Possessives shouldn’t be difficult. In many languages, they’re not. In French, for example, to talk about the car belonging to Robert, you just say “the car of Robert”: la voiture de Robert. Spanish ...

Example: The weather can affect your mood. Effect: A result. Example: The new law had a significant effect on the economy.

Last week in this column we talked about some difficult possessives. This week, Bill in Williamsport, Pa., builds on that discussion with a question about a possessive issue we didn’t cover: “Joe is a ...