastern university,  the most correct choice is "Come over to Andew, Trey, and my house."  Since the series ends in a possessive pronoun  no 's is needed.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...



_The Little, Brown Handbook _is a great guide, and your wife is spot on. I just wanted to add that "I went to Bill's, Tom's, and John's place" is actually still a bit ambiguous, as "place" would have to be "places" to clearly refer to three separate locations.


----------

