"A friend of Susan" vs. "a friend of Susan's"

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Why is it usually “friend of his”, but no possessive apostrophe with “friend of Peter”?

I'm currently having hot debates with a friend of mine about which one is more natural and more grammatically correct:

A friend of Susan

A friend of Susan's

I vote for the first, but I don't have anything to prove I'm right.

I disagree that this is a duplicate; the other question is about pronoun usage, this is about whether you add apostrophe-s to a name. — Tom Hughes, Aug 01 '17 at 23:56

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '12 at 07:20

14

A friend of Susan’s is a double genitive, which has been a feature of English grammar for centuries, and it is the normal alternative to one of Susan’s friends. Just as most people would say a friend of mine, rather than a friend of me, so a friend of Susan’s, rather than a friend of Susan, would be the natural choice in most contexts.

answered Nov 04 '12 at 07:20

Barrie England

140,205

So it's not about some grammar rules but about, uhm, accents? – zerkms Nov 04 '12 at 07:21
2

No, it's nothing whatever to do with accents. English grammar accommodates the double genitive without difficulty, and it is not at all unusual. – Barrie England Nov 04 '12 at 07:27

"A friend of Susan" vs. "a friend of Susan's"

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