Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
being pedantic with grammar
Hi,
I've just been doing some maths and I'm always hit by clauses like:
"What is the probability of John coming first?" or
"The probability of Colin beating Maria at golf is 0.4..."
Shouldn't they be, respectively, "What is the probabilty of John's coming first?" and "The probability of Colin's beating Maria at golf is 0.4" ? The probability is not of John himself, but of something john does -- nor is the latter the probabilty of Colin himself, but is of his beating Maria. Or am i missing something?
Cheers
I've just been doing some maths and I'm always hit by clauses like:
"What is the probability of John coming first?" or
"The probability of Colin beating Maria at golf is 0.4..."
Shouldn't they be, respectively, "What is the probabilty of John's coming first?" and "The probability of Colin's beating Maria at golf is 0.4" ? The probability is not of John himself, but of something john does -- nor is the latter the probabilty of Colin himself, but is of his beating Maria. Or am i missing something?
Cheers
Top answer
By rights, I should leave this response to Mr Pedantic, but who knows where he is at the moment. You are perfectly correct, although the non-possessive form is appearing distressingly frequently nowadays. -- it is certainly illogical.
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By rights, I should leave this response to Mr Pedantic, but who knows where he is at the moment.
You are perfectly correct, although the non-possessive form is appearing distressingly frequently nowadays. What do mathematicians know about English grammar, anyway?-- it is certainly illogical.
You are perfectly correct, although the non-possessive form is appearing distressingly frequently nowadays. What do mathematicians know about English grammar, anyway?-- it is certainly illogical.
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