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[초급문법] UNIT 2.4 - Form of possessive case & Use of possessive case etc.
최고관리자  |  14-05-12 19:02

14. The form of the possessive/genitive case

A. 's is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s:
a man's job the people's choice
men's work the crew's quarters
a woman's intuition the horse's mouth
the butcher's (shop) the bull's horns
a child's voice women's clothes
the children's room Russia's exports

B. A simple apostrophe (') is used with plural nouns ending in s:
a girls' school the students' hostel
the eagles' nest the Smiths' car

C. Classical names ending in s usually add only the apostrophe:
Pythagoras' Theorem Archimedes' Law Sophocles' plays

D. Other names ending in s can take 's or the apostrophe alone;
Mr Jones's (w Mr Jones' house) Yeats's (or Yeats') poems

E. With compounds, the last word takes the 's:
my brother-in-law's guitar
Names consisting of several words are treated similarly:
Henry the Eighth's wives the Prince of Wales's helicopter

's can also be used after initials:
the PM's secretary the MP's briefcase the VIP's escort

Note that when the possessive case is used, the article before the person or thing 'possessed' disappears:
the daughter of the politician = the politician's daughter
the intervention of America = America's intervention
the plays of Shakespeare = Shakespeare's plays

15. Use of the possessive/genitive case and of + noun

A. The possessive case is chiefly used of people, countries or animals as shown above- It can also be used:

1. Of ships and boats: the ship's bell. the yacht's mast

2. Of planes, trains, cars and other vehicles, though here the of construction is safer:
a glider's wings or the wings of a glider the train's heating system or the heating system of the train

3. In time expressions:
a week's holiday/ today's paper/ tomorrow's weather
in two years' time/ ten minutes' break/ two hours' delay

a ten-minute break, a two-hour delay are also possible:
We have ten minutes' break/a ten-minute break.

4. In expressions of money + worth:
£1 's worth of stamps ten dollars' worth of ice-cream

5. With for + noun + sake: for heaven's sake, for goodness' sake

6. In a few expressions such as:
a stone's throw Journey's end the water's edge

7. We can say either a winter's day or a winter day and a summer's day or a summer day, but
we cannot make spring or autumn possessive, except when they are personified: Autumn's return.

8. Sometimes certain nouns can be used in the possessive case without the second noun.
a/the baker's/butcher's/chemist's/florist's etc. can mean 'a/the baker's/butcher's etc. shop'.

Similarly, a/the house agent's/travel agent's etc. (office) and the dentist 's/doctor 's/vet 's (surgery):
You can buy it at the chemist's. He's going to the dentist's.

Names of the owners of some businesses can be used similarly:
Sotheby's, Claridge's

Some very well-known shops etc. call themselves by the possessive form and some drop the apostrophe: Foyles, Harrods.

Names of people can sometimes be used similarly to mean ‘.. . 's house':
We had lunch at Bill's. We met at Ann's.

B. of + noun is used for possession:

1. When the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or clause:
The boys ran about, obeying the directions of a man with a whistle.
I took the advice of a couple I met in the train and hired a car.

2. With inanimate 'possessors', except those listed in A above:
the walls of the town the roof of the church the keys of the car

However, it is often possible to replace noun X + of + noun Y by noun Y + noun X in that order:
the town walls, the church roof, the car keys

The first noun becomes a sort of adjective and is not made plural:
the roofs of the churches = the church roofs

Unfortunately noun + of + noun combinations cannot always be replaced in this way and
the student is advised to use of when in doubt.