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I'm writing a sentence, and I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct.

Here are my partner, Jane Doe, and I's completed assignment.

Would this be alright? I never know how to properly use possessives when I'm including myself and someone else.

Also, in case you didn't see my comment below, I need to include my partner's name. It can't just be "me and my partner's completed assignment". Otherwise, I wouldn't have an issue.

Hellion
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alex
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  • I'm not sure why my post was downvoted, but I wanted to clarify that I do need to write my partner's name within that sentence. It can't just be "me and my partner's". – alex Mar 29 '19 at 16:10
  • @Juhasz The only reason why I don't consider this post a duplicate is because I need to include a name, as I've already stated in my comment. – alex Mar 29 '19 at 16:12
  • "My wife" functions just like a name in that phrase. The same logic should apply to "Jane Doe and I's dinner" or to "Jane Doe and I's assignment" (and that downvote didn't come from me, by the way - I think this is a fine question, just already has an answer) – Juhasz Mar 29 '19 at 16:15
  • @Juhasz Okay, so correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I read, it's saying that although what I wrote is alright, the correct form would be, "my partner's, Jane Doe, and my completed assignment". That sounds incorrect to me. (Also, no worries! I didn't assume that that downvote came from you.) – alex Mar 29 '19 at 16:25
  • Following the advice in that link, I would have said "Jane Doe's and my." I suppose "my wife's and my" wasn't a perfect example because there are two possessives. The first one ("my wife") is incidental here. You could say, "a wife's and my dinner", or "my wife, Jane's, and my dinner." All that said, I find all of these constructions awkward and, like Jason Bassford, would actually just rephrase the sentence. – Juhasz Mar 29 '19 at 17:02
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    As an unrelated point of grammar, you are only handing in one assignment, so you can't say "Here are"; it has to be "Here is". – Hellion Mar 29 '19 at 18:01
  • If you were handing in only your own assignment, would you write "Here is I's completed assignment" or something else?? – TrevorD Apr 10 '19 at 23:10
  • If you're uncertain about the phraseology, why not rearrange the sentence: "Here is/are the assignment(s) from x, y & z." – TrevorD Apr 10 '19 at 23:13

3 Answers3

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Without more substantial rephrasing, it will sound strange even if it is technically correct.

It would be more natural if you simply drop the use of the possessive:

Here is the completed assignment of my partner, Jane Doe, and me.

Jason Bassford
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Basically agreeing with Michael Harvey's offering: Here’s my partner Jane Doe’s, and my assignment.

But the comma of apposition is surely not necessary as "partner Jane Doe's" is a complete phrase. such as: Here is x's and my assignment, where x = partner Jane Doe. (Consider "partner" here as a title, rather than "Jane Doe" being in apposition to partner.)

I propose the correct written form would be: Here’s my partner Jane Doe’s and my assignment.

William Gifford
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  • I disagree. The two possessives indicate separate possession. Admittedly, in your particular sentence, the singular "assignment" might make readers think that it's a joint assignment, and thus understand correctly, despite your two possessives. But in another situation with a plural noun, readers wouldn't get that clue. To reliably indicate joint possession you need something like Jason's answer. – Rosie F Apr 23 '19 at 11:14
  • Thanks for your perspective, @Rosie. Agreed: if the question changes (e.g., "in another situation"), one could expect the answer to change. The original post stipulated a singular "assignment". I contend my original proposal is still correct in that it signifies possession both jointly and severally. If indeed there were multiple "assignments", that could open the door of ambiguity: how many were mine and how many my partner's? Thanks again for noticing the nuance. – William Gifford Apr 24 '19 at 17:51
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To me, the most grammatical “translation” would be:

Here’s my wife’s, Jane Doe’s, and my assignment.

I feel both components of the apposition should be possessive in order to be correct.

CocoPop
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