Learn English – The possessive case of multiple nouns

coordinationpossessives

Which sentence is the most natural?

  1. I visited Tom and Mary's school.
  2. I visited Tom's and Mary's school.
  3. I visited the school of Tom and Mary.

Best Answer

Without further context, I consider that Tom & Mary are the students.

So,

if the two persons belong to the same school, I think the natural way is

I visited Tom and Mary's school

If both are in different schools, it can be

I visited Tom's and Mary's schools (note the plural)

The same thing can be applied to the third instance.

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