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Genitive
In English, possession can be expressed by various means, by the use of verbs such as HAVE, POSSESS, BELONG, OWN, by the use of the nouns: OWNER or POSSESSION, possessive adjectives or pronouns and by the genitive case.
The last one represented by the apostrophe S plays an important role in showing possession in English and it has certain peculiarities which are sometimes hard to remember. Let´s examine them.
A. The apostrophe and the letter S are mostly used for people
B. In the case of ordinary inanimate objects, it is better to use the “OF THE” phrase
e.g. the height of the building, the wheel of the car
C. However, the ’S is not just restricted to people. Take the following cases into account:
D. In certain noun combinations no S is needed. This is the case when the first word is functioning as an attributive adjective, i.e. it describes the second noun:
e.g. girls school , basketball club, the mountain top
E. The genitive S is not often used with inanimate nouns. In this case we prefer the OF phrase:
e.g. the top of the blackboard, the cap of the bottle
F. Genitives indicating a point of time, distance and measurement are very often replaced by hyphened compounds.
e.g. a two-minute walk, a three-mile ride
G. When you refer to an institution, place of residence, business, etc. you may use ’S without the following noun:
e.g. I bought it at the baker´s (shop) in Hill Street
I was at my mother’s (house).
He is a priest at St. Margaret’s (church)
NB: If you refer to a well-known department store, the apostrophe is generally dropped e.g. at Harrods
H. You may drop the apostrophe from the first noun when two nouns are in apposition
e.g. Briggs(’) the butcher´s
I. When a plural noun ends in S, you only need the apostrophe
e.g. the girls’ sweaters
J. Irregular plural nouns with no final S take apostrophe S
e.g. women’s rights
K. In the case of compound nouns, the apostrophe S is added only to the last noun.
e.g. my mother-in-law’s help
L. When two or three names are joined by AND to indicate more than one owner, the genitive S is added to the last one only.
e.g. John and Mary’s son
Double Genitive
The double genitive construction is formed by the OF-genitive and either a possessive pronoun or a noun as in:
e.g. She is an employee of my father´s
They are friends of mine.
In this double genitive the noun or pronoun following OF always refer to a person, never to an object.
If you say “he is a friend of mine”, you emphasize the fact that there are many others (indefinite) and not just one friend like in “He is my friend” (definite)
The double genitive is also used to refer to something or somebody already familiar or known: e.g. that bad temper of hers (her well-known bad temper)
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Genitive
In English, possession can be expressed by various means, by the use of verbs such as HAVE, POSSESS, BELONG, OWN, by the use of the nouns: OWNER or POSSESSION, possessive adjectives or pronouns and by the genitive case.
The last one represented by the apostrophe S plays an important role in showing possession in English and it has certain peculiarities which are sometimes hard to remember. Let´s examine them.
A. The apostrophe and the letter S are mostly used for people
- as markers of possession: e.g. Tom´s wife / Peter´s yacht
- to indicate description e.g. children´s rights / women´s underwear
- to mention originator e.g. Paul´s new CD
B. In the case of ordinary inanimate objects, it is better to use the “OF THE” phrase
e.g. the height of the building, the wheel of the car
C. However, the ’S is not just restricted to people. Take the following cases into account:
- Historical names ending in S add the apostrophe only
e.g. Jesus’ death
- Whereas ordinary names are followed by apostrophe S
e.g. Mr. Edwards´s car
- Some traditional phrases also take apostrophe S
e.g. For goodness’ sake, duty’s call, at an arm’s length, only at a stone’s throw (away), at one finger’s end.
- Higher animals
e.g. the elephant’s trunk / the tiger’s roar
- Expressions of time and value
e.g. a day’s pay, a penny’s worth, tomorrow’s meeting
- Countries and some objects
e.g. Argentina’s import business, the company’s safety scheme, the sun’s rays
- Indefinite pronouns
e.g. nobody’s concern, somebody’s car
D. In certain noun combinations no S is needed. This is the case when the first word is functioning as an attributive adjective, i.e. it describes the second noun:
e.g. girls school , basketball club, the mountain top
E. The genitive S is not often used with inanimate nouns. In this case we prefer the OF phrase:
e.g. the top of the blackboard, the cap of the bottle
F. Genitives indicating a point of time, distance and measurement are very often replaced by hyphened compounds.
e.g. a two-minute walk, a three-mile ride
G. When you refer to an institution, place of residence, business, etc. you may use ’S without the following noun:
e.g. I bought it at the baker´s (shop) in Hill Street
I was at my mother’s (house).
He is a priest at St. Margaret’s (church)
NB: If you refer to a well-known department store, the apostrophe is generally dropped e.g. at Harrods
H. You may drop the apostrophe from the first noun when two nouns are in apposition
e.g. Briggs(’) the butcher´s
I. When a plural noun ends in S, you only need the apostrophe
e.g. the girls’ sweaters
J. Irregular plural nouns with no final S take apostrophe S
e.g. women’s rights
K. In the case of compound nouns, the apostrophe S is added only to the last noun.
e.g. my mother-in-law’s help
L. When two or three names are joined by AND to indicate more than one owner, the genitive S is added to the last one only.
e.g. John and Mary’s son
Double Genitive
The double genitive construction is formed by the OF-genitive and either a possessive pronoun or a noun as in:
e.g. She is an employee of my father´s
They are friends of mine.
In this double genitive the noun or pronoun following OF always refer to a person, never to an object.
If you say “he is a friend of mine”, you emphasize the fact that there are many others (indefinite) and not just one friend like in “He is my friend” (definite)
The double genitive is also used to refer to something or somebody already familiar or known: e.g. that bad temper of hers (her well-known bad temper)
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