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> Similar tests: - Genitive case - Possessive case - Possessive or genitive Case - Possessive adjectives and pronouns. - Personal pronouns, possessives - Back to the possessive case - Whose and use - Possessive idioms | |
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Possessive case
The genitive / possessive pattern / 's mark is used when indicating a relation of ownership or association.
My dog's ball is always wet with drool.
"David Copperfield" is one of Charles Dickens's novel.
I) How can I build it?
owner/singular: NOUN + 'S.
owner/plural: NOUN + '.
My neighbour's children are noisy.
My neighbours' children are noisy.
⚠️ Antiquity: only an apostrophe
Who knows anything about Socrates' death or Sophocles' tragedies, nowadays?
II) Where should I put it?
Caution: the meaning of the sentence can be changed.
Some swimmers and surfers are sometimes bitten by a white shark's teeth.
Some swimmers and surfers are sometimes bitten by sharks' white teeth.
We can use two genitive cases in the same sentence.
He bought his neighbour's daughter's car.
Places:
Let us meet at Brenda's at noon.
Avoiding repetitions:
Is it Jan's turn? No, it is Charles's!
With pronouns: somebody, everybody, somebody else, each other, one another.
He couldn't give up without considering everybody's situation. Il ne pouvait pas abandonner sans considérer la situation de tout le monde.
With a date, a length...
Tonight's lecture was popular.
A five kilometres' walk / A 5 kilometre walk a day is good for your health.
Do you need a twenty minutes' rest / A twenty minute rest after having your lunch? déjeuner ?
Idioms :
To get one's money's worth
New Year's day
Art for art's sake
At arm’s length
At the water's edge
For God's sake = for Goodness's sake
For Heaven's sake
To enjoy oneself to one's heart's content
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