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| 3-J) Possessive 'S |
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UNIT 3 lesson J |
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Here we're going to learn how to ask about possession (whose is this?) and how to express possession with words referring to people: person + 's + thing (this construction is also called "Saxon Genitive")
See comments in the box of EXPLANATIONS.
After watching the video go to the other video below and have a test.
POSSESSIVE S 
How to express possession when the owner is a person.
The construction is: OWNER + 's + POSSESSION
1- We only use this construction when the owner is a person:
- Peter's leg is very big (Peter= person)
- The leg of the table is very big (table = thing)
2- Spelling:
- singular noun + 's My father's car (names ending in -S ad /ɪz/ in the pronunciation: Alice /ælɪs/ - Alice's house /ælɪsɪz haʊs/)
- plural noun + ' The boys' ball (but irregular plurals not ending in -S only add the apostrophe ('): The children's ball)
EXCEPTION FOR NAMES
- Biblical and classical names ending in -s + ' Jesus' teachings, Augustus' armies
(compare: Boris's teachings, King Charles's armies)
Note: this rule is not always followed. "Classical" refers to ancient Greek and Roman times.
3- Pronunciation:
- It is pronounced the same as the plural of nouns. We add an 'S in the spelling and pronounce an S:
doctor's, Jack's, boy's
- If the noun ends in an S sound or a sound very similar to S, then we add an extra syllable and pronounce "-is" /ɪz/
Alice's, James's, Fox's, Gage's, Josh's
4- Use of the article:
We only use the article THE when the owner has an article, but the article of the possession disappears.
- This is John's car (owner = John)
- This is the boss's car (owner = the boss) -- "boss's" is pronounced like "bosses" /bɒsɪz/
It is not correct to say:
- This is John's the car
- This is the John's car (owner = the John)
5- Chainned construction
- This is Kevin's sister
- This is Kevin's sister's book
More videos from this lesson
