The possessive case of the noun

Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other words in a sentence.

I. English nouns have two cases: the common case and the possessive (genitive) case. However, not all English nouns possess the category of case; there are certain nouns, mainly nouns denoting inanimate objects, which cannot be used in the possessive case.

II. The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion. The possessive case is marked by the apostrophe s (‘s).

In writing there are two forms of the possessive case: for most nouns it is ‘s (mother’s) and for nouns ending in –s and regular plural nouns only the apostrophe (‘)(mothers’).

III. There are four variants of pronunciationof the possessive case:

1) [z] after vowels and voiced consonants: dog’s, Mary’s;

2) [s] after voiceless consonants: student’s;

3) [iz] after sibilants: prince’s, judge’s;

4) zero endings: girls’, boys’.

Note:with nouns ending in –s and forming the possessive case in two ways (Dickens’ novels, Dickens’s novels) the ending is pronounced [iz] whether the letter s is written or not.

IV. a) Irregular plural noun forming their plural by vowel change have the regular ‘s in the possessive case: women’s faces.

b) Compound nouns have –’s joined to the final component: my mother-in-law’s garden.

c) A specific feature of the English possessive case is the so-called group genitive when ‘s can be joined to a group of two nouns if such a group refers to a single idea (when two persons possess or are related to something they have in common): John and Mary’s son (but Byron’s and Shelley’s poems).

V. The main meaning of the genitive case is that of possession. It is used:

1. With nouns denoting persons and animals: John’s idea, the swallow’s nest.

With other nouns (denoting inanimate objects or abstract notions) the of + noun phrase is used: the legs of a table.

2. With nouns denoting time and distance, such as minute, moment, hour, day, week, month, year, inch, foot, mile and substantivized adverbs, such as today, yesterday, tomorrow, etc: a moment’s delay, today’s newspaper, a week’s time, a mile’s distance, yesterday’s conversation, a day’s wait.

Compare: We went for a two-mile walk. – It was two miles’ drive.

3. With the names of countries and towns: Britain’s national museums, Canada’s population, Moscow’s streets.

4. With the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different kinds of organizations: the Guardian’s analysis, the company’s plans, the government’s policy.

5. With the nouns world, nation, country, city, town: the nation’s wealth, the world’s history.

6. With the nouns ship, boat, car: the ship’s crew.

7. With the nouns denoting planets: the sun’s rays, the Earth’s population.

VI. There are some cases when the noun in the possessive case is not followed by the headword. It is the so-called absolute genitive. It is used:

1. To avoid repetition: Our house is better than Mary’s (than Mary’s house).

2. After the preposition of: an old friend of my mother’s.

3. To denote shops such as the butcher’s, the baker’s, the grocer’s, the chemist’s or places of residence: at my uncle’s.

Note! The possessive case is not used on dedications:

The Pushkin Monument, the Kennedy Center, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Tate Gallery.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Read the following aloud paying attention to the pronunciation of the ending of the possessive case. Underline nouns in the possessive case.

1. Jack’s clothes are too big for him. 2. Irene’s neck is long. 3. George is Alice’s friend, not mine. 3. I like Burns’s poems. 4. My sisters’ friends often come to see us. 5. As a rule there are bright pictures in children’s books. 6. I often work in my brother-in-law’s library. 7. Peter and Helen’s flat is large. 8. Aunt Julia’s husband is a doctor. 9. He slipped his arm through Flora’s. 10. Yesterday I dined at my friend’s. 11. Moscow is Russia’s capital. 12. Moscow’s theatres are among the best in the world. 13. The ship’s crew stood on deck. 14. What is the car’s number? 15. He liked to wander by the river’s bank all day. 16. We’ll have two weeks’ holiday in winter. 17. It’s about ten minutes’ walk from the hostel. 18. It’s a good hour’s walk. 19. Yesterday’s TV program was very interesting. 20. We had a still summer’s day without a cloud in the blue sky. 21. We shall soon know the Moon’s geography as well as the Earth’s. 22. He is a friend of my brother’s. 23. The room of my brother’s wife is very cosy.

Exercise 2. Make as many sentences as you can, using the table below. Mind that you can use nouns in the possessive case to denote a building, a business or a place without using such nouns as office, shop, house, etc.

Model: I met him at the butcher’s.

We buy	medicines	at the grocer’s
	tea and coffee	at the fishmonger’s
	fish and oysters	at the greengrocer’s
	sugar	at the chemist’s
	bread	at the stationer’s
	pads and paper	at the butcher’s
	parsley and garlic	at the baker’s
	oranges
	meat

We have our	clothes cleaned	at the hairdresser’s
	hair cut	at the barber’s
	teeth filled	at the cleaner’s
	lunch	at the dentist’s
		at McDonald’s

Exercise 3. Change the following sentences using the possessive case of the nouns according to the model:

Model: We had to wait for five minutes.- There was a five minutes’wait.

1 .There’s only a mileto walk from here. 2. He had to wait for two hoursbefore the manager accepted him. 3. The meeting lasted for three hours.4.They travelled fifty miles to take part in the competition. 5. It took us aweek to prepare for the performance. 6. We had to wait ten minutes.7. It cost 10 pounds.8. I asked her to buy an ice cream that cost 8 rubles. 9. The reporters were granted an interview with the president that lasted twenty minutes.10. The test that we wrote last week was easier than that this week. 11. It took the scientists six monthsto find out the cause of the epidemic. 12. The flight lasted two hoursand a half. 13. The airplane covered the distance of 10 000 miles.

Exercise 4. Replace the possessive pronouns by the possessive case of the nouns in brackets.

1. Her reign began more than fifty years ago (Queen Elizabeth II). 2. Her death shocked the world (Princess Diana). 3. Her birthday was widely celebrated in Great Britain (Queen Mother). 4. His speech impressed the audience (the Lord Mayor of London). 5. It was his best interview (the BBC reporter). 6. She was his secretary (the President of the Trade Company). 7. We liked their last film very much (Johnson and Hardy). 8. It is her dog (the lady next door). 9. Their toys were scattered all over the place (the little twins of my neighbour). 10. It was his last interview before retirement (the Minister of Foreign Affairs). 11. Her dog scared the robber (my mother-in-law). 12. Their products are always of fine quality (Johnson and Johnson).

Exercise 5. Read and translate the following sentences.

l. He had a hair’s-breadth escape. 2. They kept at arm’s length. 3. The children ate the lion’s share of ice cream. 4. From here you can get a bird’s-eye view of Moscow. 5. Don’t rely on him. He is tied to his mother’s apron strings. 6. I can still see her pretty face in my mind’s eye. 7. It’s old wives’ tale. 8. This fat cat’s supermarket brings him super profits. 9. People who don’t know him think he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 10. The news was not penetrating the bird’s feathers. 11. She never takes criticism personally. For her criticism is like water off a duck’s back. 12. The scientists thought that they had discovered a new element but later it proved to be nothing, but fool’s gold.

TASKS FOR SELF-CONTROL

MODULE IV