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There are many documents, and each document has many properties.

I am trying to say "the properties of one of the documents" I believe that it is correct to say

One of the documents' properties is...

But I am not sure which form of the possessive to use for 'documents'

One of the document's/documents' properties is...

Is this the right way to phrase it?

DCShannon
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Sean
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    You can't say that with just one one. I recommend One property of one document is ... – StoneyB on hiatus Apr 15 '15 at 18:18
  • "A property of one of the documents is ..." – Isaac Moses Apr 15 '15 at 18:33
  • @StoneyB What you been smoking? ... (Joey from "Friends" intonation) "One of the material's properties is pliability*, for example ... :) – Araucaria - Him Apr 15 '15 at 18:49
  • @Araucaria Nope. OP explicitly states that one of the documents (or in your version one of the materials) is intended, and there needs to be a *one of the properties, too, to accomodate the singular verb: one of the properties* of one of the documents. – StoneyB on hiatus Apr 15 '15 at 18:56
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    The two examples (one in the blockquote and one in 'I'm trying to say...') are inconsistent. In the first one you used the verb to be in singular - one of the properties... is, and in the second one you used plural for the properties of one of the documents. So to clarify: are you looking for one property of several documents or a set of properties in one document (among many other documents)? – Lucky Apr 15 '15 at 19:07
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    It doesn't seem that the so-called "duplicate" thread answers the OP's question. – F.E. Apr 15 '15 at 23:50
  • @StoneyB but they're trying to talk about the properties** of one of the documents. So they need the plural verb there. – Araucaria - Him Apr 16 '15 at 10:05
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    @Araucaria OP has now rewritten with is/are instead of is. We're no closer to knowing what OP actually means, but it will now accommodate the reading you propose. – StoneyB on hiatus Apr 16 '15 at 11:23
  • "The properties of one of the documents" is/are well-known by the students."... do the students know one property or many? If many, then all the examples are wrong because they all refer to a single property. – DCShannon Apr 27 '15 at 17:51

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