me...my...

[reenkam]

Which would I write? The options have made me forget the rule...

Me and my brother's loss.

My brother and my loss.

My and my brother's loss.

[Cassie]

Which would I write? The options have made me forget the rule...

Me and my brother's loss.

My brother and my loss.

My and my brother's loss.

All are awkward sounding and/or incorrect. To be technically correct, I would suggest: My brother's and my loss. [My brother's loss / my loss]

[reenkam]

Woops, that's what the second one was supposed to say.

Thanks! :)

[alleycat]

Yes, "My brother's and my loss".

And I agree that compound possessives with a personal pronoun often sound awkward. You might think of rewriting it to avoid the possessive altogether. "The loss suffered by . . . "

[MidnightMuse]

What about (and I'm asking, because I don't know):

Mine and my brother's loss. ??

Now that I look at that, I can tell it's wrong.

[maestrowork]

My loss and my brother's. My loss and his.

[reenkam]

Now I can't seem even to find this sentence in my WIP to fix it...so maybe I just removed it?? :Shrug:

It's awkward that I can't remember my own writing...

[KODB]

I never like any of these options. That's why I generally cop out with "our loss".

If I feel I need to be more specific, I might say, "Our loss -- mine and my brother's --"

[Tippy]

I'm with you.

"Our" loss.

But, I'm a chicken.

[RLSMiller]

Isn't it "My brother and I's loss?" I'm getting pretty confused myself. :)

[reenkam]

I think there's a rule that you have to be able to remove the "brother" part and have the sentence still make sense. So "my" has to be there, I think.

[Maryn]

Remember, too, that what's grammatically correct my not be true to your narrator. I mean, I'm a reasonably educated person, yet I might say "It was me and my brother's loss" in casual conversation to a friend. Yeah, I know it's wrong. But "It was my brother's and my loss" sounds like I'm wearing white gloves and pearls.

Maryn, who might even say "ain't," later--watch this space

[reenkam]

Maryn, that's a really good point...thanks! :)

[TemlynWriting]

Isn't it "My brother and I's loss?" I'm getting pretty confused myself. :)

You wouldn't say "I loss," or "I's loss." You would say "My loss." The rule for me, my, and I in cases of referring to oneself and a companion can be a bit confusing.

For instance:

My brother and I went to the movies. (Correct, because you can take out the brother and it reads: "I went to the movies.")

"My brother and me went to the movies" or "Me and my brother went to the movies." (Both of these are incorrect, as you wouldn't say "Me went to the movies.")

Are you coming with John and me? (Correct, because it can be reduced to "Are you coming with me?")

Are you coming with John and I? (Incorrect, because you would not say, "Are you coming with I?")

If you're confused, always take out the reference to the other person and see if "I" or "me" belongs.

Hope that helps!