I want to say that 2 or more people all have something like this:
John's and Mary's hats.
Is this correct or would it have to be:
John and Mary's hats.
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When in doubt, spell it out ............. the hats of John and Mary. – Gary's Student May 02 '14 at 14:31
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@Gary's Student: what does spelling it out accomplish? "John's and Mary's hats": the hats owned by John and the hats owned by Mary; "John and Mary's hats": ambiguous (people will take the meaning from context), but most properly the hats jointly owned by John and Mary; "the hats of John and Mary": an ambiguous and circumlocutious phrase that is rarely used. – Peter Shor May 02 '14 at 17:25
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@PeterShor You are 100% correct! but it is no more ambiguous than the OP's phrase...........because hats is plural all we can deduce is that the total number of hats associated John and Mary is two or more. – Gary's Student May 02 '14 at 17:34