a brother/sister of mine - one of my brothers/sisters

Question

I have been told by native speakers that "a brother/sister of mine" is almost never used except in poems or old literature and should therefore always be "one of my brothers/sisters". Is it a valid opinion?

I have found a few example, though.

1) A sister of mine had a ‘big’ birthday last week and I wanted to make a special card for her > Fancy Fold Card with Bouquet Blooms ( Annette Sullivan: Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator, Australia – )

2) Can a sister of mine, who is a lawyer, go to jail for filing a false police report about me in March of 2019? > https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/can-a-sister-of-mine--who-is-a-lawyer--go-to-jail--4442448.html > (Highland Park, IL)> >

3) a sister of mine came down with polio > https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Ha...3D6351C7D048256602000FB1A7/$file/C1125008.PDF > (australia)

What do you think of it?

As an only child I don't have occasion to say such a thing, but my feeling is that 'a sister of mine' is more anonymous. You might say it when speaking to people who don't know your sister and don't need to; you are just using her as an example. 'My sister' feels more personal. — Kate Bunting, Jun 04 '20 at 07:54
but the question is "what's the difference between "a sister of mine" and "one of my sisters"? — user1425, Jun 04 '20 at 10:01
The same applies to 'one of my sisters', if you have several, as to 'my sister'. — Kate Bunting, Jun 04 '20 at 13:26
GoogleNgrams seem to show that your informants were perhaps too ... — Edwin Ashworth, Nov 01 '20 at 17:27
prescriptive with ' ... should therefore always be ...', but that they nevertheless have a point. — Edwin Ashworth, Nov 01 '20 at 17:27
@Edwin Ashworth: I expect that it depends on the dialect, and there may be some dialects where people don't actually use "a sister of mine". — Peter Shor, Dec 26 '21 at 22:24
Certainly "a friend of mine" sounds a lot more likely than "one of my friends." — Casey, Dec 27 '21 at 01:00
@Casey There I don't agree. 'A friend of mine' certainly sounds a lot more natural to my ears than 'a brother of mine', though. — Edwin Ashworth, Dec 27 '21 at 11:59

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 29 '21 at 20:29

A “something” of mine usually means it is one of many, and it doesn’t matter much which one. “A friend of mine had his bicycle stolen”, “a teacher of mine came to school wearing non-matching sox”.

My “something” is much more specific. Like “my maths teacher”. It is unusual to say “a sister of mine” unless you have at least eight sisters.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 04 '20 at 04:40

0

It has the feel of active versus passive voice.

"My sister" or "One of my sisters" is more direct and therefore stronger.

answered Jun 04 '20 at 04:40

gorlux

510

Hello, gorlux. I think you make a valid point, but without supporting evidence, this has 'comment' status. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 01 '20 at 17:32
I don't agree with this. The "of mine" choice, if anything, emphasizes the "mine" part. Compare "my child will not attend" and "no child of mine will attend." – Casey Dec 27 '21 at 19:19

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '21 at 21:11

0

Perhaps we can consult Ngram

It seems "one of my brothers" is the common expression; "a brother of mine" is used, but it is unusual.

answered Jul 29 '21 at 21:11

GEdgar

25,177

a brother/sister of mine - one of my brothers/sisters

3 Answers3