Possessive way of education case of use. Cases of nouns in English

In English grammar there is no case system similar to Russian, but it has its own special case, which has no analogue in Russian. More precisely, there are such constructions in our language, but they refer to a completely different part of speech - the adjective. What is it? As you probably already guessed, today we are going to talk about the possessive case of nouns in English. Let's explore this branch of the English language system and learn how to use it correctly by working through this skill through the exercise.

In fact, English nominally has three whole case forms: subjective, object and possessive. Why nominally? Because in practice, visible changes with a word occur only in the possessive case. . The other two cases are a kind of marker for revealing the syntactic role of a word.

The subjective form, as the name implies, always belongs to the subject, that is, the subject performing the action. The object case of nouns indicates that these words play the role of an object in the sentence. But, again, we repeat, this theoretical knowledge is of little use in practice, because in both cases the noun will have the same dictionary form. Putting a noun in the possessive case is another matter. Here the form changes, and a special grammatical sign appears. But we'll talk about this in more detail in the next section.

The meaning and formation of the possessive form

To express the belonging of objects to any person or other subject, the possessive form of words is used. In Russian, it is given adjectives, and in English - nouns. There are several ways to form this case.

Singular

Singular words have two constructions. If we are talking about describing an animated person, then the stem of the word undergoes changes: an apostrophe 'and the ending s are added to its end.

• Sheneeds Jack ’S phonenumber - She needs Jack's phone number.
• Itis mother ’S birthdaytoday - Today is my mother's birthday.

This rule applies even when words end in –s or similar sounds.

• Liz ’S exercisesweresimpler - Lisa's exercises were simpler.
• It is hard, but it is such an actress's life -Thishard,butsuch isa lifeactresses.
• It is Mr. Fox's letter -ThislettermisterFox.

It is important to note that this ending has different pronunciations. When it is preceded by a voiceless consonant, it reads like a Russian C, and if the last letter of the stem is a voiced consonant or vowel, then s is pronounced like a Russian Z. A separate case when a word ends in -s and similar combinations (-sh, - ch, -se, -x). In such a situation, the ending is voiced by the Russian IZ. To quickly memorize these rules, it is recommended to perform small exercises on reading examples aloud with the correct pronunciation.

As for the inanimate category, it is possible to form the possessive case of nouns in English for it only with the help of a preposition. Immediately, we note that there are several exceptions from the total number, but they will be a separate discussion.

For most inanimate nouns, the possessive form has several components.

• I forgot the end (1) of (2) the story (3) – I AMforgotthe endthisstories.

Let's consider a few more examples to work out this scheme.

• This page of the book is yellow -Thispagebooksyellow.
• I heard the sound of the train – I AMheardsoundtrains.
• My friend sat at the end of the hall – Myfriendsatvthe endhall.

Plural

For animate nouns, the formation of possessive forms has some nuances.

Those words that already have the ending -s in the plural, when put in the possessive case, add only an apostrophe to the ending of the stem.

• There are boys ’toys in the box -Vthisboxlietoysboys.
• The actresses' dresses are very expensive -Dressesactressesveryexpensive.
• The Browns' house was built in 1986 -HouseBrownswasbuiltin 1986.

Nouns with a special form plural, form a possessive with the combination '+ s.

• There are a lot of women’s shops in the street -On thethisthe streeta bunch offemaleshops.
• He bought the deer's horns at the souvenir shop -Vsouvenirshopheboughtthesereindeerhorns.
• The children’s pictures are simple and bright -Thesebabydrawingssimpleandbright.

The possessive case of inanimate nouns coincides in construction with the singular form.

• The legs of the chairs were broken -Legsof thesechairswerebroken.
• I often walk on the roofs of the buildings – I AMoftenwalkingonrooftopsbuildings.
• My wife likes the flowers of the fields – Mywifelikefieldflowers.

As you can see from the examples, the formation of possessive forms does not cause any particular difficulties. But before you can solve the exercises, you need to deal with the already mentioned exceptions.

Possessive nouns in English - table of exceptions

It so happened historically that some inanimate nouns form possessive forms like animated faces, i.e. by attaching an apostrophe and s. Let's consider such situations using a table.

Categories	The words	Examples of
Indication of place, name of the object	dentist's office, baker's shop, hairdresser's salon, chemist's shop, McDonald's restaurantandT.P.	Tomorrow I must go to the dentist's office . I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. They had lunch at McDonald's . They had dinner at McDonald's.
Names of countries and cities.	Berlin’s, England’s, Spain’s, Prague’s, Warsaw’sandT.P.	I have never walked in the Warsaw's streets . I have never walked the streets of Warsaw. I don’t know Spain's traditions . I don't know Spanish traditions.
Time designations.	moment’s silence, hour’s, day’s, May’sandT.P.	It was moment's silence. Thiswasmomentsilence. We are going to our dacha in the May's holidays . We are going to our summer cottage during the May holidays.
Distance measures	miles ’, kilometers’andT.P.	This building is at 14 miles' distance from this house. This building is 14 miles from this home.
Special words	river's, company’s, town’s, moon’s, city’s, sun’s, world’s, ocean’s, Earth’s	I have visited many city's museums . I have visited many city museums. We have been discussing our company’s future for 2 hours, when Peter offered a great idea. We had been discussing the future of our company for two hours when Peter came up with a great idea.

We have now completely covered the construction of the possessive case in nouns and are ready to successfully complete the practice exercise. See you in new classes!

Case Is a grammatical category that shows the relationship of a noun with other words in a sentence. Previously, there were several cases in the English language, but over time, only two remained: common case(the common case) and possessive(the possessive / genitive case).

The Common Case

The form common case have all nouns. In general, nouns have a zero ending ( car,bird), i.e. this case is not indicated in any way. That is why, in the absence of prepositions, the relationship of such nouns to other words in a sentence is determined only by the place it occupies in the sentence.

Let's consider what functions a noun in the general case can perform in a sentence.

• The noun that comes before the predicate is used in the function subject and corresponds in Russian to a noun in the nominative case.

For instance:

Thedog bit the man. - Dog bit the man. (Who bit it? The dog.)

• The noun that comes after the predicate performs the function direct addition and corresponds in Russian to a noun in the accusative case without a preposition.

For instance:

The dog bit theman... - The dog bit a man.(Who did she bit? A man.)

• If between the predicate and a noun that performs the function of a direct object, there is another noun in the general case without a preposition, which denotes a person, it is an indirect object. Such a noun corresponds in Russian to a noun in the dative case without a preposition.

For instance:

Maria showed herfriends the photos. - Maria showed to my friends photos. (To whom did you show it? Friends.)

General nouns with prepositions of,to,by and with help to express relationships that are conveyed in Russian using indirect cases without prepositions. In this case, prepositions are not translated into Russian in separate words.

General nouns with OF

General noun with a preposition of corresponds in Russian to a noun in the genitive case and is a definition in relation to the noun that precedes it.

For instance:

The walls of the house are made of brick. - Walls Houses made of bricks. (The walls of what? At home.)

General nouns with TO

Noun with a preposition to corresponds in Russian to a noun in the dative case and is used in the function of a prepositional indirect object.

For instance:

Maria showed the photos toherfriends... - Maria showed pictures to my friends... (To whom did you show it? Friends.)

General nouns with BY

Noun with a preposition by corresponds in Russian to a noun in the instrumental case. This combination is commonly used in the passive voice to denote a character or force. The noun in this case is used in the function of the prepositional object.

The book was written bymyfriend... - The book was written my friend... (Written by whom? A friend.)

The building was destroyed by the hurricane... The building was destroyed hurricane... (Destroyed by what? Hurricane.)

Generic nouns with WITH

Noun with a preposition with also corresponds to the noun in the instrumental case in Russian. This combination is used to designate an object with which a certain action is performed. The noun in this case is also used in the function of the prepositional object.

For instance:

I can’t write withthispen... - I can not write this pen... (Write with what? With a pen.)

Note: nouns in the general case can be used with any preposition and convey those relations that are expressed in Russian using indirect cases with prepositions.

For instance:

I live with my friend.- I live with friend.

This present is for you... - This gift for you.

The Possessive Case

As for the form possessive, then only some groups of nouns have it (more on this below). The possessive case most often expresses the belonging of an object. A noun in the possessive case performs the function of a definition in relation to another noun.

What does the possessive case look like?

Form

The possessive case is formed with the apostrophe and the letter s - ’S — or just an apostrophe - ‘ . In the first way you can get the possessive case for nouns that are in the singular (your father -> your father ‘ s book = your father's book). In the second way it turns out the possessive case for the plural of nouns, which are formed according to the basic rule (his parents -> his parent s‘ car = the car of its parents), as well as for some proper names that end in - s(Socrates -> Socrate s‘ ideas = Socrates' ideas ) .

If the plural of a noun is formed differently than that of the majority, then use first way(their children -> their children ‘ s toys = their children's toys ).

Note 1: in a compound noun ‘ s added to its last element: my mother-in-law -> my mother-in- law ‘ s car = my mother-in-law's car; the passer-by -> the passer- by ‘ s glasses = passers-by glasses.

Note 2: Mary and Peter ’S house = Mary and Peter's house (shared). BUT: Mary ‘ s and Peter ‘ s houses = Mary's house and Peter's house (each has his own) or = Mary's and Peter's houses (each has his own).

With what nouns is the possessive case used?

As mentioned above, not all nouns can form the possessive case. The following groups can do this:

1) animate

Mary's bag - Mary's bag

the boys ’bicycles - bicycles of boys

the team's defeat - team defeat

the tiger’s cage - tiger cage

2) some inanimate

• a) nouns that denote time and distance:

a month’s holiday - a month's vacation

a mile's distance - distance one mile

• b) titles countries and cities as well as the words world,country,city:

Germany's policy - German policy

the city's museums - city museums

• c) nouns ship,boat,yacht:

the ship's name - ship name

• d) some nouns that denote shops:

a / the baker’s / butcher’s / chemist’s etc. (shop) - bakery, butcher, pharmacy

a / the travel agent's etc. (office) - travel agency

the dentist’s / doctor’s / vet’s etc. (surgery) - dentist / doctor / veterinarian's office

NB! in this case, in the sentence, it is enough to use directly the word in the form of the possessive case (for example: I’m at the travelagent ’s(= travel agent's office). She went to the baker's(= baker's shop).). Word house is also often omitted in such cases (for example: I had lunch at my friend’s(= my friend's house). - I dined with my friend).

• e) in phrases for heaven’s sake, for goodness’sake- For heaven's sake
• f) some set expressions: at a snail’s pace- like a snail (very slowly); a hair's breadth- by hair

Note 3: With the exception of those listed above, inanimate nouns tend to indicate affiliation with a preposition of.

the roof of the building

the door of the car

Note 4: two nouns in the possessive case rarely go one after the other. Usually with the second noun in this case, the preposition is used of.

For instance:

This is the cat ofmy friend’s daughter... (instead of This is my friend’s daughter’s cat)

Also of is used if a noun denoting an object to which something belongs is followed by a phrase or sentence:

For instance:

I didn’t take the advice of the woman I met in the city.

In what other cases can the possessive case be used?

On the one hand, the possessive is used to indicate belonging. For example: the girl's name.

On the other hand, it can convey certain quality characteristics of an object. In this case, we are not talking about belonging, but about the properties of the object.

For instance:

a children’s room = children's room

women’s magazines = women's magazines

a Bachelor's degree - bachelor's degree

This is true only if we are talking about a relation to another noun (for example: the roof of a house - the roof ofthehouse). Other relations, conveyed in Russian genitive case, are expressed differently in English (for example: a chair is smaller than a table = the chair is smallerthan the table).

Those. by adding -s to the singular form.

The resulting word is pronounced in this case in the same way as the original one: parents ’- [ˈpeərənts].

Among the proper names that end in -s, there are those in which the possessive case can be formed in both ways. For instance: Burn s‘ life = Burns ‘ s life; Jone s‘ flat = Jones ‘ s flat.

Regardless of how the possessive case is formed in this case, the end of the word, as a rule, reads like [… iz]: Jones ’/ Jones’s -.

English has two cases: common and possessive. Let's analyze each one separately.

Common case - Common case

Nouns in the general case are used in the functions of the subject (and correspond to the noun in the nominative case in Russian), the nominal part of the compound predicate, the addition, and also the circumstance.

The general case form on its own, 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 the order of words in a sentence and prepositions: of - corresponds to the genitive case, to - the dative case, by, with - the instrumental case, of, about - the prepositional case with the prepositions "about" and "about".

For instance:

The dean spoke of our faculty.
The dean (the dean - nominative) told about our faculty.

Students greeted the dean.
The students greeted the dean (accusative).

The lecture of the dean was listened to with great attention.
The dean's lecture (genitive) was listened to with great attention.

A very interesting story was told by the dean.
Very interesting story was narrated by the dean (instrumental).

He missed many lectures and had to explain the reason to the dean.
He missed many lectures and must explain the reason to the dean (dative case).

She told me many interesting things about our new dean.
She told me a lot of interesting things about our new dean (prepositional case).

Possessive case - Possessive case

Possessive nouns denote the belonging of an object or concept, answering the question whose? - whose?, or attitude to another subject, answering the questions what? - what ?, how much? - how? etc. The possessive case is used in the definition function and comes before the word being defined.

My sister "s room ... My sister's room ...

The possessive case is formed:

Using the apostrophe (") and the letter s (" s) for singular nouns and plural nouns without the -s ending:

the boy "s room - the boy's room, Tom" s book - the book of Tom, the men "s hats - the hats of men, women" s work - the work of women.

Only with the apostrophe (") for plural nouns ending in -s:

the boys "room - the boys 'room, the students answers - students' answers.

In the form of the possessive case, the following are used:

Mainly nouns denoting animate objects:

my teacher "s pen is my teacher's pen. Tom" s friends are Tom's friends.

Nouns denoting:

time - with words such as minute, hour, day, week, night, month, year, while expressing the meanings "during", "for a period", etc. (unlike cases when this case is not used - see item 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 - distance in a mile, two kilometers "walk - path in two kilometers;

price:

ten dollars worth of chocolate - $ 10 chocolate;

names of stars and planets:

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

names of countries, cities, etc.:

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

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

the plane "s propellers - aircraft propellers.

Notes (edit)

Relationships expressed using the possessive case can be conveyed by a construction with the 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 of is used:

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

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 a bakery.

The possessive case is not used:

If of two, usually inanimate, nouns, the first acts as a definition with a pronounced meaning "characteristic, common, used for something," etc., and the combination is considered as a single, integral concept:

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

With words that express time and serve as definitions:

summer holidays - summer holidays, November fogs - November fogs, birthday party - birthday party (time is expressed in terms of age).

With the names of cities, districts, proper names, etc., when they are an integral part of the name:

the Gomel University - Gomel University, "The Vitebsk Worker" - "Vitebsk worker" (newspaper), the Pushkin Museum - Pushkin Museum.

With the names of garments, equipment with shades of the meaning described in clause I:

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

Possessive Case

The possessive case in English is used to indicate belonging.

If the noun is in the singular, then the ending "-" is added to it to form the possessive case, and if in the plural, then only the apostrophe is added.

Using the possessive case

1. Animated objects.

The possessive case is used mainly with nouns denoting animate objects.

The student "s room - student's room;
the students "room - students' room;
the student "s books - student books;
the students "books - student books.

The possessive case can refer not only to an individual noun, but to an entire group of nouns.

My girlfriend "s family - my girlfriend's family;
the Russian President "s decree - a decree of the President of Russia.

The possessive case is often used with names.

Jack "s coat - Jack's coat;
Donald's house - Donald's house;
Maxwell "s equations - Maxwell equations.

If the name ends in "s", then the possessive case can be formed either in the usual way, i.e. add "-" s, or add only an apostrophe.

Doris "[ˈdɒrɪsɪz] dress - Doris dress;
Doris "s [ˈdɒrɪsɪz] dress - Doris dress.

The names Doris "and Doris" s are read the same in the possessive case, with the ending [ɪz].

2. Inanimate objects.

Nouns denoting inanimate objects can also take the form of the possessive case. Some of them are listed below.

2.1 World, nature, water, earth and others.

The Earth "s gravity - the gravity of the Earth;
water "s edge - water edge;

2.2 Cities, countries, seasons, months.

Moscow "s streets - Moscow streets;
summer "s day - summer day;
Germany "s policy - German policy.
January "s frost - January frost.

2.3 Distance, time.

Yesterday "s news - yesterday's news;
a kilometer "s distance is one kilometer.

Absolute possessive

Absolute possessive example:

I spent the summer at my grandmother "s. - I spent the summer with my grandmother.

There is no other noun after the absolute possessive noun.

The absolute possessive can be used to indicate a place.

At my grandmother "s - at the grandmother's;
at the hairdresser "s [ˈhɛəˌdrɛsəz] - in the hairdresser's.

"s or of to apply?

The possessive case indicates belonging. In the possessive case, the ending "-" s "is used. But belonging can also be indicated using the" of "form.

Ann "s bag
the bag of ann

There are no clear rules when to use "-" s, and when "of" is a form to indicate belonging. In general, options with "-" s "look more natural.

The "-" s "form is often used when the noun-owner denotes animate object ... This is the norm in cases:

1. When real ownership is indicated:

2. Indication of action or quality:

The student "s work is excellent.

Both examples can be rearranged using the "of" preposition, which leads to the logical emphasis of the nouns "pencil" and "work":

The pencil of Ann.
The work of the student is excelent.

Variant with "of" must be used if the form with "-" s "gives a different sense of the sentence.