January 17, 2008: Issue 222
Avoid possessive forms where they’re not needed:
acceptable: the dining room’s ceiling
preferred: the dining room ceiling
acceptable: the living room’s white carpet
preferred: white carpet in the living room
Don’t let possessives stack up:
awkward: the butler’s pantry’s silver sink
preferred: the silver sink in the butler’s pantry
awkward: his mother’s garden’s prize-winning roses
preferred: prize-winning roses in his mother’s garden
And with proper names, avoid clumsy plural possessives when the name alone will do:
awkward: the Joneses’ home
preferred: the Jones home
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