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How is the possessive case formed in English?

The possessive case in English corresponds to the possessive adjective or genitive case of nouns in the Russian language. It indicates the belonging of an object or object to another. For example: Girl's doll - a doll of a girl. As a rule, a noun, which is used in the possessive case, for another noun is a definition.

How is the possessive case formed in English?

This form is accepted only by those nouns that are proper names, animate and part of the inanimate. It is important to know, having studied English, the possessive case of nouns. In the singular, it is necessary to add 's to the original form of the noun. For example: My mother's dress - my mother's dress, Nick's books - Nick's books, the cat's tail - the cat's tail.

How do you pronounce the ending?

It is important to note that 's can be read in different ways. If the word ends in a deaf consonant, the ending is read as [s]: a cat's nose, Nick's leg. If at the end of the word there is a clear consonant or a vowel, then we read as [z]: the children's toys, the dog's tail, the baby's bed. After whistling or hissing, the ending reads like [iz]: George's bag, the horse's hook. However, if -s, -s end with proper names, then the possessive case in English is formed only with the help of an apostrophe, and the ending is still read as [iz]. For example: Alex - Alex '[`æliksiz], Boris - Boris' [` boːrisiz], Denis-Denis' [`denisiz].

Some features of using an apostrophe

British names retain the full form of the possessive case. But Old English, Roman or Greek often have only an apostrophe in this form. For example: Socrates 'stories - Socrates stories, Tacitus' ideas - Tacitus ideas, Guy Fawkes 'mask - Guy Fawkes mask, Cervantes' books - books by Cervantes. Quite often you can meet the group possessive case of nouns. English differs from the rest. He is adjacent to a whole group of words. For example: the man next door's wife is the wife of a man who lives nearby.

Plural of nouns

If the plural is formed by common rules, then an apostrophe is simply added to the word. It should be noted that the pronunciation remains the same: girls [golz] - girls' [golz] toys. If the noun is an exception, then the possessive case is formed according to the rule "s": women's hats are women's hats.

Relationship affiliation

Quite often the possessive case in English form nouns, which are definitions. Usually they express the belonging of one object to another. For example: the girls 'dolls - dolls (whose?) Girls, parents' flat - the apartment (whose?) Of parents, the boy's car - the machine (whose?) Of the boy. But there are also cases when belonging is expressed with the pretext of. Often such a sentence is called of-phrase. But such a phrase is used only for those nouns that are not proper names. For example: the mother of the girls is the mother of the girls, the speech of the man is the man's speech, the door of the room is the door of the room, the roof of the house is the roof of the house. This phrase should only be used for inanimate nouns. If the noun is animate, then it is better to use "'s". Quite often, a possessive object is used for those nouns that describe an object: goat's milk - goat's milk, pilots 'uniform - a uniform worn by pilots, boys' school is a school in which only boys learn.

Nouns that can be used in the possessive case

They can be systematized into the following groups:

  • Those that express the distance and time: a week's tour - a week tour, yesterday's film - yesterday's film, a kilometre's route - kilometer route;
  • Those that call the times of the year, month, city and country: Ukraine's cities - cities of Ukraine, Moscow's museums - museums of Moscow, March's warm - March heat, spring's wind - spring wind;
  • Those that call geographical concepts: America's lifestyle - the American way of life, the lake's edge - the edge of the lake;
  • Such nouns as ocean, water, moon, sun, earth, nature, city, country, world, ship and others: the ocean's life - the life of the ocean, the ship's captain - the captain of the ship, the sun's light - sunlight;
  • Those nouns that relate to technology and mechanisms: the plane's engine - the motor of the aircraft;
  • Livestock products that people receive from living animals: an ostrich's egg - an ostrich's egg, goat's milk - goat's milk;
  • Parts of the body of animals: deer's horn - reindeer.

There are such cases that next to the noun, which is used in the possessive case, there is no word that defines it. This happens when it is necessary to avoid repetition: My father is taller than Olga's (= than Olga's father). - My dad is higher than Olga's dad. Also, the word can be omitted if it means any institution. It can be a hospital, a school, a church, etc. Such a possessive case is called independent in English grammar. His examples can be the following: the bucher's - a bakery, chemist's - a pharmacy and others. There are cases of a double genitive case. This is when the noun in the possessive case stands next to the preposition of. You can trace the cases of its use by the example: She is a classmate of my mother's. "She's my mother's classmate."

In order not to make mistakes in use, it is necessary to perform numerous exercises. The possessive case (English is one of the few that has it) has no other function than possessiveness. This is why there are usually no difficulties in its use. It is enough only to master elementary rules and practice more.

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