FORMATION OF THE POSSESSIVE CASE
1. Case indicates the relations of the noun or pronoun to the other words in the sentence. English nouns have two cases
· the common case, e.g. a girl; Mr. Smith; a ship, etc.
· the genitive or possessive case, e.g. a girl’s dress; Mr. Smith’s car; the ship’s sails; our neighbours’ houses; etc.
2. Nouns denoting living beings – animate nouns, and some nouns denoting lifeless things – inanimate nouns, form the possessive case in the following ways:
· the “apostrophe + s” is added to the noun in singular
· the “s + apostrophe” is added to the noun in plural
· the “apostrophe” is added to the noun ending in “–s”, e.g. (see the table)
Noun | Singular | Plural |
a boy | a boy’s toy | these boys’ toys |
a man | a man’s job | those men’s clothes |
my parents | my parents’ bedroom | |
the child | the child’s future | these children’s future |
Felix | Felix’s [′filiksiz] | Felixes’ |
Guy Fawkes | Guy Fawkes’ night | |
the Johnsons (a whole family) | the Johnsons’ house | |
a month | a month’s holiday | a three months’ holiday |
a sister-in-law | my sister-in-law’s house | my sisters-in-law’s sons |
3. In modern English two possessive cases in a row are also possible, e.g.
My brother’s neighbour’s sister is a nurse. = The sister of my brother’s neighbour is a nurse = Сестра соседа моего брата – медсестра.
What is your husband’s sister’s name? = What is the name of your husband’s sister? = Как зовут сестру вашего мужа?
4. The list of nouns denoting lifeless things (inanimate nouns) that can form the possessive case with the “apostrophe + s” orthe “s + apostrophe” is rather limited. It includes:
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· nouns expressing time, e.g. a minute’s delay, a five weeks’ holiday;
· nouns expressing space, distance and measure, e.g. a 5 miles’ walk, a kilometer’s distance, 10 shillings’ worth;
· nouns expressing geographic names, e.g. Europe’s territory, London’s streets;
· nouns expressing location, e.g. the world’s population, the Earth’s climate, the city’s suburbs;
· nouns expressing unique notions, e.g. Nature’s sleep, Venus’ orbit, the sun’s rays;
· collective nouns, e.g. the crew’s decision; the school’s future; the hotel’s staff;
· some means of transport, e.g. a ship’s sails; the train’s speed; the car’s wheel.
5. Generally the possessive case of inanimate nouns is an of - form. This form is called partitive as it shows a part of a whole, e.g. a leg of the table; a door of the car; a drawer of the desk.
6. There is also noun + noun possessive case formation, which is called descriptive because it doesn’t show a part of the whole but gives a general description of a thing, e.g. table leg; car door; desk drawer, detective story, apple tree.
Compare:
Partitive Meaning | Descriptive Meaning |
the top of the table the trunk of the tree the top of the mountain the keys of the piano a prong of a fork | a table top a tree trunk a mountain top piano keys a fork prong |