{"id":19376,"date":"2022-08-25T14:17:30","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T14:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=19376"},"modified":"2022-09-18T14:47:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T14:47:04","slug":"someone-elses-meaning-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/someone-elses-meaning-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"“Someone else’s” \u2014 Meaning & Grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Describing the idea of possession in English is quite a piece of work because there are several known ways to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of these ways includes the process of adding ‘s to the noun or pronoun concerned, such as in the phrase “someone else’s.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, we’ll specifically look into the grammatical details of this expression to understand what is really going on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s begin by taking a brief look at the meaning of “someone else’s.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the meaning of “someone else’s”?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Someone else’s” is a compound, indefinite, possessive pronoun that means “an unspecified person who owns something.” It is often used with a noun, such as in “someone else’s wife.” It can also be used as it is, just like in “That’s not his car. That’s someone else’s.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Someone else’s” meaning in more detail<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The word “someone” is a pronoun that is used to refer to someone that the speaker or writer does not want to specify.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, it can be understood as a more practical way of saying “that person” or “a person I do not necessarily know the name of.”<\/span><\/p>\n

At other times, “someone” may also be used to refer to an authority figure in an emphatic way, just like when we say “She wants to be someone or somebody.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The example above also suggests the meaning of “to feel important” or “to be recognized by people,” and hence, a double-edged sword.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, “else” is a word that is often used to mean “besides,” “instead,” or “different.” At other times, it is also used as a shorter form of the expression “or else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite all these different senses in mind, “someone else’s” is used to mean something slightly more complex than just “that person” and “besides.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Someone else’s” further contains two other meaningful elements, which are called <\/span>morphemes<\/b><\/a> in language studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

These elements include the apostrophe and the letter “s” after it in the word “else.” In the English language system, both are used to convey the idea of possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

This implies that the phrase “someone else’s” is used to mean “an unspecified person who owns something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a look at this example sentence to see how it can be used:<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn’t my bag. It’s someone else’s.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you may figure, using “someone else’s” is great for making language use more convenient. Using it allows us to express a possessive idea minus the repetition.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Two weeks’ notice”<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>“at wit’s end”<\/b><\/a> are also two other common phrases that express the idea of possession in English.<\/span><\/p>\n

As these two expressions are quite tricky, a lot of people are meanwhile confused about how they really work in the actual world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having that in mind, it is expected that people may also get baffled by how exactly “someone else’s” is formed, how it is used, and what it means.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that we already know the meaning behind “someone else’s,” why don’t we get deeper into the grammatical rules and concepts that govern its usage?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The grammar behind “someone else’s”<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Someone” is an indefinite pronoun used for an unspecified person. It is singular in number, and it can be used to refer to any gender.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indefinite pronouns are used to generally refer to people, things, events, places, time, and manner. They can also either be singular or plural in grammatical number or even both.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some examples of singular indefinite pronouns include “something,” “somewhere,” “sometime,” and “somehow.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Both,” “many,” “others,” “several,” and “few” are some examples of plural indefinite pronouns, while “none,” “some,” “most,” and “all” can be used either in singular or plural form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indefinite pronouns are great for expressing the ontology or existence of an entity. In English, these kinds of pronouns are mostly headed with “some-,” “any-,” or “no-”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSomebody<\/i><\/b> is at the door.<\/span><\/i>
\n 
\nI can eat <\/span><\/i>anything<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i>
\n 
\nNothing<\/i><\/b> beats the classics.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, “else’s” is the possessive form of the adverb “else.” When we say “possessive,” it means that something belongs to that person or thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Else” is often used to refer to another person, place, or thing. It is usually paired with indefinite pronouns like “someone or somebody,” “somewhere,” and “something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase “someone else’s” takes quite a complex grammatical form. That said, it is what we can refer to as a “compound, indefinite, possessive pronoun.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Someone else’s” is a compounded phrase because it is made up of two different words merged into one to create a new meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Someone” is an indefinite pronoun used to refer to a person that we don’t want or don’t have the ability to specify. It is also a more formal alternative for “somebody.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of possession in “someone else’s” is marked by the use of the apostrophe as well as the addition of the letter “s” after it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s another example of how to use “someone else’s” in a sentence for your reference:<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYou shouldn’t claim someone else’s idea as yours.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we try to further break down the use of “someone else’s” in the example above, we can understand that it is simply used to mean “the idea of someone else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s interesting is that using the contracted or shortened possessive form allows us to make our sentence shorter and even more casual or natural-sounding.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to use “someone else’s” in a sentence<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are two common ways of using “someone else’s” in a sentence. Both ways are done to make language use more convenient and natural.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first one can be done by adding a noun after the phrase. The second can be done by making use of it as an elliptical tool to avoid redundancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

To use “someone else’s” together with a noun, the noun word or phrase must come after it. Here’s an example of what is meant by this explanation:<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBarbara is secretly dating <\/span><\/i>someone else’s husband<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the example above, we can see that “someone else’s” is used to refer to the noun that comes after it which is “husband.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In formal writing scenarios, we normally avoid using contractions. So, an alternative way of expressing the same idea above is “the husband of someone else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Note that the apostrophe and the letter “s” is already dropped when we make us of the more formal version. This is at least how the English language works.<\/span><\/p>\n

To use “someone else’s” as an elliptical tool, which simply means “word omission,” we can drop the noun that it usually modifies afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n

In language studies, ellipses are great for creating emphasis as well as building tension about an idea or event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a look at the next example for a better understanding:<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nBuild your own dreams. Not <\/span><\/i>someone else’s<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the example above, we can see that “someone else’s” is discreetly referring to the word “dreams” in the previous sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

By using ellipsis through omitting the word “dreams,” readers and listeners are prompted to think more deeply and reflect on what is being implied rather than what is said or written.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, using “someone else’s” in the manner described above does not only allow us to save white space; it also allows us to make an idea more meaningful and creative.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Someone else vs. Someone else’s<\/b><\/h2>\n

Another confusion about today’s topic lies in “someone else’s” difference from “someone else.” Hence, this concern is also worth-discussing.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can compare and contrast “someone else” and “someone else’s” by taking a look both at their meaning and grammatical form.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of meaning, “someone else” is simply used to suggest the phrase “another person” or “another individual” without referencing the gender.<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nQ: Is that Joseph?<\/span><\/i>
\n 
\nR: No. I think that’s <\/span><\/i>someone else<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the other hand, “someone else’s” is used to mean “another person who owns something.” That said, “someone else’s” bears richer meaning than “someone else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nQ: Is that Joseph’s car?<\/span><\/i>
\n 
\nR: No. I think that’s <\/span><\/i>someone else’s<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In terms of form, we can clearly see that the difference between “someone else” and “someone else’s” lies in the addition of the apostrophe and the letter “s” in the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The apostrophe and “s” is simply what sets the possessive meaning of “someone else’s” from “someone else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, if “someone else” is used to mean “another person,” the apostrophe and “s” is used to mean “who owns something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions on “The Meaning and Grammar of Someone Else’s”<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is “anyone else’s” correct?<\/b><\/h3>\n

“Anyone else’s” is grammatically correct. It is used to mean “any other person’s possession or belonging” or “the belonging or possession of another person.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Should it be “somebody’s else” or “somebody else’s”?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The correct way to construct the possessive form of “somebody else” is “somebody else’s.” This is because “somebody else’s” is treated as a compound, indefinite, possessive pronoun whose meaning is merged into one.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is a synonym for “someone else’s”?<\/b><\/h3>\n

“Somebody else’s” is the closest synonym of “someone else’s.” Another more formal synonym is “a different person’s property” or “another person’s property.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n

Like any other language out there, English has its own set of rules on how to convey certain ideas such as possession or ownership.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, learning the nitty-gritty of how possessive phrases like “someone else’s” work is key to a richer and more meaningful expression of thought.<\/span>
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