The possessive case is mainly used with nouns denoting living beings (people, animals).
e.g. a womans intuition
the crews quarters
In the following instances the possessive case may be used with names denoting inanimate nouns ( lifeless things):
1) with nouns expressing time or distance;
e.g. a few days trip
a miles distance
a moments pause
2) with the geographical notions (town, city, country, river, water, ocean, world);
e.g. Europes future
the islands outline
Russias exports
3) with ships and boats;
e.g. the ships bell
the yachts mast
4) with planes, trains, cars and other vehicles
! (though here the of construction is better);
e.g. the trains heating system or the heating system of the train
5) in expressions of money + worth;
e.g. ten roubles worth of stamp
thirty thousand pounds worth of jewellery
6) with for + noun + sake;
e.g. for his mothers sake
for her familys sake
7) in set-expressions;
! REMEMBER THEM
| A stones throw |
| For pitys sake |
| At deaths door |
| To ones hearts content |
| At ones wits end |
| At ones fingers ends |
| To a hairs breadth |
| Out of harms way |
| For old acquaintances sake |
| For appearances sake |
| A pins head |
| The needles eye/point |
| For goodness sake |
| For heavens sake |
| In ones minds eye |
| Dutys call |
8) with the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different kinds of organizations;
e.g. the Tribunes role
the governments policy
the partys appeal
9) sometimes with names of seasons, months, days when they are personified;
e.g. todays newspaper
a winters day or winter day
Autumns return
OF + noun is used for possessions:
1) with inanimate nouns, except those listed above;
e.g. the walls of the room
the roof of the house
the handle ofthe door
However, it is often possible to replace
noun X + of + noun Y by noun Y + noun X in that order:
e.g. the town walls
the house roof
the door handle
The first noun becomes a sort of adjective and is not made plural.
e.g. the roofs of the houses = the house roofs
2) when the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or a clause;
e.g. I took the advice of a couple I met on the train and hired a car.
She is the sister of the girl with whom we were at school together.
SOME SPECIAL CASES OF THE POSSESSIVE CASE.
GROUP - POSSESSIVE.
The possessive case suffix s/ may be added not only to a single noun but to a whole group of words. Its called group-possessive. We find various patterns here:
e.g. Smith and Browns office
Jack and Anns children
(two people possess something in common)
the Prime Minister of Englands residence
the Prince of Denmarks tragedy
(the residence is not of England but of the Prime Minister)
(the tragedy is not of Denmark but of the Prince)
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somebody elses umbrella
an hour or twos time
(in these examples the last element of the group is not a noun)
the man we saw yesterdays son
(this example can puzzle anybody but the fact is the son belongs to the man but not to yesterday)
THE ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVE.
1. If the noun which is modified by the possessive case has already been mentioned and is clear from the text, it may be omitted to avoid repetition.
e.g. It was not Johns brother, but Marys.
I heard a voice; it was my brothers.
2. The noun modified by the possessive case is also often omitted when it denotes place (house, shop, cathedral, etc.) or institutions, where the possessive is usually a saints name.
e.g. I saw him at my fathers (house).
Go to the bakers (shop).
You can buy it at the chemists (shop).
We had lunch at Bills (place).
They went to St. Pauls (Cathedral).
The ceremony took place at St. Jamess (palace).
Names of the owners of some businesses can be used similarly.
e.g. Sothebys
Claridges
THE COMBINATION OF + POSSESSIVE.
The combination of + possessive case (a friend of my brothers) or of + possessive pronoun (a friend of mine) has usually a partitive meaning, denoting one of ...
e.g. He is an old friend of my fathers.
( .)
But sometimes the partitive meaning is lost and the construction acquires emotional force (denoting praise, pleasure, displeasure, etc.) or becomes purely descriptive.
e.g. We all admired that clever remark of your fathers.
That cottage of my friends is surrounded by a beautiful orchard.
