2015-08-21
580
A. We normally use -'s for people or animals (the girl's.../the horse's... etc.):
the girl's name the horse's tail Mr Evans's daughter a woman's hat the manager's office Sarah's eyes
* Where is the manager's office? (not 'the office of the manager')
* What colour are Sarah's eyes? (not 'the eyes of Sarah')
Note that you can use -'s without a following noun:
* This isn't my book. It's my brother's. (= my brother's book)
We do not always use -'s for people. For example, we would use of... in this sentence:
* What is the name of the man who lent us the money? ('the man who lent us the money' is too long to be followed by -'s)
Note that we say a woman's hat (= a hat for a woman), a boy's name (= a name for a boy), a bird's egg (= an egg laid by a bird) etc.
B. For things, ideas etc. we normally use of (... of the book/... of the restaurant etc.):
the door of the garage (not 'the garage's door')
the name of the book
the owner of the restaurant
Sometimes you can use the structure noun + noun (see Unit 79):
the garage door the restaurant owner
We normally use of (not noun + noun) with the beginning/end/top/bottom/front/back middle/side etc. So we say:
the back of the car (not 'the car back')
the beginning of the month
C. You can usually use -'s or of... for an organization (= a group of people). So you can say:
the government's decision or the decision of the government
the company's success or the success of the company
It is also possible to use -'s for places. So you can say:
the city's new theatre the world's population Italy's largest city
D. After a singular noun we use -'s:
my sister's room (= her room--one sister)
Mr Carter's house
After a plural noun (sisters,, friends etc.) we put ' (an apostrophe) after the s (s'):
my sisters' room (= their room--two or more sisters)
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the Carters' house (Mr and Mrs Carter)
If a plural noun does not end in -s (for example, men/women/children/people) we use -s:
the men's changing room a children's book (= a book for children)
Note that you can use -'s after more than one noun:
Jack and Jill's wedding Mr and Mrs Carter's house
E. You can also use -'s with time expressions (yesterday/next week etc.)
* Have you still got yesterday's newspaper?
* Next week's meeting has been cancelled.
In the same way, you can say today's.../tomorrow's.../this evening's... Monday's... etc.
We also use -'s (or -s' with plural words) with periods of time:
* I've got a week's holiday starting on Monday.
* Jill has got three weeks' holiday.
* I live near the station - it's only about ten minutes' walk.
Compare this structure with 'a three-hour journey', 'a ten-minute walk' etc. (see Unit 79D).
