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What's the right and more formal way to tell it? (In physics or mathematics):

  • The variable's value.
  • The variable value.
  • The value of the variable.

There are rules to use the Saxon genitive and "of" but for a foreigner it's not always easy. Here I can't identify any "possession".

skan
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  • Hi skan, you may not be aware that our other site [ell.se] is the best place to look for answers on English questions that a fluent speaker would find trivial. If you have a question for ELL, be sure to read their guidance on what you can ask. :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Dec 10 '18 at 02:20

1 Answers1

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A variable may have many attributes. It possesses each of them, so it is definitely wrong to use 'the variable value' to express the meaning you require. That phrasing is wrong for another reason too, because 'variable' is an adjective as well as a noun so 'the variable value' seems to refer to a value that is variable, which is not what you want to say.

There is no difference in meaning between 'the value of the variable' and 'the variable's value'.

JeremyC
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