In English, unlike Russian, there are only two cases: common ( the Common case) and possessive ( the Possessive case). All nouns that you find in the dictionary are in the common case. We’ll talk about the possessive case in English, and tell you how it differs from the general case.

What is the possessive case in English?

The possessive case in English is used with people and animals to whom some object, quality or attribute belongs. We show this affiliation using an apostrophe ( ’ ) and letters -s. For example:

• a girl 's future– the girl’s future (whose?);
• student s' life– students’ lives (whose?);
• a policeman 's uniform– police uniform (which one? Whose?).

You may have noticed that in the examples the apostrophe and -s change places and sometimes -s is completely absent. Let's look at the rule in the table for singular nouns:

Now let's look at the same rule only for the plural:

If a singular or plural noun denotes an inanimate object, it is better to use a preposition rather than the possessive case of:

• the cover of the book– book cover;
• the history of the English language– history of the English language.

• In we said that you can use certain words to indicate ownership of something.

Special cases of using ’s

We have figured out the general rule: take a noun and add -’s, if it is a singular noun, and if it is a plural noun, add only an apostrophe. But, as always, there are some exceptions and complex uses of the rule in English.

1. If your first or last name ends in -s, then two options are possible:

St. James'(s) Park- St James's Park.

Burns'(s) poems- Burns' poems.

2. In compound nouns we add an ending -’s to the last word:

Father-in-law 's flat– father-in-law’s apartment.

Ex-wives ’ alimony– alimony for ex-wives.

3. If something belongs not to one person, but to several, then add -’s to the last word in the group:

My son and daughter 's room– my son and daughter’s room (one room for two).

But if we are talking about objects that separately belong to two people, then -’s added to each owner:

My son 's and daughter 's rooms– my son and daughter’s rooms (2 rooms, they each have their own room).

4. Sometimes you need to add -’s to a whole phrase containing a noun, then possessive comes after the last word:

The secretary of state 's private room- private room of the Secretary of State.

5. Nouns denoting time and distance have the possessive case: second, minute, hour, day, night, week, month, year, fortnight. For example:

   A night 's nap- night sleep.

   In an hour or two 's time- in an hour or two.

6. And from inanimate objects we can add -’s to names of countries, cities and words ship(ship), world(world), nature(nature), earth(Earth):

   London 's theater- London theater.

   World 's organization- a global organization.

How to pronounce words with 's

It is also worth paying attention to the pronunciation of the ending -’s. The table below clearly shows the reading options:

The topic of the possessive case in English can be considered easy, but at the same time it is relevant, since we use this topic in speech all the time.

To consolidate your knowledge on the topic “Possessive case in English,” we suggest watching the training video:

Did you know that there is an organization in the world that fights for the purity of the use of apostrophe in English? That’s what it’s called (“Society for the Protection of the Apostrophe”). You can go to their website and check online to see if you have used the apostrophe correctly. And on the website (Disasters with apostrophe) people from all over the world collect examples of the incorrect use of this symbol. Be careful when using this comma! Apostrophe protection agents are not asleep! :-)

(*.pdf, 188 Kb)

And we suggest you take a short test to test your knowledge:

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Test

Possessive case in English

1. The concept of grammatical category in English.

The grammatical category is one of the basic concepts of any language, including English. A grammatical category is a union of two or more grammatical forms that are opposed or correlated in grammatical meaning. This grammatical meaning is assigned to a given set of forms (paradigm). There is no grammatical category outside of constant formal indicators. A grammatical category includes at least two opposed forms, but possibly more. Thus, there are three forms of time - present, past and future, four verb categories - basic, continuous, perfect and perfect-continuous, but two forms of the number of nouns, two voices, etc. There are no categories that have only one form: not there may be one article, one voice, etc. Opposition within a category is necessary, although not necessarily binary.

2. Case category. Correlation of cases of Russian and English languages.

In contrast to the clearly defined category of number (the contrast between singularity and plurality of objects), the problem of case comes down to the question of whether case exists at all in the English language. The answer to this question depends primarily on whether case is considered as a form or only as content conveyed by one means or another. We proceed from the position that case is a morphological category that conveys the relationship of a name in a sentence. It follows that certain relations conveyed by case must be conveyed by the form of the name itself. All other means not contained in the form of a name (prepositions, word order) are not morphological and therefore cannot be considered as case forms. It also follows that there cannot be less than two cases. Unlike the Russian language, which has six cases, in English it is usually customary to talk about exactly two cases of nouns in the English language: the common case (Common Case) and the possessive case (Possessive Case).

2.1 General case.

The common case is the dictionary form of a singular noun or the plural form of a noun:

student - students student - students

man - men

I am a student. I have a friend. My friend is a student too. We are a students. I am a student. I have a friend. He is also a student. We are both students.

A noun in the general case without a preposition, depending on the place it occupies in the sentence, conveys the relationship expressed in Russian by nouns in the nominative, accusative or dative case: The student answered well. (This) student answered well. The teacher asked the student about his work. (This) teacher asked (this) student about his work.

2.2 Possessive case.

The suffixes -‘s and - s‘ are signs of the possessive case of a noun. Nouns in the possessive case express the relation of an object's belonging to a person or another object. And for comparison:
Mr. Ford's cars. - Cars belonging to Mr. Ford.
The cars of Ford. - Ford cars, their brand.
Ann's photo. - a photograph of Anna that belongs to her, but this photo may not depict Anna.
The photo of Ann. - a photograph of Anna in which she is depicted, but this photo may not belong to Anna.
Tolstoy’s books - books by Tolstoy (belonging to him)
The books by Tolstoy - books by Tolstoy (written by him)
For an unambiguous expression of belonging and possession, the possessive case form is preferable.

The possessive case sign can form the entire group of a noun:
The Prime Minister of England’s residence. - Residence of the Prime Minister of England.
A noun in the prepositional case in Russian usually corresponds to a noun in the genitive case:
The Earth's rotation. - Rotation of the Earth.
Marx's works. - Works of Marx.
A noun in the possessive case can also be translated into Russian as an adjective:
Woker's parties - workers' parties.
Today's level - modern level.
In the possessive case, nouns can be used to denote:
a) Persons: you friend’s name - the name of your friend;
b) Animals: the dog’s head - the head of a dog;
c) Time and other units of measurement: a month’s term - a period of one month;
d) names of countries, months, seasons, astronomical concepts:
Great Britain's territory - territory of Great Britain. Nouns denoting inanimate objects, as a rule, are not used in the possessive case.


2.3 Possessive constructions.

Nouns with the suffix - 's (-s') together with the noun that follows them form a possessive construction, in which the noun with the suffix - 's (-s') is a determiner to the noun that follows it and answers the questions Whose? Whom? What? Jack’s room - Jack’s room (whose?).

Typical situations in which the possessive construction is used:
1) Designation of ownership of a given thing by a person:
Ivanov’s pen - Ivanov’s pen.
2) Designation of a person’s ownership of ideas, theories, works, etc.:
George Byron's poems - poems by George Byron 3) Designation of actions, properties, states and their relationship with the person as a performer or bearer:
The doctor’s arrival - the doctor’s arrival
The old woman’s story - the old woman’s story
The ship's departure - departure of the ship.


2.4 Ways of expressing grammatical relations of a noun.

The relationships between nouns and other words in a sentence are expressed as follows:
I. Relations conveyed in Russian by a noun in the nominative case, which performs the function of the subject, are expressed in English by a noun in the general case, which occupies first place in the sentence.
The nurse brought him a glass of water. - The nurse brought him a glass of water.
II. Relations, which in the Russian language are conveyed by a noun in the genitive case, expressing belonging, part of a whole, etc., are most often conveyed in English through the preposition of in combination with a noun, which acts as a right definition.
The face of the clock - clock dial;
The hands of the clock - the hands of the clock.
III. Relations, which in Russian are conveyed by nouns in the dative case, are expressed in English by combining a noun with the preposition to. Give the newspaper to Father. - Give the newspaper to your father. I am often invited to him. - I am often invited to see him.
IV. Relations that in Russian are conveyed by nouns in the accusative case are usually expressed in English by a noun placed after a transitive verb.
The boy is writing a letter. - The boy is writing a letter.
Take the skates to my brother. - Take these skates to my brother.
V. Relations, which in Russian are conveyed by nouns in the instrumental case, are expressed in English through the preposition by in combination with a noun, or the preposition with. A noun with the preposition by (with) is a prepositional object.
The dishes were washed by Mary. - The dishes were washed by Mary.
VI. Relations, which in Russian are conveyed by nouns in the prepositional case, are expressed in English by various prepositions (in, on, at, from, etc.) in combination with a noun.
The ship was sailing in the ocean. - The ship was sailing in the ocean.
The teacher put the books on my desk. - The teacher put the books on my desk.

2.4 Correspondence of English and Russian cases when translating a noun without a preposition.

A noun without a preposition, occupying first place in a sentence (1), i.e. standing before the personal form of the verb (2), is grammatically connected with it and expresses the attitude conveyed in Russian by the nominative case (Who? What?).
(1) (2) The work advanced well. - The work was going well.
A noun without a preposition, occupying third place in a sentence (3), i.e. standing after a verb in the personal form (2), or after a transitive verb, is grammatically related to it and expresses a relationship, usually conveyed in Russian by the accusative case (Whom? What?).
(2) (3) He stopped the car. - He stopped the car.
A noun without a preposition, standing between a transitive verb (2) and another noun (3), can express a relationship conveyed in Russian by the dative case (To whom? To what?).
(2) (3) (3) The teacher showed the student the map. - The teacher showed the student the map.

2.5 Correspondence of English and Russian cases when translating a noun with a preposition.

Prepositions before nouns express grammatical relations, conveyed in Russian by indirect cases, i.e. any except nominative and accusative.
The answer of the student was excellent. - The answer from (who?) the student was excellent.
I covered the drawing with a sheet of paper. - I covered the drawing with (what?) a sheet of paper.


3. Case of pronouns

In English, personal pronouns, as well as the interrogative pronoun who, in addition to the nominative, also have an objective case.
I am a student. - I'm a student. (Nominative)
Please send him a letter. - Send him a letter, please (Objective case)

4. Problems associated with determining case in English.

There are no problems with determining the general case. The biggest problem is determining the possessive case in spoken language. The English practically do not use the plural possessive case in oral speech, because by ear it is impossible to distinguish this form from the singular form. For comparison: the boy’s room and the boys’ room. Of course, there may be cases of unambiguous interpretation of his mother’s voice, the boys’ heads, but they do not determine the overall picture. It is explained by the homonymy of forms such as boy’s, boys, boys’. The only exception is the forms men’s, children’s, which retain the internal inflection in the plural, and in the case of children - also a non-standard internal formant. However, these two cases are outside the general model.

A noun in English can be in the possessive case. This design is quite common and beginners need to get acquainted with it. The article is divided into two parts:

You can find out the rest of the information about the noun in English from the reference book.

1. Possessive case of a noun (basic level)

1.1. Possessive case - designation:

noun – noun (answers the question Who? What?)
noun 's– noun in the possessive case (answers the question whose?)

EXAMPLES
father 's hat - daddy's hat
Natasha 's book - Natasha book
the bird 's nest - avian nest

1.2. Possessive noun = possessive pronoun

In English, a noun in the possessive case can be replaced possessive pronoun:

Remember, once an adjective in English is placed before a noun, then and possessive noun must also be placed before the noun.

1.3. The construction with the preposition OF replaces a noun in the possessive case

A noun in the possessive case can ALWAYS be replaced by construction with the preposition of. and answers question of whom? what?: capital of (what?) Russia = the capital of Russia.

[master ’S subject = subject of master

EXAMPLES
my father 's hat (daddy's hat) = a hat of my father (hat) (whom?) my dad)
Natasha 's book (Natasha's book) = a book of Natasha (Natasha's book)
the man 's cap (cannot be translated) = a cap of the man (man's cap)

1.4. Possessive case of nouns in singular and plural:

If there are several owners (owners), then the plural ending -S is added to the noun, but then in the possessive case (after the apostrophe) S – Let's clean it up!

EXPLANATION
brother 's books - the owner of books is one - brother
brothers ’ books - there are several owners of the book - brothers

Exceptional nouns (men, women, policemen, sportsmen, children and others - ) form the possessive case in the usual way:
EXAMPLES
the men 's cars - men's cars
the children 's toys – children's toys

1.5. A noun in the possessive case answers the question Whose? —Whose?

When answering, we can omit the noun after 's:
Whose cap is this? – It is the boy's cap. or It is the boy's.
Whose caps are these? – They are the boys’caps. or They are the boys'.

2. Possessive case in English (advanced level)

2.1. Group of words in the possessive case

A group of words can be in the possessive case:
my elder brother Peter’s son - the son of my elder brother
Peter and Helen’s flat - Peter and Helen’s apartment

Sometimes there are even such constructions: What’s Susan’s brother’s name? -What is the name of Susan's brother?

2.2. Nouns that cannot be used in the possessive case

As a rule, only animate nouns, i.e. design the table's legs unacceptable.

Exceptions: inanimate nouns that are used in the possessive case

Note: In dedications the possessive case is not used:
the Pushkin Monument, the Kennedy Center,
the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Tate Gallery

2.3. Noun as adjective

Sometimes, instead of a noun in the possessive case, you can simply see noun, which also performs adjective function.

Remember: sometimes a noun (usually singular) standing before another noun does not require the possessive case, since it answers a question Which? and not whose?

EXAMPLES
a kitchen table - kitchen table
a newspaper article - newspaper article
a television program - television program
health problems - health problems
garden vegetables - garden vegetables

But
men's clothes
women's room - a women's room
children's magazine - a children's magazine

The Possessive Case

A noun in the possessive case denotes ownership, answers the question “whose?” and serves as a definition in relation to another noun.

According to the rules of English grammar, a noun in the possessive case takes place before the noun of which it serves as a modifier. It is transmitted into Russian through the genitive case or possessive adjective:

my mother’s friend my mother’s friend (genitive case)

Ann’s best friends Ann’s best friends (possessive adjective)

Formation of the possessive case

The possessive case of nouns is formed as follows:

1. By adding an apostrophe and ending – s (apostrophe sign and letter s) to a noun, if it is used in the singular:

the father’s rod

the mother's bag

the badger's tail

Nina’s report Nina’s report

There are three options for pronunciation of the ending of a noun in the possessive case:

1) [s] – if the noun to which it is attached ends in a voiceless consonant:

the cat's fur cat's fur

the snake's skin

2) [z] – if the noun ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant:

the boy's decision

Tom's yacht Tom's yacht

the kid’s snow suit

3) [ız] – if the noun ends: -s, -ss, -se, -x, -sh, - -ch, that is, with hissing or whistling sounds:

Rex's coat

the fish’s fin

Note: If the noun that needs to be put in the possessive case is a proper noun and ends in the letter –s, then the possessive case is formed using an apostrophe and the ending –s or only an apostrophe ‘:

James's rucksack James' backpack

James' rucksack James' backpack

Both options are correct.

2. By adding only an apostrophe, if the noun is used in the plural:

the students’ mistakes

the grandmothers’ garden

Note:

A) If the ending – s is not used when forming the plural of a noun, then the possessive case is formed by adding an apostrophe and ending – ‘s, that is, in fact, the way it is formed by singular nouns:

the mice"s holes

the oxen's horns

the people’s opinion

B) The possessive case of indefinite personal pronouns is formed in a similar way:

somebody's umbrella

everyone's rights

nobody's room

3. If it is necessary to form the possessive case of a compound noun, then the apostrophe ‘ and the ending – s are added to the last word:

my mother-in-law’s glasses

The same rule applies if one item belongs to two or more persons:

Helen and Bruce's house is enormous. Helen and Bruce's house is huge.

However, if two or more persons do not have the same opinion, subject, etc., then the apostrophe’ and the ending –s are added to each noun separately:

Helen’s and Bruce’s versions of this theory seem

completely different. are fundamentally different.

As a rule, animate nouns are placed in the possessive case. However, the possessive case can also be used for inanimate nouns, which denote:

1) distance or time:

a) They live at two kilometers" distance from the farm.
They live twokilometers from the farm.

b) She had a week’s holiday last year.
She had a week's holiday last year.

2) countries, cities, ships, cars

a) Sydney is Australia's biggest city. Sydney is the largest city in Australia.

b) The “Kabara’s” cargo consisted of bananas and pineapples.
The cargo of the Kabara steamer consisted ofbananas and pineapples.

c) Oil is our country’s biggest export.
The largest share of exports in our country accounts for oil.

3) names of organizations, newspapers:

the Sun's article article from the Sun newspaper

4) with the words nature (nature), water (water), ocean (ocean):

the ocean’s pollution

the water’s temperature

5) names of months, seasons, days of the week, times of day:

winter's holiday winter holidays

May's edition May edition

yesterday's newspaper yesterday's newspaper

6) name of the planets:

The Earth's atmosphere

The Moon's soil

7) collective nouns:

the family’s business

8) expressions denoting monetary units or quantity with the word worth (cost, value):

Could you give me a pound's worth of chips, please?
Give me some chips for one pound, please.

9) names of stores, companies, service centers, houses, where the words house (house), office (office), shop (shop) are omitted in phrases expressing the circumstance of the place:

Was there anything nice at the butcher’s this morning?
Was there anything good about meat?store this morning?

10) in some stable expressions:

for God's sake! for God's sake!

for order’s sake

at a stone’s throw in two steps

Double possessive: two nouns in the possessive case

If it becomes necessary to put two nouns in the possessive case, then one noun is replaced by a noun with the preposition of.

For example, instead of:
He is her nephew's wife’s relative. (He is a relative of her nephew’s wife)
better to use:
He is the relative of her nephew's wife.

To express belonging, a noun with the preposition ‘of’ is often used, which is equivalent to the Russian genitive case. Typically this structure is used with inanimate nouns:

the door of the garage

the top of the mountain

Appears as nominative, accusative and dative) and possessive.

Common Case

The general case form alone, without the help of additional means, cannot convey the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. Such additional means in English are word order in a sentence and prepositions: of - corresponds to the genitive case, to - dative case, by, with - instrumental case, of, about - prepositional case with the prepositions “about” and “about”.
For example:

Possessive Case

Nouns in the possessive case denote the ownership of an object or concept, answering the question whose? - whose?, or relation to another subject, answering the questions what? - which one?, how much? - How many? etc. The possessive case is used in the function of definition and stands before the word being defined.

My sister’s room… My sister’s room… (lit.: sister’s room)

Education

The possessive case is formed:

1. Using an apostrophe (‘) and the letter s (‘s) for singular nouns and for plural nouns that do not have an ending -s:

   the boy’s room - the boy’s room, Tom’s book - Tom’s book, the men’s hats - men’s hats, women’s work - women’s work.

2. Only use an apostrophe (‘) for plural nouns ending in -s:

   the boys’ room - the boys’ room, the students answers - the students’ answers.

Use

In the form of the possessive case we use:

1. Mainly nouns denoting animate objects:

   my teacher’s pen - my teacher’s pen. Tom's friends - Tom's friends.

2. Nouns meaning:
   • time - with words such as minute, hour, day, week, night, month, year, expressing the meaning “during”, “per period”, etc. (unlike cases when this case is not used - see point 2 of the next paragraph):

     today’s newspapers - today’s newspapers, an hour’s absence - absence for an hour, a week’s holiday - a week’s vacation, a year’s journey - a journey that lasts a year;

   • distance:

     a mile s distance - a distance of a mile, two kilometres’ walk - a path of two kilometers;

   • price:

     ten dollars worth of chocolate - 10 dollars worth of chocolate;

   • names of stars and planets:

     the Sun’s rays - the sun’s rays, the Moon’s light - moonlight, the Earth’s resources - the resources of the Earth;

   • names of countries, cities, etc.:

     the United States’ participation - participation of the United States, Moscow s squares - squares of Moscow, this Liverpool’s Cathedral - this cathedral of Liverpool;

   • moving mechanisms or machine parts (in the language of technical literature):

     the plane’s propellers - airplane propellers.

Notes

1. Relationships expressed using the possessive case can be conveyed by a construction with a preposition of:

   France’s economy - the economy of France - the economy of France.

   In cases where the belonging of something to something is expressed (that is, belonging to an inanimate object), then, as a rule, a construction with the preposition is used of:

   the walls of the town - the walls of the city, the legs of the table - table legs.

2. Possessive nouns can be used without a subsequent location noun. In this case, the possessive case has a local meaning. For example:

   at my sister’s - in my sister’s house, at the baker’s - in the bakery.

The possessive case is not used:

1. If of two, usually inanimate, nouns, the first acts as a definition with a pronounced meaning “characteristic, ordinary, used for something,” etc. and the combination is considered as a single, holistic concept:

   a street lamp is a street lamp, and a newspaper article is a newspaper article.

2. With words that express time and act as definitions:

   summer holidays - summer holidays, November fogs - November fogs, birthday party - evening on the occasion of a birthday (time is expressed through age).

3. With names of cities, regions, proper names, etc., when they are an integral element of the name:

   the Gomel University - Gomel University, “The Vitebsk Worker” - “Vitebsk Worker” (newspaper), the Pushkin Museum - Pushkin Museum.

4. With the names of items of clothing, equipment with shades of the meaning described in paragraph I:

   a football ground - a football ground, a coffee cup - a coffee cup.

A speaker’s speech in English can be conveyed in two ways: in direct speech (Direct Speech) and in indirect speech (Indirect/Reported Speech).