Saturday, April 18, 2015

grammaticality - Gerund preceded by a genitive?

Is this sentence actually grammatical?




You know your having a rough day when kittens don't even make you smile.




The writer of this sentence may intend to mean you're instead of your but I'm just wondering if having a gerund preceded by a genitive is considered grammatical in this case.




If the sentence above is ungrammatical, why is this sentence grammatical?




He resents your being more popular than he is.




What's the difference between these two sentence that determines one to be grammatical and the other to be not?



This is how I analyze the two sentences and I can't see the difference:





  1. "You know it when kittens don't even make you smile" for
    "it" = "your having a rough day"


  2. "He resents it" for "it" = "your being more popular
    than he is
    "


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