Page 193 - Basic English Usage

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251 possessive ’S: use

1 Meanings
We can use the possessive 's to talk about several different sorts of
ideas. The meaning is often similar to the meaning of have.
That's my father’s house. (My father has that house.)
Mary's brother is a lawyer. (Mary has a brother who is a lawyer.)
the plan’s importance (the importance that the plan has)
Other meanings are possible.
! didn't believe the girl’s story. (The girl told a story.)
Have you read John’s letter? (John wrote a letter.)
the government’s decision (The government made a decision.)
the train’s arrival (The train arrived.)
2 sand of

We use the possessive structure (A's 8) most often when the first noun
(A) is the name of something living. In other cases, we often use a
structure with of (the B of A). Compare:
father)
my father’s house (NOT the house
of
my
the plan’s importance op the importance of the plan
3 Time expressions
We often use the possessive to refer to particular times, days, weeks
etc.
this evening’s performance
last Sunday’s paper
next week’s TV programmes
this year’s profits
But we do not use the possessive when the expression of time has a
‘general’ meaning.
the nine o'clock news
(NOT the-ttine-o-eloci¢s news)
a Sunday newspaper
(NOT -@Sunday’s-newspaper)
We also use the possessive in ‘measuring’ expressions of time which
begin with a number.
ten minutes’ walk two weeks’ holiday
4

We can also put two nouns together in the structure | noun + noun
(for example a table leg; a Sunday newspaper). For details of this
structure, see 226.