1. The chief meaning of the genitive case is that of possession:
...a young man and a girl came out of the solicitors office. (Braine)
He stayed at Fannys flat. (Aldington)
2. Very close to the meaning of possession is that of a part to a whole:
A faint smile had come on Victorines face she was adding up the money
she might earn. (Galsworthy)
His sisters eyes fixed on him with a certain astonishment, obliged him at last
to look at Fleur. (Galsworthy)
3. The Dependent Genitive may express the doer of an action (the so-called subjective genitive) or show that some person is the object of the action (the so-called objective genitive):
It was Toms step, then, that Maggie heard on the steps. (Eliot)
Gwendolens reception in the neighbourhood fulfilled her uncles
expectations. (Eliot)
4. The noun in the genitive case may denote qualitative relations:
He looked ever so much smarter in his new officers clothes with the little
blue chevron... (Aldington)
The use of the genitive case of nouns denoting inanimate things and abstract notions is rather limited.
The genitive case of nouns denoting inanimate things may denote the relations between a part and the whole.
...the sudden shaking of an aspens leaves in the puffs of breeze that rose
along the river... (Galsworthy)
He stepped on the trucks running board hanging on with his left arm. (Heym)
The genitive case of nouns expressing time, space and weight is widely used.
From the depot he was sent to the officers training camp with two days
leave. (Aldington)
They both quite took to him again and during his months leave gave him a
good time. (Aldington)
There is a remnant still of the last years golden clusters... (Eliot)
The three of us had had dinner, and walked down past the theatre to the
rivers edge. (Snow)
B. The Absolute Genitive.
1. The Absolute Genitive may be used anaphorically.
Mrs. Mosss face bore a faded resemblance to her brothers. (Eliot)
The face Michael drew began by being Victorines and ended by being
Fleurs. (Galsworthy)
2. The Absolute Genitive may have local meaning: the stationers, the bakers, the tobacconists, my uncles, etc.
On her way home she usually bought a slice of honey-cake at the bakers.
(Mansfield)
My dear, said the lace collar she secured from Partridges,I fit you
beautifully. (Dreiser)
The Absolute Genitive may be introduced by the preposition of.
She is a relation of the Colonels. (Austen)
Chapter II
THE ARTICLE
General notion.
The article is a structural part of speech used with nouns. There are two articles in Modern English: the indefinite article and the definite article.
The indefinite article has the forms a and an. The form a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound (a book, a pen, a student). The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound (an opera, an apple, an hour). The article is pronounced [q], [qn]; when stressed it is pronounced [eI], [xn].
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The definite article has one graphic form the, which is pronounced in two ways: [DJ]before a vowel sound [DJ "xpl] and [Dq] before a consonant sound [Dq "pen].
The indefinite article has developed from the Old English numeral an (one), and as a result of its origin it is used only with nouns in the singular.
The definite article has developed from the Old English demonstrative pronoun se and in some cases it has preserved this demonstrative meaning in Modern English.
The use of the indefinite article implies that the object is presented as belonging to a class.
The use of the definite article shows that a particular object is meant.
The absence of articles with class nouns in the plural, with abstract nouns and nouns of material has grammatical significance: it shows that the nouns are used in a general sense.
With nouns in the plural some is often used. Some, as well as the absence of articles with class nouns in the plural, is the equivalent of the indefinite article in the singular. Some is used when the speaker wants to emphasize the idea of number. Some is also used with nouns of material if the idea of quantity is implied. Some has the meaning of several with class nouns and a little with nouns of material. Some is hardly ever translated into Russian.
