Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
PRONOUN WITH POSSESSIVE ANTECEDENT
Milton’s blindness forced him to dictate to an amanuensis. Some have argued that a personal pronoun such as him in the example cannot have a noun in the genitive case (Milton’s) as its antecedent; they insist that only a genitive pronoun with noun will work: Milton’s blindness forced his dictation to an amanuensis. But there is nothing wrong with the example using him: we know that it refers to Milton, and although the logic may be imperfect the common sense of the grammar prevails. Occasionally, especially when the pronoun is who or whom instead of whose (A prodigious piece of work was Johnson’s dictionary, who now gets credit for a one-man effort), the resulting sentence will be awkward regardless of whether the pronoun is genitive or something else. But otherwise you may comfortably use a noun in the genitive case as antecedent for a pronoun in any case.
