Chapter 17: The Genitive

the volcano’s island the island’s volcano

Quick review: when do we use an apostrophe?

• Contractions (when one or more letters are left out)

it’s, don’t, you’re, they’ve

• Plurals of letters, abbreviations, or numbers

A’s, MP’s, 1960’s

• Possession of nouns: the genitive

Maxima’s husband

Danger Zone #1!ITS is the possessive form of IT: no apostrophe!

The lion lost its tail in the fight.

...why no apostrophe?

...because IT’S is already a contraction: IT’S = IT IS

“The Genitive” = possession bezit

‘s s’ of-phrase Of + ‘s/s’

‘s with singular nouns: William’s castle

S’ with plural nouns: my grandparents’ house

Of-phrase often with things, not people the price of the book

OF + ‘s/s’ (post-genitive) when the possessingnoun is definite and human

and the thing possessed is indefinite (no ‘the’)a dress of my sister’s

Five kinds of Genitive:

• “regular”genitive Barney’s wife; the girl’s arm

• classifying genitive goat’s milk

• local genitive at the dentist’s

• post-genitive some friends of his brother’s

• independent genitive Ugh! That’s my dog’s!

• of-phrase: The Lord of the Rings

Danger zone #2!

Unlike informal Dutch, we NEVER use

noun + possessive pronoun

to form the genitive in English!

Mijn vader z’n auto werd gestolen.

My father his car was stolen. NO!

My father’s car was stolen. YES!

The genitive: ‘s or ‘ special cases

‘s after irregular plural forms:men’swomen’schildren’sfeet’steeth’s

‘s OR ‘ after a proper noun ending in sDickens’s or Dickens’ novels (different pronunciation!)

Note: usually only ‘ with classical Greek and Roman names, and Biblical names

Jesus’ motherSocrates’ teachingsOedipus’ problems

The Verge

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' Mother's name?" One child answered, "Mary." The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' Father's name was?"The child said, "The Verge." Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?" The little one said, "Well, you know they are

always talking about The Verge 'n' Mary."

Dutch: van• For possession

de fiets van mijn broer

• For a relationship

de vriendin van mijn oom

• For time

het nieuws van gisteren

• For part of something

de batterij van mijn mobieltje

English:’s, s’, of-phrase• For possession:

my brother’s bike

• For a relationship:

my uncle’s girlfriend (preferred)

the girlfriend of my uncle

• For time:

yesterday’s news

• For part of something:

the battery of my mobile phone

Of-phrase

Proper Nouns: ‘s or of-phrase?with possession: ‘sLisa’s motorcyclethe King’s yacht

exceptions: both are possible1. with names of countries and towns,Rotterdam’s harbour / the harbour of RotterdamChina’s laws / the laws of China

2. in titles of booksThe Collected Stories of Roald DahlRoald Dahl’s Collected Stories

3. a photo of / a picture ofI saw a photo of Jane on Facebook.I saw Jane’s photo on Facebook.what could be the difference in meaning?

Nouns for persons and animals

take the genitive (‘s / s’) OR an of-phrase: (the genitive is preferred)

the children’s toys / the toys of the childrenthe leopard’s spots / the spots of the leopardthe clowns’ noses / the noses of the clowns

Note: an of-phrase is preferred if there is a chance of confusion

my friend’s children the children of my friendmy friends’ children the children of my friends

Nouns for thingsusually take an of-phrase:

the moral of the storythe top of the mountainthe colour of the boots

exceptions:•collective nouns (verzamelnamen) and institutions:the ministry’s offices / the offices of the ministrythe universities’ decision / the decision of the universitiesthe newspaper’s policy / the policy of the newspaper

• placesthe capitol’s famous buildings / the famous buildings of the capitolthe world’s resources / the resources of the world

• means of transportationthe plane’s wings / the wings of the planethe metro’s warning sound / the warning sound of the metro

Task 1The woman’s t-shirt reads

“PROPERTY

OF

MARK”

What’s the difference between this and

“MARK’S PROPERTY”?

Answer: the ‘s is usually used with people, and the of-phrase is more often used with things, so it’s more insulting here!

Time & distance

In general, use the genitive:

today’s headlineslast month’s problemstomorrow’s weathera fortnight’s holiday

a seven miles’ hike (note: a seven-mile hike is OK, but not a possessive form!)

a two metres’ differencea kilometer’s walk

exceptions (genitive and of-phrase are both common):after a few moments’ reflection / after a reflection of a few momentsan hour’s delay / a delay of an hourat a few miles’ distance / at a distance of a few miles

Task 2We’ve just learnt that the genitive is preferred with time and distance words.

So why is there an of-phrase here?

Answer: it’s a word play on the expression “Soup of the day”, which is more commonly seen in restaurants than “Today’s soup”.

Fixed expressions

I’d keep him at arm’s length if I were you; I don’t trust him!

Oh, for goodness’ sake, stop crying. It was broken anyway!

The visiting dignitaries enjoyed themselves to their hearts’ content.

I don’t know what to do with those rowdy pupils. I’m at my wits’ end!

The tennis courts are just a stone’s throw from the train tracks.

The classifying genitive:a kind of ...

children’s books (a kind of books)a winter’s day (a kind of day)a ladies’ magazine (a kind of magazine)

note: on clothing shop signs nowadays the apostrophe is oftenleft out: mens wear/menswear; ladies wear/ladieswear

The independent genitive:the ‘thing that is possessed’ is left out

That guitar is my father’s. (= my father’s guitar)(Dutch: van mijn vader)

Suzanne’s hair is longer than Toni’s. (= Toni’s hair)(Dutch: die van Toni)

- Whose half-eaten sandwich is this?- Adam’s. (= Adam’s sandwich)

(Dutch: Van Adam.)

The genitive denoting a building:without naming the building

I’ll see you at Chris’s. = Chris’s house/apartment

The butcher’s is never open on Sunday. = the butcher shop

He’s a teacher at St. Sebastian’s. = St. Sebastian’s school

St. Paul’s was designed by Christopher Wren. = St. Paul’s cathedral

Macy’s is on Fifth Avenue, New York. = Macy’s department store

Exception:Many names of well-known firmsor businesses are written withoutan apostrophe: Harrods, Barclays,Hamleys

The post-genitiveof + ‘s

• used with humans•only NOT used when a definite article comes before the head word

Used when the head word is preceded by:

•an indefinite article: an acquaintance of my mother’s•a numeral: six suitcases of my aunt’s•a quantifier: many colleagues of my parents’•a demonstrative pronoun: these pupils of my friend’s•an interrogative pronoun: Which friends of her brother’s?•an indefinite pronoun: both doctors of my grandmother’s•nothing – if the head word is plural: enemies of his uncle’s

some friends of my sister’s head word

TASK 3: Connect the genitive or of-phrase in each sentence with the correct rule:

1. This cheese is made from goat’s milk.

2. The Albert Heijn is just a stone’s throw away from my flat.

3. London’s theatres are famous all over the world.

4. Were the plane’s engines on fire?

5. I found him in the pub, looking sadly at the bottom of an empty beer mug.

6. She’s going to be fired at next week’s personnel review.

a. time or distance: use the genitive

b. genitive with means of transportation

c. classifying genitive

d. things take an of-phrase rather than a genitive

e. genitive in a fixed expression

f. proper nouns take a genitive when it indicates possession

What kind of genitive is this?

Answer: a classifying genitive. Farmers’ denotes the kind of market.

Spoken vs. written English:genitive or contraction?

ITS = genitive (wrong in frame 1)IT’S = contraction IT IS (correct in frame 2)Can you hear the difference in spoken English? No, of course not.

Final task: What kinds of genitives (or of-phrases) are these? Give the rule.

1. After a ten miles’ walk, we finally arrived at the top of the mountain.

2. The bank’s employees went on strike.

3. A picture of the suspects was on TV last night.

4. A friend of my brother’s has ridden his bike into the canal three times!

5. The cats of my neighbours are always getting into my garden.

6. The girls’ marks are better than the boys’.

1. genitive for distance / of-phrase for things2. genitive (or of-phrase) for nouns denoting institutions3. ‘representing’ (photo, picture): of-phrase possible4. post-genitive with humans5. of-phrase preferred when distinguishing between singular & plural6. independent genitive: not followed by a noun

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