Possessive
1. Using ‘s
We normally use ‘s in the following cases:
| Usage | Example |
| For people and animals | The cat’s fur, the boy’s book |
| After singular nouns | my brother’s bike |
| After plural nouns, we put the only ‘ | the three girls’ dog |
| For organisations | the school’s decision |
| For places and origins | Madrid’s best restaurant, Beckett’s novel |
| After more than one noun | Jack and Jill’s house |
| After compound nouns | my sister-in-law’s birthday |
| With time expressions | yesterday’s movie, tomorrow’s trip |
| With periods of time | a week’s holiday, ten minutes’ drive |
| With quantities and measurements | a pound’s worth |
| With irregular plural nouns | the children’s toys |
| With double possessive | my mother’s cat’s food |
| With names of shops, companies | the newsagent’s, the greengrocer’s the vet’s |
| Expressions | For goodness’ sake! |
2. Using of
We normally use of in the following cases:
| Usage | Example |
| For things and ideas | the room of the house |
| With expressions | the beginning / the end / the top / the bottom / the front / the back / the middle, etc. |
| For organisations | the decision of the school |
| With double possessive | a friend of Frank’s (one friend out of all of Frank’s friend) |
| When the noun is followed by a prepositional phrase | the tail of the cat mewing loudly |
| With long, complex phrases | the mysterious disappearance of Mr Jack Smith |
| With a specific year or date | the fire of 2014 |
| Other fixed expressions | the President of the United States |
3. Either ‘s or of
Very often there is no difference in meaning between the ‘s or of:
The book’s cover = the cover of the book
New York’s statues = the statues of New York
The country’s government = the government of the country.
Ready to test your knowledge?
Put the grammar rules above into practice with the challenge below.
