Possessive CaseGenitive Saxon

Created by Javier Gónzalez Marín

Formation• The possessive case is formed in two

ways:– with ‘s for people and animals

e.g.: Jim’s flat– with the preposition of for things

the legs of the table

the cat’s eyes

This is John. These are John’s parents.

• We use the possessive case:– to show that something belongs to somebody.

e.g. Mary’s bag, John’s ball– to explain the relationship between two or

more people.

e.g. Tom’s uncle, Peter’s friend– to talk about shops and houses.

e.g. He’s at the baker’s (baker’s shop)

They’re at Bob’s. (Bob’s house)

Formation• Singular nouns or proper nouns take ‘s.

e.g.: the boy’s ball, Emily’s car– When the proper name ends in –s we add ‘s

or only an apostrophe (‘).

e.g. Doris’s hat or Doris’ hat

• Plural nouns ending in -s take ‘(apostrophe)

e.g. the girls’ house

• Irregular plural nouns take ‘s.

e.g.: the men’s boat

Possession / Possessor

• Same thing belongs to two or more people

we add ‘s only to the last noun

Paul and Tina’s house

(The house belongs to both of them)

Possession / Possessor• Two or more things belong to two or more

people (and we want to show that each person has his/her own thing)

we add ‘s to each noun

Mary’s and Tom’s roller skates (Each has his/her roller skates)

Asking about possession

• When we want to know to whom something belongs we use the question word whose

Whose horse is this?

It’s Helen’s. (It’s Helen’s horse)