EXPLANATION
The Saxon Genitive is a typical English derivation. It is used to express "ownership". It is formed by adding apostrophe S to the word that indicates the owner.
It is not difficult to understand the concept, but it is also relatively frequent to find mistakes related to it:
Problem no. 1: The genitive of the plurals
When the word is in the plural form (ending in -s/-es) we add the apostrophe but not the S
e.g. The boys' house
Problem no. 2: The genitive of words ending with -s (or finishing with the sound /s/)
In this case, we add apostrophe + S
e.g. That is James's house
Look at the fox's fur
Problem no. 3: How do we pronounce the genitive of the words cited above?
In this case, 's = /IZ/
e.g. That is James's (dzeimziz) house
Look at the fox's (foksiz) fur
Problem no. 4: When do we use Saxon Genitive and when do we use "of-phrase"?
In general, we use Saxon genitive when we refer to people
Or even to animals:
- my uncle's cat has exploded
- John's wife is a beautiful woman
- Mary's husband's job pays well
A cat's whiskers should never be trimmed
In this group we include words which imply associations of animate beings, like herd, audience, gang.
There are also special cases:
- expressions of time, like seasons (last winter's snows)
- abstract expressions related to thought (the project's scope was impressive)
- natural phenomena (the earth's rotation but not *the earth's satellite photograph)
For many speakers, using the "of-phrase" denotes formality:
Milton's poems vs. the poems of Milton.
There are other idiomatic expressions:
- to get your money's worth
- at arm's length
- your heart's desire
PRACTICE
http://club.telepolis.com/englishweb/genitivetags.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/nouns/exercises?04
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