有读者问： 我遇到不少含有“人称代词宾格”的句子，如：
(1)Her eyes were the saddest part of her .
(2)She strolled along with one of them on each side of her .
(3)At first she played for the fun of it and never thought that she would stay with the game.
(4)I couldn't, for the life of me , make head or tail of this barbaric lingo.
应在什么情况下用“of+人称代词宾格”呢？ 它和物主代词有什么区别？
上述句中的“of+人称代词宾格”也是一种属格（genitive，亦可译作生格）。这种属格比较文气，以前常用在诗文中，如著名英国诗人布朗宁（Robert Browning, 1812—1889）有一诗句：
(5)The man had something in the look of him .
但在实际运用中，总的说来，用物主代词的情况要比上述属格多得多，人们多半会将（5）改作：
(6)The man had something in his look .
然而，在现代的平易散文中，上述of属格也不时出现。这是什么缘故呢？ 简略言之，有下列几个原因：
1. 物主代词强调“所有”概念，如上述例（6）；of属格则强调“部分”概念，换言之，用of属格的目的在于强调它所修饰的名（代）词（即所谓中心词），如上述例（5）。
2. 有些含of属格的词组已经固定，其中有不少词组根本不可以用物主代词代替of属格，如上述（3）中的for the fun of it和例（4）中的for the life of me。再如on the face of it, on the top of it, in the middle of it, at the bottom of it, at the back of it, at the end of it, in face of it, in stead of it等，都是如此。
3. of属格往往具有感情色彩，如：
(7)I will break the neck of you .
(8)I have never seen the like of it .
(9)I don't like the taste of it .
(10)He will be the death of me .
(11)That will be the ruin of him .
4. 有时不宜用或不能用物主代词，只得用of属格，如上述例（1）即不宜用物主代词，例（2）即不能用物主代词。再如：
(12)I don't see very much of it but only a part of it . （不可能用物主代词its）
(13)What do you think of his biography of you ? （不可能用物主代词your）
(14)That was the house which was to have been the home of him and her ... （of him and her不可能改用物主代词）
(15)By no means easy were the emotions of him who sat there watching. （him后有定语从句，故亦不可能用物主代词）
5. 有时of属格和物主代词意义不同，不能相互代替，如：
(16)his thought 他具有的思想（或想法）
the thought of him 对他的想法（或想念）
(17)at his back 支持他
at the back of him 在他身后
(18)his death 他之死
the death of him 致他于死
(19)her cheek 她的面颊
the cheek of her 她的厚颜
最后应该指出，据一些语法家们所说，常用of属格的名词只有body, death, face, end, heart, cover, favour, front, life, like, look, back, centre, close, midst, memory, original, object, partner, history, ruin, rear, reach, sight, shape, size, surface, spite, stead, top, gaiety, owner, ransom, soul, teeth等。所以使用of属格的范围是比较有限的。
此外，使用of属格有时显然与诗文的韵律和节奏有关，但限于篇幅，这里就不说它了。
