MARCO SUCUPIRA LANGUAGE MATERIALS
I. FORM:
a)Singular and plural nouns not ending in "s" take "'S".
| Bob's car (the car of Bob[wrong!]) | The children's books |
| The dog's teeth | The woman's bag |
b) Plural nouns ending in "s" take only a apostrophe ('):
| The bulls' horns | The girls' dresses |
c) Classical names ending in "s" and some less common English names take a simple apostrophe ('):
| Hercules' strength | Moses' death |
d) Compound nouns are treated as simple nouns:
| My father-in-law's flat | Her sister-in-law's son |
e)
Two or more possessors denoting one
possession are treated as single words and the
genitive ending is added to the last noun only:
Have
you visited Marco and Gary's house? (same
house)
But
if there is not joint ownership or association the genitive
ending is added to each noun:
Have
you visited Marco's and Gary's
houses? (different houses)
II. USES
a) The possessive case is used instead of the "of" construction when the possessor is a person or an animal:
| The dog's tail | My neighbor's garden |
but
when the possessor is followed by a clause the preposition must
be used:
The
tail of the dog that belongs to my friend.
b)
When the possessor is a thing the
preposition is normally used:
"The
window of the room" not "The room's
window".
"The bell of the church"
not "The church's
bell".
Exceptions:
l. Expressions of space, time or weight.
Space:
The
bed's length
The boat's width
The table's breadth
Time:
Yesterday's
paper
A month's holiday
A year's rent
2.
When things are personified:
Fortune's
enemy
Beauty's princess
3. With dignified objects such as: sun, moon,
sea, wind, earth, country, court, nature, soul, heaven:
The
soul's return
The wind's whistle
4.
In phrases such as:
For
old acquaintances' sake
At one's wit's end
For conscience's sake
The ship's crew
The journey's end
For goodness' sake
c)
The genitive is used without the thing possessed when referring
to a business building, shop, etc.
We
are going to have dinner at my aunt's (house) tonight.
She has gone to the chemist's (shop).
He is the priest of St. Mark's (church).
I must go to the dentist's (clinic, practice).
d)
Notice the following constructions:
a.
Particular X one of
Sandra's
car (referring to a particular car).
A car of Sandra's (one of her cars).
A friend of
Marco's (one of his friends).
Marco's friend (referring to a particular friend).
b.
Possessor X doer
A
record of Rod Stewart (= he is the singer).
Rod Stewart's record or
A record of Rod Stewart's (= he is the owner)
A painting
of Picasso (= one portraying him)
Picasso's painting or
A painting of Picasso's (= one belonging to him)
MARCO SUCUPIRA LANGUAGE MATERIALS
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