Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

Apparently "the husband of mine" can mean "my husband".

Can one say: "the wife of his", "the husband of yours", "the husband of hers" instead on "his wife", "your husband" and "her husband"?

Can this structure be used in other cases, as in "the car of mine" (instead of "my car") "the talent of his" (instead of "his talent") etc.

I know that one can say "that car of mine", but "the car of mine" doesn't sound correct to me.

[JNellis]

It's a style that is usually reserved for textual english rather than spoken english, though it is sometimes used in tones representing exasperation.

Example: "That husband of mine! He never takes out the trash!" or "Where is that cat of mine?"

You would use the article "that" rather than "the," as it's more proper in that case.