Thread: Indicating possession of an object for multiple people

I know the title sounds odd, but I wasn't sure how else to word it.

If you wanted to indicate that a person possesses something, e.g. 'the bike belonging to Johnny,' then you'd write it as: 'Johnny's bike.'

But what if the object in question belongs to two people? For example, how would you write: "The friend belonging to Johnny and Megan is going to the state fair." If you write it as "Johnny and Megan's friend is going to the state fair," then it's ambiguous because if you don't read it carefully it sounds as if Johnny is going with Megan's friend to the fair, instead of the friend of Johnny and Megan is going to the fair.

I think I've seen it written as: "Johnny's and Megan's friend is going to the state fair." And I might have seen: "Johnny-and-Megan's friend is going to the state fair."

But I don't know which, if any, of those are correct.

If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks

"Johnny and Megan's friend is going to the fair".

You would never write "Johnny's and Megan's friend". Nor would you use hyphens.

Contrast with this: "Johnson and Bowen's book, The Rise of Unionism, reflects this fact best". We know the book was co-written by those two men. Ergo, we know the person is both friend of Johnny and Megan.

I think it would read better if you added the name for clarity like this
Mark, a friend of Johnny and Megan, is going to the fair.
this way we know you are talking about Mark and not anyone else.
I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Sam W

You would never write "Johnny's and Megan's friend".

In this example, I agree - even without the benefit of an education, it just sounds 'right'

Compound nouns (Bedford 36/Hodges' 15a3)
When a sentence indicates joint ownership in a compound construction, the possessive form is attached only to the second noun:

Deanna and Brandi's vacation plans
Tim and Bethany's wedding invitation

Note that individual ownership is marked by a double possessive:

Courtney's and Mem's grade point averages

Tim and Bethany share the same wedding invitation, whereas Courtney and Mem each have their own grade point averages.

Originally Posted by Sam W

"Johnny and Megan's friend is going to the fair".

You would never write "Johnny's and Megan's friend". Nor would you use hyphens.

Contrast with this: "Johnson and Bowen's book, The Rise of Unionism, reflects this fact best". We know the book was co-written by those two men. Ergo, we know the person is both friend of Johnny and Megan.

OK, thanks for the example. That makes sense, that the reader should be able to figure it out based on the context. And by the way, congratulations on your latest novel going to be published

Originally Posted by Nacian

I think it would read better if you added the name for clarity like this
Mark, a friend of Johnny and Megan, is going to the fair.
this way we know you are talking about Mark and not anyone else.
I hope this helps.

I agree that if it's too confusing it would help to clarify who's being talked about; I'll keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by Zootalaws

In this example, I agree - even without the benefit of an education, it just sounds 'right'

Compound nouns (Bedford 36/Hodges' 15a3)
When a sentence indicates joint ownership in a compound construction, the possessive form is attached only to the second noun:

Deanna and Brandi's vacation plans
Tim and Bethany's wedding invitation

Note that individual ownership is marked by a double possessive:

Courtney's and Mem's grade point averages

Tim and Bethany share the same wedding invitation, whereas Courtney and Mem each have their own grade point averages.

Thanks, that quote is very helpful and should be useful if I'm not sure which way to use. That also explains what the double possessive is for, so thank you for clearing that up! You've all been very helpful.