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Saxon Genitive for possession -basics |
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Activity SmartMemo
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Activity SmartMemo
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15 |
PERSON + 'S + THING
We use this form to express possession or relationship when talking about people.
Phoebe has a cat = This is Phoebe's cat
The leg of the chair
The leg of the sheep
Paul's leg
Spelling:
singular noun My father's car
plural noun My parents' house
singular ending in "s" or similar sound Your boss's office / Alice's book (pronounced: /bɒsɪz/ /ĉlɪsɪz/)
plural not ending in "s" The children's room
The "Person" may be a phrase:
That is the man next door's wife (Person= the man next door)
Paul and Mary's dog
Henry the Eighth's six wives
Notice:
Paul and Mary's dog = Paul and Mary have a dog, his name is Tobby
Paul's and Mary's dogs = Paul has a dog called Tobby, and Mary has a dog called Dodo
But if the "Person" is a long phrase or sentence, we prefer the construction with OF
This is the office of Mary and her new boyfriend
That's the house of the man who was talking to you at the party
A Saxon genitive can also be the "Person" of another Saxon genitive
This is Monica's son's toy (the toy of Monica's son)
My brother's wife's name is Karen
Careful with the article!
We only use the article with the Person if the Person has an article:
That's THE BOSS That's THE BOSS's car
That's PETER That's PETER's car (not: That's the Peter's car)
Item | Match | Comments |
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Barbara has a brother. He lives in Boston - ... in Boston | Barbara's brother lives in Boston | |
Mary and Bill are married. They have a shop. The shop is very cool. - ... is very cool | Mary and Bill's shop is very cool | |
My neighbour has a shop. The shop is over there. - That is... | That is my neighbour's shop | |
My sister has a friend. She sings in a group. - ... sings in a group | My sister's friend sings in a group | |
Pamela has a friend - She is... | She is Pamela's friend | |
The children have a mother. That woman is my friend. - ... is my friend | The children's mother is my friend | |
The crocodile has eyes. The eyes are yellow. - ... are yellow | The eyes of the crocodile are yellow | |
The girl has a cat. The cat is black. - ... is black | The girl's cat is black | |
The man has blue eyes. They were sad - ... were sad | The man's blue eyes were sad | |
The president has a car. This is his car. - This is... | This is the president's car | |
The stars send light. the light is beautiful. - ... is beautiful | The light of the stars is beautiful | |
The television has a screen. The screen is green. - ... is green | The screen of the television is green |
also: The television screen is green |
The tower has windows. The windows are very small. - ... are very small | The windows of the tower are very small | |
The tree has a branch. The branch is broken. - ... is broken | The branch of the tree is broken | |
There is a toilet for men. It is upstairs. - ... is upstairs | The men's toilet is upstairs | |
This is a house. Tom Cruise lives there. - This is... | This is Tom Cruise's house | |
This is a school. The boys study here. - This is... | This is the boys' school | |
Tim and Frank are friends. Tim has a red car. Frank has a red car. - ... are red | Tim's and Frank's cars are red | |
Your father has a name but I can't remember it - I can't remember... | I can't remember your father's name | |
Your sister has a father. Her father has a mother. That woman is your grandmother - ... grandmother | Your sister's father's mother is your grandmother |