While you are here, can you tell me where you put the apostrophe in the possessive case for people whose surname ends in Z? Is it the same as names ending with S? Or not?
That was pretty much my thinking because the Z is kind of a half-S. I actually went away and did some research for once and what I found was that words ending with s, z, x, or ce generally use the same possessive case (just an apostrophe) but where there's a primary or secondary stress (i.e. substance), you may choose to add 's. Then there are a lot of special cases.
I've noticed many Spanish writers structure their sentences differently and it wouldn't be odd to say "The bicycle of Hugo Chávez".
The James family house is always one example I use. The Jameses' house looks odd compared to The James' house.
The reason for the Spanish writers using different structures to what we use is because their first language in this case Spanish influences their command of English, ie they use English words in Spanish word order. I speak Portuguese and even after ten years speaking it every day I still make some word order mistakes!
I know what you mean. I went out with a Brazilian girl for about six months and also had a Portuguese friend. Even with that level of exposure to the language, I still couldn't work it out. It's like when to use the ro- and po- prefix in Russians. A Russian once told me there's no rule; you just have to be Russian to know.
I can imagine just what you are saying - the portuguese grammar book is about five inches thick with the thinnest paper you have ever seen and all in fine print. Nobody but the highest level academics can understand it. Even the natives can't speak it correctly! English is far easier by comparision.
I think there must be some correlation between difficult grammar and being nice people. I like the Portuguese a lot. Finnish as a language is also one hell of a tough nut to crack. Really nice people, though.
There, their they're, your and you're
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While you are here, can you tell me where you put the apostrophe in the possessive case for people whose surname ends in Z? Is it the same as names ending with S? Or not?
Never had a good answer to this one.
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roxielilyrox
11 years ago
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Megid
11 years ago
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you have to cary on putting apostrophe. even though it sounds like an 's' it doesn't. so e.g. 'Chavez's bike' is correct :)
Mr. Chavez' bike.
Mr. Chavez's bike.
They both look fine to me. *shrug*
I think you could use Chavezes if you were referring to them as a family and not as an individual of that family in possessive form.
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Frosties
11 years ago
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That was pretty much my thinking because the Z is kind of a half-S. I actually went away and did some research for once and what I found was that words ending with s, z, x, or ce generally use the same possessive case (just an apostrophe) but where there's a primary or secondary stress (i.e. substance), you may choose to add 's. Then there are a lot of special cases.
I've noticed many Spanish writers structure their sentences differently and it wouldn't be odd to say "The bicycle of Hugo Chávez".
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bigtoy
11 years ago
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The James family house is always one example I use. The Jameses' house looks odd compared to The James' house.
The reason for the Spanish writers using different structures to what we use is because their first language in this case Spanish influences their command of English, ie they use English words in Spanish word order. I speak Portuguese and even after ten years speaking it every day I still make some word order mistakes!
--
Frosties
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I know what you mean. I went out with a Brazilian girl for about six months and also had a Portuguese friend. Even with that level of exposure to the language, I still couldn't work it out. It's like when to use the ro- and po- prefix in Russians. A Russian once told me there's no rule; you just have to be Russian to know.
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bigtoy
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I can imagine just what you are saying - the portuguese grammar book is about five inches thick with the thinnest paper you have ever seen and all in fine print. Nobody but the highest level academics can understand it. Even the natives can't speak it correctly! English is far easier by comparision.
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Frosties
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I think there must be some correlation between difficult grammar and being nice people. I like the Portuguese a lot. Finnish as a language is also one hell of a tough nut to crack. Really nice people, though.