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As far as I know, this sentence should be George's invitation should please Mary. But in an English book, I am recently studying it is stated in that form. Is it grammatically accurate?

Erdem
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  • It's fine *with or without the possessive* (it's just a matter of whether we treat the "progressive/gerund" *inviting* as a noun or a verb, both of which are perfectly acceptable choices in such contexts). Some people might have a strong preference for the non-possessive form (perhaps just on the grounds that it's *simpler), but it's basically a stylistic choice. So George's inviting her should please Mary* is a perfectly acceptable alternative to *George inviting her should please Mary*. – FumbleFingers Mar 01 '21 at 17:31
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    Yes. Note also that the genitive "George's inviting her ..." is in competition with the plain form "George inviting her ..", the only difference being that the genitive is more formal. – BillJ Mar 01 '21 at 17:33
  • @BillJ: On reflection, I realise you're quite right that the possessive is more "formal". So much so that an NGram comparing *His coming here is / Him coming here is [unwise]* doesn't find enough of the second (non-possessive) version to chart at all. I actually expected they'd be about equally common, so I guess that's the difference *being in print* makes. :) – FumbleFingers Mar 01 '21 at 17:45
  • Thank you very much for your help. – Erdem Mar 01 '21 at 18:57

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