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Saxon Genitive ( 's ) - Possession |
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/ /ælɪsɪz/)
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)
You can read more about the Saxon Genitive here: Saxon Genitive Special Cases.