Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, everyone!

Today I'd like to ask a question about the pairs below.

A-1. I shook him by the shoulders.
-2. I shook him by his shoulders.

B-1. He slapped me in the face.
-2. He slapped me in my face.

C-1.The man grabbed Mary by the wrist.
-2. The man grabbed Mary by her wrist.

In those cases, I learned back in school that "the" is normally used rather than the possessive cases. However, I sometimes see sentences like ＃2s, where possesive cases are used instead of "the". This is very confusing to me. Do you think this is a matter of correctness or appropriateness, or just about preference or choice? And which one would you choose in those pairs?

Thank you

yoshi-pooh

[Mister Micawber]

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I would choose the especially #1 and #3, which use by. The is more usual, but I don't think the personal pronouns could be considered wrong. (Note that the pronoun is redundant in that the direct object identifies the owner of the body part.
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, Mister Micawber
Thanks for your reply.

You wrote:
I would choose the especially #1 and #3, which use by. The is more usual, but I don't think the personal pronouns could be considered wrong. (Note that the pronoun is redundant in that the direct object identifies the owner of the body part.


When I was a student I learned that using the is correct because that's the rule, but seems like it was wrong. Your reply has made me realize somerthing very important.

Best regards,

yoshi-pooh