Possessives

Possessives

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Submitted by Nagie23 on Wed, 21/02/2024 - 17:00

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Hello,
I would like which of the following is correct
1.Also, please find attached your homework
2. Also please find attached the homework
Does it need a comma?
Is it your or the?
Thank you in advance

Hello Nagie23,

In general, yes, you should put a comma after 'also' at the beginning of a sentence. There are exceptions to this, but here it is correct.

Both 'the' and 'your' are fine.

Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

Submitted by Sefika on Mon, 23/10/2023 - 18:26

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"I'm a fan of him" vs. "I'm a fan of his"
Is the former considered completely wrong? Couldn't it be used to mean "I adore him"? Could we say that the "of" is similar to "about" (like "I'm crazy about him") in that case? The latter, on the other hand, means "I'm one of his fans", which is quite clear.
My question is more related to "a fan of him".
Thank you.

Hi Sefika,

No, it's absolutely fine to say I'm a fan of him, and the meaning is as you say!

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Submitted by Fonseca on Sat, 05/08/2023 - 11:59

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Hello!
Should I write:
teens' life
or can I use only
teens life?
Thank you.

Hello Fonseca,

Depending on the situation you want to use it in, I would suggest 'teen life', which is a noun modifier. If you follow the link, you can read more about how they work.

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

Submitted by John_walker90 on Thu, 02/02/2023 - 18:48

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Hi there
I'm getting confused with these two sentences. The first sentence is "He hasn't worked," and the second sentence is "He doesn't have a car." But how come the second sentence is used with "doesn't have" but not with "hasn't"? because I'm thinking that "has" is used with the singular, not the plural.

Hello John_walker90,

Although both sentences contain the verb 'have', the function of in each sentence is different.

In the sentence 'He hasn't worked' have is used as an auxiliary verb to form the present perfect (have + past participle). To form the negative of verb forms with auxiliary verbs we always attach the negative 'not' to the auxiliary:

He has worked > He hasn't worked

She is coming > She isn't coming

We will go > We won't go

 

In the sentence 'He doesn't have a car' have is the main verb with the meaning of possession or ownership, not an auxiliary verb. When we construct negatives with main verbs we add the auxiliary do in the appropriate form:

He has a car > He doesn't have a car

She lived there > She didn't live there

I write every morning > I don't write every morning

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Nessie1979 on Tue, 13/12/2022 - 10:45

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Hello there!

Can I write Granollers facilities? Or shoud I write Granollers' or Granollers's?

Thanks!!

Hi Nessie1979,

It should be Granollers' facilities or Granollers's facilities (both are acceptable spellings when the noun ends in -s, but I think the first one is more common). 

However, with cities, it's also common to phrase it like this: the facilities in Granollers.

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by zppp1611 on Sun, 21/08/2022 - 08:52

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Hi, can you please advise which is correct please with the use of the apostrophe. Jess’ Travel Journal or Jess’s Travel Journal?
Thanks

Hi zppp1611,

Both are correct, but most people would use the first one, I think :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by SaraZaber on Mon, 27/06/2022 - 20:33

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Hi,

Clear my doubts please.
Apostrophes are not used for any living things then why do we write apostrophe here with this noun-

My school's name is xyz

Why can't I just say or write it as
My school name is xyz.

Thank you

Hello SaraZaber,

I'm not sure where you got that rule! It's perfectly fine to use apostrophes with both animate and inanimate nouns to form possessives:

My brother's dog is a Labrador. [animate / living]

My house's roof is leaking. [inanimate / non-living]

 

Sometimes we can form a compound noun using two nouns together:

the car door

the city limits

the school building

 

You could use 'school name' but it would be more likely in the context of talking about the name in general terms (as a concept) rather than a specific example:

I don't like my school's name. [specific example]

It's important to choose a good school name for marketing purposes. [general]

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by milher on Tue, 03/05/2022 - 21:13

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hello everyone good afternoon, possessive pronouns help us improve the way we refer to something as ours, simply with the help of the 's or s'. Normally, people who do not know or are learning English, think of the sentence in Spanish and in the same way they believe that it is written in English.

Submitted by saka2005 on Mon, 18/04/2022 - 16:01

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Hello, I have heard a few years back that the use of the apostrophe is rather informal and should be avoided when possible. Can you please confirm if this is accurate?

Thanks!

Hello saka2005,

I assume you're talking about the use of contractions such as you're (you are), he's (he is), they've (they have) and so on. In writing, contractions are informal but that doesn't mean we should avoid them. Often, and informal style is appropriate, especially when we know the other person well or when the context is informal, such as on an internet forum! It's a question of knowing your audience and their expectations. Being very formal can also be an error in some situations.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Magnus on Sat, 09/04/2022 - 11:04

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Good morning,

I have got a question concerning the possessives with -of or 's in connection with a relative clause. I would be grateful if you could send me a feedback on the following three sentences:

1. The article deals with the immigration to England of Joshua who is a teacher from Jamaica.
This sentence seems grammatically correct, but does it sound natural? Is the sentence structure ok or would it be better to say "the immigration of Joshua to England"? Would the relative clause still fit then?
2. The article deals with Joshua’s immigration to England who is a teacher from Jamaica.
In this case the possessive -s probably works better (the noun [possessing] is a person), but the relative pronoun ‘who’ does not clearly refer back to Joshua so that the relative clause would be grammatically wrong.
3. The article deals with Joshua’s immigration from Jamaica to England.
The information that he is a teacher is left out (can it be included somehow?). Does the possessive -s sound more idiomatic than ‘the immigration to England of Joshua'?

Thank you for your help which has always been very useful.

Best,

Magnus

Hello Magnus,

1. Yes, this sentence is grammatically correct, though a comma is needed before 'who'. It's slightly awkward, but not unnatural, and I think is the best way to express all of these ideas in one sentence without a semi-colon (see my comments on 3 below).

2. Yes, the possessive 's is more natural, but this sentence doesn't work for the reason you mention -- its object makes the antecedent of the relative pronoun 'who' unclear.

3. This sentence is correct and natural. If you wanted to add in the information about him being a teacher, you could add a semi-colon and another clause: 'The article deals with Joshua's immigration from Jamaica to England; Joshua is a teacher.'

Assuming that this sentence occurs in a larger context, though, I think a more elegant solution would be to have either his name or his profession appear in another sentence. For example, 'The article deals with Joshua's immigration to England. Feeling a desire to teach children in a large city, he decided to move from his native Jamaica to London.'

Hope that helps.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Samin on Sun, 24/01/2021 - 12:26

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Hello again Can you please tell me what's the real difference between concrete and abstract noun Like god, air,light, darkness,song.. Are they concrete or abstract nouns

Hello Samin,

Concrete nouns are generally things that can be perceived by one of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell). Abstract nouns are ideas or concepts which exist in the mind. Note that concrete nouns do not have to be real: unicorn, dragon and the Starship Enterprise are all concrete nouns.

I would say that all of your examples are concrete nouns, though in certain contexts some could be used as abstract nouns.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Yigido on Fri, 25/12/2020 - 08:19

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Hi team, I read in my grammar book ''Possession-'s- can not use in things'' as You can not say -notebook's cover-,but I have seen this sentence in news''America's industrial giants''Which one is true can we use -'s' things or can not we use?
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Submitted by Jonathan R on Sun, 27/12/2020 - 04:41

In reply to by Yigido

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Hi Yigido,

It's a good question :) The short answer to your question is yes - we can use the possessive 's for things. However, the situation is a bit complicated, and it depends on what the thing is and the context of use.

 

As you mentioned, books often teach that the possessive 's cannot be used for things. But, this is only a general pattern, not a strict grammatical rule. Words about places and countries often use the possessive 's, and so do words about companies or institutions, and words about time.

  • the country's government
  • France's most famous building
  • Apple's CEO
  • the university's reputation
  • today's schedule
  • tomorrow's weather

 

It's true that for physical objects, people tend not to use the possessive 's. People more commonly say, for example: 

  • the car door or the door of the car (instead of the car's door)
  • the bottle top or the top of the bottle (instead of the bottle's top)

Your example of the notebook's cover is another example of this. I would probably say the cover of the notebook here. But it's important to realise that even though using the possessive 's is less common, it's not impossible, and you might hear or see these forms being occasionally used.

 

In my opinion, using the possessive 's (e.g. the car's door) gives slightly more emphasis to the possessor (i.e. the car). We might use this if we want to maintain focus on the possessor, e.g. We need to repair this car's door, not that car's door. The alternative forms give slightly more emphasis to the thing that is possessed (i.e. the door in the car door or the door of the car), so we might use this if there's no need to emphasise the possessor, e.g. We need to repair the car door, not the window.

Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by dipakrgandhi on Thu, 08/10/2020 - 12:35

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Sir, I have not been able to find the page for prepositions - so this question in this section. Please provide me the link for preposition page if there is any . My friend has expired at a very young age. In my condolence message I put this sentence : 'Not an age to leave this world at.' I intended to end the sentence with preposition. What I mean is it is sad that he had to leave this world at this age. But I feel that I am erring in thew construction - it is wrong to end with 'at'. Please guide me and explain what this 'at' associates with in this sentence. Regards Dipak Gandhi
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Submitted by Jonathan R on Thu, 08/10/2020 - 15:23

In reply to by dipakrgandhi

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Hi dipakrgandhi,

Thanks for your question. We don't have a specific section for prepositions at the moment.

First of all, condolences for the loss of your friend.

Your sentence ending with at is a correct sentence. At relates to the noun age earlier in the sentence. 

Traditionally, it is sometimes taught that we should not end a sentence with a preposition, as you mention. However, speakers and writers actually do this very often, especially in everyday language use, so your sentence is perfectly acceptable.

You could rephrase it like this, e.g.: Not an age at which to leave this world. But this sounds rather more formal in style, and is unnecessary for all but the most formal situations.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you - for your condolence message and for the answer !
Profile picture for user dipakrgandhi

Submitted by dipakrgandhi on Wed, 05/08/2020 - 05:55

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My son has posted this comment on his college what's app group : Please pay the fees of 2 nd year. I told him that it should be : 1) Please pay the second year fees. or 2) Please pay the fees for 2nd year. He wants to know why "... of the second year" is wrong. How do I explain him that it is wrong grammatically. Please help.

Hello dipakrgandhi,

You are correct that it is not the standard way to express this, and your suggestions are much better.

I wouldn't say that there is a grammar rule which explains why your son's formulation is not correct. It's more a case of convention.

You can use of in this way: the fees of the university. When talking about the period which they cover, use forthe fees for the second year.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by NoelBiju17 on Fri, 13/03/2020 - 05:07

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I have a doubt. Is it grammatically correct to say : "I struck him by the face" ?

Hello NoelBiju17,

If you want to say where a blow fell, then the correct form is 'struck in'. However, you could use by with the sense of next to, if that was your intention.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by anie1 on Mon, 11/11/2019 - 14:20

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Hello I would like to ask if the following is correct 1.My friends say that it is a great flat, but to me is just "my sweet home" or 2.... but for me is just "home sweet home" Thank you in advance

Submitted by anie1 on Mon, 11/11/2019 - 14:16

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Hello, I would like to ask if the following is correct 1.The house many rooms and of of them is the study or 2.The house has many rooms and one of those is the study, 3.study or the study room? Thank you in advance

Submitted by InmaLD on Mon, 23/09/2019 - 18:19

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What is the difference between " 's " and "of"? e.g.: Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a friend of mine. (NOT Susan is a friend of me.) I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of Susan's. (NOT I am a friend of Susan.)

Hello InmaLD

Except for the fact that the first forms suggest that Susan has more than one friend, there is no real difference in meaning between the two forms.

Just as you can say 'mi amiga' or 'una amiga mía', but not 'una mi amiga', in English you can say 'my friend' or 'a friend of mine', but not 'a my friend'.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Rafaela1 on Sun, 31/03/2019 - 11:25

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Hello admins, I'm not really sure when to use possesives correctly. For example, they coordinated (their) opinions and introduced (the/ their) discussions afterward. Could you give us some explanation?
Hi Rafaela1 In general, we use the possessive form when the thing mentioned (for example, here, 'opinions' and 'discussions') 'belongs' in some way to the person or people. It's difficult for me to say anything for sure about the sentence you mention, because I don't completely understand what it refers to, but 'their' before opinions shows that the opinions are the opinions of 'they' (and not other people). As for 'discussions', it's not clear to me which discussions these are, so it's difficult to advise you on that one. If the discussions are discussions that the same people who coordinated their opinions have had, then 'their' is probably correct. I hope this helps you, but if you have any other questions, please let us know. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Vidyaarthi on Thu, 07/02/2019 - 15:25

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Is the statement " There is a garden in their house." correct?

Hello Vidyaarthi,

The sentence is grammatically correct. However, it would be unusual (but not impossible) to have a garden inside a house. Generally the garden is outside the house.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Adya's on Sun, 17/06/2018 - 04:37

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Hi Is there a rule restricting the number of apostrophe 's to be used in a phrase to indicate possession? For example, is the following sentence correct? My friend's father's friend's house is beautiful. I have searched a lot on the internet for a reliable page on the topic, but in vain. Can you please suggest one? Regards
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Submitted by Peter M. on Sun, 17/06/2018 - 07:18

In reply to by Adya's

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Hi Adya's,

There is no rule for this. However, common sense tells us that multiple examples of possessive 's will make a sentence clumsy, inelegant and possibly hard to follow. It's very unusual to see more than two in a row.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by CascadeGorge on Sun, 06/05/2018 - 17:40

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Responding to Peter M's comment: "Both progressive and continuous are used interchangeably in British English. Progressive is the older, more traditional form; continuous has come into use more recently. I'm from the UK and I'm not sure about typical US usage, I'm afraid." American/U.S. English speaker, here. I have never seen the words, "progressive" and "continuous" used interchangeably in American English. It might be a cultural difference that makes them interchangeable in the UK, but I am at a loss to know how that is possible because their definitions are distinct.

Submitted by zenger62 on Fri, 20/04/2018 - 07:26

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Dear Sir, Susan is one of my friends. or Susan is a friend of mine. They are all correct. But I'd like to ask you the question: when do we use the first one ? and when do we use the second one?
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Submitted by Peter M. on Sat, 21/04/2018 - 06:58

In reply to by zenger62

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Hello zenger62,

I don't think there are any contexts in which one of these would be preferred over the other. Neither has any particular stylistic (formal, informal) tone and they can be used interchangeably.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by leonard777 on Fri, 13/04/2018 - 18:27

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I am really sorry, but I've found some technical problems with this part of the site. The site does't or can't explain- possessives: nouns possessives: adjectives possessives: pronouns possessives: questions possessives: reciprocal pronouns What can I do. I adore this site , that's why I want you to know about these kind of problems. Please solve those problems. I know that you can. It has primary importance for me. I am a teacher and I have to know some materials from your site. Pleas check and notify. Thanks a million!

Hello leonard777,

Thank you for flagging this. We are already aware of some problems with the links on the site leading to the wrong pages and we have asked our technical team to address this.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team