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Possessives

 

This possessives page brings together information about

  • possessive nouns
  • possessive adjectives
  • possessive pronouns
  • questions
  • reciprocal pronouns  

 

Comments

asadee's picture
Submitted by asadee on 14 June, 2013 - 18:57. Sri Lanka

we can understand easy.clear.thanks British council.srilanka

jan harvey's picture
Submitted by jan harvey on 28 January, 2013 - 17:10. United Kingdom (Great Britain)

Hello
 
Please could you let me know if a file that belongs to Peter is
 
Peters file
Peter's file
or
Peters' file
 
Thanks!

j_amarildo's picture
Submitted by j_amarildo on 14 February, 2013 - 18:52. Brazil

Peter's file. The (') always gets after noum and before the "s". 

zagrus's picture
Submitted by zagrus on 28 January, 2013 - 10:43. United Arab Emirates

Hi,
What is the difference between " where were you" and where have you been" I mean in which context we use them?
 
Thanks in advance

j_amarildo's picture
Submitted by j_amarildo on 14 February, 2013 - 19:02. Brazil

I think that "where were you?" refe to displacement of somepeople and later he return and "where have you been" refer to somepeople that been in someplace that I don't know where.
I think is this! Sorry for some wrong and teach me please! XD

leelor's picture
Submitted by leelor on 19 January, 2013 - 10:14. Laos

hello every body

zagrus's picture
Submitted by zagrus on 16 January, 2013 - 15:51. United Arab Emirates

Hi,
 
Can I say" i am hot or cold instead of I feel hot/ cold."
 
Thanks in advance

jamesregan's picture
Submitted by jamesregan on 17 January, 2013 - 15:52. United Kingdom (Great Britain)

You can say both, but 'I am hot' is also used to describe yourself as attractive or  very good at something.

zagrus's picture
Submitted by zagrus on 15 January, 2013 - 16:54. United Arab Emirates

Hi,
I have a problem in differentiating between the  meaning  of apostrophe ('s) that shows  possession and modifying nouns. For example: what is the difference between
(Students' Number and Students Number)
I read about them but I couldn't understand the difference well.so, could you please .explain them for me

Thanks in advance

Jeremy Bee's picture
LearnEnglish
team
Submitted by Jeremy Bee on 9 March, 2013 - 08:49. Taiwan

Hello zagrus!

When you use the apostrophe, it tells you something about who owns the noun. When there's no apostrophe, the word before tells you something about the main noun. Your two examples are a little complicated to explain, so let's look at a clearer example:
 
Student's book: This is a particular book which belongs to a student.
Who does this book belong to?
I don't know, but it must be a student's book - some of the exercises are already done.
 
Student book: This is what KIND of book
What kind of book is this?
Oh it's a student book - it has exercises, but no answers.

Hope that helps!
 
Regards
 
Jeremy Bee
The LearnEnglish Team