‘s / ‘ / of are used to denote possession in English.
Form
| ‘s |
- used with singular nouns
- used with plural nouns not ending in -s
- used with compounds, the apostrophe comes after the last word
|
- the girl’s earring, a child’s toy
- women’s clothing, a children’s hospital
- his mother-in-law’s house
|
| ‘ |
used with plural nouns ending in –s |
ladies‘ shoes, a students‘ union |
| ‘ / ‘s |
used with names ending in –s |
Mrs Jones‘ car / Mrs Jones ‘s car |
Use
| ‘ / ‘s |
for people, animals |
John‘s phone, the dog‘s bone |
| |
ships, boats |
the ship‘s surgeon |
| |
time expressions |
yesterday‘s paper, in four years‘ time |
| |
places of business or residence (without the second noun) |
the butcher‘s, Claridge‘s, Ann‘s |
| of |
for things |
the leg of the table |
| |
for people when it involves a long sentence |
the address of the couple we met in Thailand last year |
| ‘ / ‘s / of |
other vehicles |
the train‘s brakes / the brakes of the train |
| |
organizations |
the government‘s policy / the policy of the government |
Exercises
Possessives: ‘s of s’
- exercise 1: fill in s-genitive (‘s)
- exercise 2: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s or s’)
- exercise 3: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s or s’)
- exercise 4: choose the correct form of the possessives ( ‘s or s’)
- exercise 5: fill in s-genitive (‘s)
- exercise 6: fill in the correct form of the possessives ( ‘s on s’)
- exercise 7: drag and drop exercise ( ‘s)
- exercise 8: various exercises for practising the possessives ( ‘s or s’)
Possessives: ‘s / s’ / ‘ / of
- exercise 1: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s, s’, ‘)
- exercise 2: choose the correct form of the possessives (‘s, s’, of)
- exercise 3: choose ‘s or of
- exercise 4: make phrases with ‘s or of
Useful pages
- exercises for practising possessive pronouns (my/ mine/ of mine etc.)
- exercises for practising countable and uncountable nouns / singular and plural
