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the possessive
works in English
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The Saxon Genitive
The Saxon Genitive is used with the nouns for people, animals, countries, expressions of time, as well as the collective names for people and animals. It establishes a relationship of ownership or possession between two terms.
The Saxon genitive is formed by adding an apostrophe and an “s” to the name of the owner.
Examples
Robin’s car is green.
Julia’s dog is a beautiful westie.
My mum’s coat is brown.
If the name of the owner is plural, only the apostrophe is added. The same happens in the case of words that end with “s“.
Examples
The sailors’ boat.
My friends’ new home.
Texas’ weather is unpredictable in the winter.
In the case of proper names both constructions can be used.
Examples
Mr. Jones’ cat is very old.
Mr. Jones’s cat is very old.
In compound names, the apostrophe and the “s” are added at the end of the last word.
Examples
My brother-in-law’s cousin.
My mother-in-law’s house is on the hill.
When there are several owners, the Saxon genitive rule is applied to the last name of the set.
Examples
Mario and Susan’s children attend primary school.
This is John and Jean’s car.
With collective names, the Saxon genitive is formed with an apostrophe and “s“.
Examples
People’s rights.
Women’s hair.
When the Saxon genitive is used for the name of restaurants, shops, schools, or churches, there is a difference of construction between British English and American English. The first requires the Saxon genitive with apostrophe and “s“, with the second leaves the name unchanged. In these cases, the name of the place (hospital, shop, restaurant, church) is implied.
Examples
British English
St. Mary’s is very ancient.
Are you coming to Paul’s for lunch?
American English
St. Mary’s is very ancient.
Are you coming to Paul’s for lunch?
When there are two cases of possessive in one sentence (the Saxon double genitive), it is interesting to pay attention to order of the words in the sentence, which may be reversed in relation to what happens in other languages.
Examples
This is John’s mother’s car.
Take Emily’s sister’s book, please.
The Saxon genitive is NOT used
- When the relationship expressed is between people and places
- When the owner’s name is followed by a sentence
- With nouns for inanimate objects
To express belonging for nouns for which the Saxon genitive is not applied, the possessive can be expressed with either a construction using the preposition “of“, or with a construction using possessive adjectives or pronouns.
Examples
The cover of the album
The album cover
The door of the car
The car door
She is the wife of a maths teacher that works at my school.
The Queen of England.
Pay Attention to the Apostrophe!
One of the most frequent errors in possessive use is linked to the apostrophe. Remember not the use the apostrophe to form the plural of a noun.
The Wilsons are my neighbors.
Don’t forget that you must use an apostrophe in contractions.
It’s my book!
Don’t go out!
Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
Another way to express possession is by using possessive adjectives and pronouns. In English, the possessive pronoun, is different from the possessive adjective. To avoid making mistakes, therefore, you should take care to memorize and learn to distinguish between them. Here is a table of the possessive pronouns and adjectives in English as well as some examples.
| Person | Adjective | Pronoun |
| 1st person singular | my | mine |
| 2nd person singular | your | yours |
| 3rd person singular masculine | his | his |
| 3rd person singular femenine | her | hers |
| 3rd person singular neutral | its | its |
| 1st person plural | our | ours |
| 2nd person plural | your | yours |
| 3rd person plural | their | theirs |
| Adjetive | Pronoun |
| My | Mine |
| Your | Yours |
| His | His |
| Her | Hers |
| Its | Its |
| Our | Ours |
| Your | Yours |
| Their | Theirs |
Examples
These are my keys. Those are yours.
Our house is quite small. Hers is big.
Our clothing is elegant and smart. Theirs is casual.
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Exercises to practice the possessive in English
Put your knowledge of the possessive in English to the test with the following practical exercises.
A. Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive pronoun according to the theory mentioned above:
- My sister is great. _______ name is Paula.
- Paul is really excited. _______ birthday is really soon!
- My husband and I bought a house. It’ll be _______ third.
- My cousins love cats. _______ parents love cats too, and they have a lot of them.
- Maria is going to England to visit _______ best friend.
- I hate it when my sister takes my clothes without my permission. They’re _______ !
- Fatima and Wendy miss _______ parents so much; they live across the country and they don’t see each other much.
Answers: her, his, our, their, her, mine, their
B. Put the following words in order to form possessive phrases with the apostrophe in the right place.
- Is / principal / big / the / office
_____________________
2. Buddy / work / son / accident / an / had / my
_____________________
3. Bike / Paula / is / new / red
_____________________
4. Old / reached / boss / Carlos / the / day / other / him / out / to
_____________________
5. Me / scares / dentist / office
_____________________
6. Brother / improving / lot / a / grades / are / my
_____________________
7. Property / now / sale Mr. James / is
_____________________
Answers:
- The principal’s office is big.
- My work buddy’s son had an accident.
- Paula’s new bike is red.
- Carlos’s old boss reached out to him the other day.
- The dentist’s office scares me.
- My brother’s grades are improving a lot.
- Mr. James’s property is now on sale.
