possessive 's and of phrases

1. POSSESSIVES
EF Intermediate +
2B

2. Possessive ‘s
• We usually use possessive ‘s to show possession
after the names of people, animals and
organizations
That’s Mark’s jacket
Have you seen the dog’s lead
The Government’s plan is a recipe for disaster
• We usually use an of phrase with other nouns
What’s the name of the street where you live?
They sat at the back of the bus

3. Possessive ‘s
• If a name ends in –s, we make the possessive
with ‘s or ‘- The pronunciation is / /
I asked Chris’/Chris’s advice
But also
That’s Bruce’s jacket
That is Jimi Hendrix’s guitar
Bush’s policies led the US into a war
Antonio Banderas’s ex-wife is called M.Griffith

4. Possessive ‘s
• Possessives are different for regular and irregular
plurals.
• After a plural ending in –s, we make the
possessive with a final ‘ (no extra s)
This is my parents’ bedroom
• After an irregular plural not ending in –s, we
make the possessive with ‘s
That’s the children’s bedroom

5. Possessive ‘s
• We can use name/person + ‘s to mean that
person’s house or flat
We spent the weekend at Paul’s
I went to my grandmother’s yesterday

6. Possessive ‘s
• ‘s after two names
We saw Tom and Mary’s parents =
Tom and Mary are brother and sister. We saw their
parents
We saw Tom’s and Mary’s parents =
We saw Tom’s parents and Mary’s parents

7. of phrase
• With nouns other than people or animals, we
often use of
I’ve found the top of the shampoo bottle
The glass of the window needs cleaning
(also the window glass, but not the window’s glass)

8. of phrase
• We often use possessive ‘s after of
• We use a possessive pronoun after of
She’s a friend of Paul’s
She’s a friend of his
This is an interesting book of Sarah’s
This is an interesting book of hers
Tell me about that plan of Steve and Anthony’s
Tell me about that plan of theirs

9. own for emphasis
• We often use own after a possessive adjective to
emphasize possession
I’d love to have my own business
That’s my magazine – get your own

10. own verb
• own is also a verb meaning “to have/possess”
I own a snazzy red sports car
That lady with the funny hair over there owns
most of the land in Andalucia and Extremadura
Also, use on _possessive adj__ own to mean
“alone”:
On own
My
Your
Its her his
Our
Your
their