double possessive

double possessive

This is a construction such as a friend of my father's and an admirer of hers, in which the possessive state is indicated by of and the possessive form of the noun father or pronoun hers. It is well established in English alongside the simpler form (a friend of my father), and is useful in avoiding ambiguity by distinguishing between (for example) a picture of the king (= an actual portrait of the king) and a picture of the king's (= a picture owned by the king). Use of the double possessive is normally limited to nouns and pronouns denoting people, and so you would not normally say (for example) an admirer of the British Museum's. The use is also less idiomatic with nouns, as distinct from pronouns, when the relationship implied by of is not fully possessive, as in an admirer of my mother (= someone who admires my mother) as compared with an admirer of my mother's (= an admirer my mother has). But you would always say an admirer of hers and not an admirer of her.