BASIC 2 YAHAD SALAZAR

Possessive ‘s
 Use:
Possessive adjectives after a name and before a noun.
They tell you who owns something.
This is John’s coat.
Is this Tina’s bag?
Don’t use ‘s after things.
I clean the garden’s pond every week. => I clean the pond in the garden every week.
What’s the book’s name? => What’s the name of the book?
You can usually use ‘s after organisations and groups of people.
It’s the government’s decision. OR It’s the decision of the government.
Tom is the company’s new director. OR Tom is the new director of the company.
You can use ‘s after time expressions.
What time is tomorrow’s meeting?

You can sometimes use ‘s after countries and cities.

India’s population is rising.
But you cannot do this if it refers to a person.
I met London’s mayor last week. => I met the mayor of London last week.
England’s Queen is well-known. => The Queen of England is well-known.
 If things have a connection to people we also use the s-genitive (possessive).
Germany's economy = the ecomony of Germany
 Form:

 To make the possessive form, add ’s to the end of the name.

Is that Jack’s bag?

 With two names, only add ‘s to the second name.

That’s Jane and Harry’s house. NOT That’s Jane’s and Harry’s house.

 If something belongs to two or more people, put the apostrophe(‘) after the plural s. Do
not write a second s.

My parents’ house is really big. NOT My parents’s house is really big.

However, if the plural noun is irregular, write the apostrophe (‘) before the S.
The children’s party was great. NOT The childrens’ party was great.

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BASIC 2 YAHAD SALAZAR

-> Exercises
1. How many things belong to how many people? Choose from the drowdown menu.

1. our teacher's tablet =

2. the dogs' hutch =

3. the men's sandwiches =

4. the woman's budgies =

5. our baby's toys =

6. the mice's cage =

7. my friend's car =

8. my friend's cars =

9. my friends' car =

10. my friends' cars =

2. Do you found any mistake?
1. This is Julian's book.
2. He is Laura's brother.
3. The children's room is nice.
4. Where is Nick's football?
5. Our parents' van is big.
6. My aunt's family lives in Scotland.
7. The Bakers' house is green.
8. My grandma's watch is always slow.
9. These are my mum's keys.
10. The secretaries' laptops are brand new.
3. Write the correct form of the possessives into the gaps (apostrophe 's).

1. This is book. (Peter)

2. Let's go to the . (Smiths)

3. The room is upstairs. (children)

4. sister is twelve years old. (John)

5. and school is old. (Susan – Steve)

6. shoes are on the second floor. (men)

7. My car was not expensive. (parents)

8. CD player is new. (Charles)

9. This is the bike. (boy)

10. These are the pencils. (boys)

11. Sarah is aunt. (Emily)

12. These are our cats. (friends)

13. Let's meet at for lunch. (Giovanni)

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BASIC 2 YAHAD SALAZAR

14. Where is the shower? (ladies)

15. This is our car. (boss)

16. My dad is my uncle. (cousin)

17. Did you read newspaper? (yesterday)

18. and bags are black. (Jack – Joe)

19. Our grandparents live in an old home. (people)

20. That sandwich would not be to taste. (everyone)

4. Write apostrophe 's or the of-phrase into the gaps.

1. (a glass) milk →

2. (my friend) bike →

3. (the window) room →

4. (Mr Smith) car →

5. (ten minutes) walk →

6. (the headteacher) office →

7. (the number) house →

8. (two days) work →

9. (the waiter) shoes →

10. (Britain) economy →

5. Answer the questions.
1. Which sentence is correct?
rAre you going to Dan and Suzies’ party? 6. Which sentence is best?
Are you going to Dan’s and Suzie’s party? Do you have the newspaper of yesterday?
Are you going to Dan and Suzie’s party? Do you have yesterday’s newspaper?
2. Which sentence is best? Do you have yesterdays’ newspaper?
That’s Bobs’ car. 7. That’s my sisters’ bedroom.
That’s Bobs car. How many girls sleep in this room?
That’s Bob’s car. one
3. Can you look after the ___ rabbit while we two or more
are on holiday? It is impossible to know.
childrens’ 8. Which sentence is best?
children’s Istanbul is the biggest city of Turkey.
childrens’s Istanbul is Turkey’s biggest city.
4. That’s not my bag. It’s my ___ . Istanbul is Turkeys’ biggest city.
brothers 9. That’s _____ car.
brother’s Anne’s parents’
brothers’s Annes’ parent’s
5. Write your name at the ___. Anne’s parents
page in the top 10. I never read ____ magazines.
page’s top woman’s
top of the page women’s
womens’