Is “Paul’s and my ideas” really the correct possessive?

Asked Jul 29 '13 at 13:26

Active Jul 29 '13 at 14:02

Viewed 709 times

Do you always have to put other people before yourself?

When you are telling a story about yourself and another person, it is correct to reference the other person first. For example,

Tim and I went shopping.

Given that rule, then is this also the case in the following type of sentence, where you’re forming a possessive of two people, one of whom is you yourself:

Please see attached Paul's and my ideas on this subject.

This doesn't look at all right to me, but aside from rearranging the whole sentence I can't see how to make it right. Can I write:

Please see attached myself/my/mine and Paul's ideas on this subject.

or does that go against the whole rule about putting the other person first?

I know I can make the sentence work by changing it around but I would like to know if there is a rule for this type of sentence.

edited Jul 29 '13 at 14:02

tchrist

134,759

asked Jul 29 '13 at 13:26

Mrs Worrod

1

Welcome to ELU, but you might find you will get better responses on our sister site [ell.se] – TrevorD Jul 29 '13 at 13:45
You could say "our ideas". – Kit Z. Fox Jul 29 '13 at 14:04
Note that this answer says that there are no acceptable solutions in formal written English. However, this answer says otherwise. – tchrist Jul 29 '13 at 14:24
Thanks for your input. How do I close down this question? – Mrs Worrod Jul 29 '13 at 15:27

Is “Paul’s and my ideas” *really* the correct possessive?

0 Answers0

Is “Paul’s and my ideas” really the correct possessive?