Cases in Russian English questions. Possessive case in English: features of education. Formation of the possessive case in the case of inanimate nouns

Case is a grammatical category that shows the connection of a noun with other words in a sentence. Previously cases in English language there were several, but over time only two remained: common case(the common case) and possessive(the possessive/genitive case).

The Common Case

Form general case all nouns have. In the general case, nouns have null ending (car,bird), i.e. this case is not indicated in any way. That is why, in the absence of prepositions, the relationship of such nouns to other words in a sentence is determined only by the place it occupies in the sentence.

Let's consider what functions a noun in the general case can perform in a sentence.

The noun that comes before the predicate is used in the function subject and corresponds in Russian to a noun in the nominative case.

For example:

Thedog bit the man. — Dog bit a man. (Who bit? The dog.)

The noun that comes after the predicate performs the function direct object and corresponds in Russian to a noun in the accusative case without a preposition.

For example:

The dog bit theman. — The dog bit a man.(Who was bitten? A man.)

If between the predicate and the noun that functions as a direct object there is another noun in the general case without a preposition that denotes a person, it is an indirect object. Such a noun corresponds in Russian to a noun in the dative case without a preposition.

For example:

Maria showed herfriends the photos. - Maria showed to my friends photos. (Who did you show it to? Friends.)

Nouns in the common case with prepositions of,to,by And with help to express relationships that in Russian are conveyed using indirect cases without prepositions. In this case, prepositions are not translated into Russian as separate words.

Nouns in the common case with the preposition OF

Noun in common case with preposition of corresponds in Russian to a noun in the genitive case and is a definition in relation to the noun that precedes it.

For example:

The walls of the house are made of brick. - Walls Houses made of brick. (Walls of what? Houses.)

Nouns in the common case with the preposition TO

Noun with preposition to corresponds in Russian to a noun in the dative case and is used as a prepositional indirect object.

For example:

Maria showed the photos toherfriends. — Maria showed photographs to my friends. (Who did you show it to? Friends.)

Nouns in the common case with the preposition BY

Noun with preposition by corresponds in Russian to a noun in the instrumental case. This combination is usually used in the passive voice to indicate actor or strength. The noun in this case is used as a prepositional object.

The book was written bymyfriend. - The book was written my friend. (Written by whom? A friend.)

The building was destroyed by the hurricane. The building was destroyed hurricane. (Destroyed by what? Hurricane.)

Nouns in the common case with the preposition WITH

Noun with preposition with also corresponds to a noun in the instrumental case in Russian. This combination is used to designate an object with which a certain action is performed. The noun in this case is also used as a prepositional object.

For example:

I can't write withthispen. - I can not write with this pen. (Write with what? Pen.)

Note: nouns in the general case can be used with any prepositions and convey those relationships that in Russian are expressed using indirect cases with prepositions.

For example:

I live with my friend.- I live with a friend.

This present is for you. - This gift for you.

The Possessive Case

Regarding the form possessive case, then only some groups of nouns have it (more on this below). The possessive case most often expresses the ownership of an object. A noun in the possessive case performs the function of determining in relation to another noun.

What does the possessive case look like?

Form

The possessive case is formed using an apostrophe and the letter s - 's — or just an apostrophe - ‘ . The first way you can get the possessive case form for nouns that are in singular(your father -> your father ‘ s book = your father's book). Second way it turns out the possessive case form for plural nouns that are formed according to the basic rule (his parents -> his parent s‘ car = his parents' car), as well as for some proper names that end in - s(Socrates -> Socrate s‘ ideas = Socrates' ideas ) .

If the plural of a noun is formed differently than most, then use first way(their children -> their children ‘ s toys = their children's toys ).

Note 1: for a compound noun ‘ s is added to its last element: my mother-in-law -> my mother-in- law ‘ s car = my mother-in-law's car; the passer-by —> the passer- by ‘ s glasses = passerby's glasses.

Note 2: Mary and Peter 's house = Mary and Peter's house (shared). BUT: Mary ‘ s and Peter ‘ s houses = Mary's house and Peter's house (each has their own) or = Mary's house and Peter's house (each has their own).

With which nouns is the possessive case used?

As mentioned above, not all nouns can form the possessive case. The following groups can do this:

1) animate

Mary's bag - Mary's bag

the boys’ bicycles - boys’ bicycles

the team’s defeat - team defeat

the tiger's cage - tiger cage

2) some are inanimate

a) nouns that mean time And distance:

a month’s holiday - monthly vacation

a mile’s distance - one mile distance

b) names countries And cities, as well as words world,country,city:

Germany's policy - German policy

the city’s museums - city museums

c) nouns ship,boat,yacht:

the ship's name - the name of the ship

d) some nouns that denote shops:

a/the baker’s / butcher’s / chemist’s etc. (shop) - bakery, butcher shop, pharmacy

a/the travel agent's etc. (office) - travel agency

the dentist’s / doctor’s / vet’s etc. (surgery) - dentist/doctor/veterinarian waiting room

NB! in this case, in a sentence it is enough to use the word directly in the form of the possessive case (for example: I’m at the travelagent's(= travel agent's office). She went to the baker's(= baker's shop). Word house also often omitted in such cases (for example: I had lunch at my friend's(= my friend’s house). — I had lunch with my friend).

e) in phrases for heaven’s sake, for goodness’ sake- For heaven's sake
f) some fixed expressions: at a snail's pace- like a snail (very slowly); a hair's breadth- by a hair's breadth

Note 3: With the exception of those listed above, inanimate nouns generally show ownership using a preposition. of.

the roof of the building

the door of the car

Note 4: Two nouns in the possessive case rarely come one after the other. Usually the preposition is used with the second noun in this case of.

For example:

This is the cat ofmy friend's daughter. (instead of This is my friend’s daughter’s cat)

Also of used when a noun denoting the object to which something belongs is followed by a phrase or clause:

For example:

I didn't take the advice of the woman I met in the city.

In what other cases can the possessive case be used?

On the one hand, the possessive case is used to show ownership. For example: the girl’s name.

On the other hand, it can convey certain qualitative characteristics of an object. In this case, we are not talking about belonging, but about the properties of the object.

For example:

a children’s room = children’s room

women's magazines = women's magazines

a Bachelor's degree - bachelor's degree

This is only true if we are talking about a relation to another noun (for example: the roof of a house ofthehouse). Other relations conveyed in Russian by the genitive case are expressed differently in English (for example: the chair is smaller than the table = the chair is smallerthan the table).

Those. by adding -s to the singular form.

The resulting word is pronounced in this case in the same way as the original: parents'- [ˈpeərənts].

Among proper names that end in -s, there are those in which the possessive case form can be formed in either way. For example: Burn s‘ life = Burns ‘ s life; Jone s‘ flat = Jones ‘ s flat.

Regardless of how exactly the form of the possessive case is formed in this case, the ending of the word, as a rule, reads as [...iz]: Jones’ / Jones’s - .

A noun in English can be in the possessive case. This design is quite common and beginners need to get acquainted with it. The article is divided into two parts:

You can find out the rest of the information about the noun in English from the reference book.

1. Possessive case of a noun (basic level)

1.1. Possessive case - designation:

noun – noun (answers the question Who? What?)
noun 's– noun in the possessive case (answers the question whose?)

EXAMPLES
father 's hat - daddy's hat
Natasha 's book - Natasha book
the bird 's nest - avian nest

1.2. Possessive noun = possessive pronoun

In English, a noun in the possessive case can be replaced possessive pronoun:

my father' s hat = his hat
Natasha’ s book = her book
the bird' s nest = its nest

Remember, once an adjective in English is placed before a noun, then and possessive noun must also be placed before the noun.

1.3. The construction with the preposition OF replaces a noun in the possessive case

A noun in the possessive case can ALWAYS be replaced by construction with the preposition of. and answers question of whom? what?: capital of (what?) Russia = the capital of Russia.

[master ’S subject = subject of master

EXAMPLES
my father 's hat (daddy's hat) = a hat of my father (hat) (whom?) my dad)
Natasha 's book (Natasha's book) = a book of Natasha (Natasha's book)
the man 's cap (cannot be translated) = a cap of the man (man's cap)

1.4. Possessive case of nouns in singular and plural:

If there are several owners (owners), then the plural ending -S is added to the noun, but then in the possessive case (after the apostrophe) S – Let's clean it up!

EXPLANATION
brother 's books - the owner of books is one - brother
brothers ’ books - there are several owners of the book - brothers

Exceptional nouns (men, women, policemen, sportsmen, children and others - ) form the possessive case in the usual way:
EXAMPLES
the men 's cars - men's cars
the children 's toys – children's toys

1.5. A noun in the possessive case answers the question Whose? —Whose?

When answering, we can omit the noun after 's:
Whose cap is this? – It is the boy's cap. or It is the boy's.
Whose caps are these? – They are the boys’caps. or They are the boys'.

2. Possessive case in English (advanced level)

2.1. Group of words in the possessive case

A group of words can be in the possessive case:
my elder brother Peter’s son - the son of my elder brother
Peter and Helen’s flat - Peter and Helen’s apartment

Sometimes there are even such constructions: What’s Susan’s brother’s name? -What is the name of Susan's brother?

2.2. Nouns that cannot be used in the possessive case

As a rule, only animate nouns, i.e. design the table's legs unacceptable.

Exceptions: inanimate nouns that are used in the possessive case

Inanimate noun	Usage example
1. Words moon, sun, Earth, world, country, river, ocean, city, town	the moon’s surface, the sun’s rays, the Earth’s population, the world’s history, the river’s bed, the city’s museums
2. Names of countries, cities	England’s traditions, Moscow’s streets, London’s double deckers
3. Names of months, days of the week and other adverbs of time	July’s heat, Tuesday’s lessons, today’s newspaper; yesterday’s meeting, next week’s holiday
4. Measures of time and distance	a moment’s silence, two miles’ drive, an hour’s sleep, a fortnight’s holiday, a day’s wait, two days’ wait, a month’s holiday; an hour’s wait, a kilometer’s distance
5. Organizations	school's...company's...government's...
6. Words house, shop, office (office)	at my friend’s (house) = at my friend’s to the baker's (shop) at the doctor's (office) to meet at Mary’s – meet at Mary’s to stay at the Carters’ – stay with the Carters

Note: In dedications the possessive case is not used:
the Pushkin Monument, the Kennedy Center,
the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Tate Gallery

2.3. Noun as adjective

Sometimes, instead of a noun in the possessive case, you can simply see noun, which also performs adjective function.

Remember: sometimes a noun (usually singular) standing before another noun does not require the possessive case, since it answers a question Which? but not whose?

EXAMPLES
a kitchen table - kitchen table
a newspaper article - newspaper article
a television program - television program
health problems - health problems
garden vegetables - garden vegetables

But
men's clothes
women's room - a women's room
children's magazine - a children's magazine

Appears as nominative, accusative and dative) and possessive.

Common Case

The general case form alone, without the help of additional means, cannot convey the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. Such additional means in English are word order in a sentence and prepositions: of - corresponds to the genitive case, to - dative case, by, with - instrumental case, of, about - prepositional case with the prepositions “about” and “about”.
For example:

The dean spoke of our faculty.	The dean (the dean - nominative case) spoke about our faculty.
Students greeted the dean.	The students greeted the dean (accusative case).
The lecture of the dean was listened to with great attention.	The dean's lecture (genitive case) was listened to with great attention.
A very interesting story was told by the dean.	Very interesting story was told by the dean (the instrumental case).
He missed many lectures and had to explain the reason to the dean.	He has missed many lectures and must explain the reason to the dean (dative case).
She told me many interesting things about our new dean.	She told me a lot of interesting things about our new dean (prepositional case).

Possessive Case

Nouns in the possessive case denote the ownership of an object or concept, answering the question whose? - whose?, or relation to another subject, answering the questions what? - which one?, how much? - How many? etc. The possessive case is used in the function of definition and stands before the word being defined.

My sister’s room… My sister’s room… (lit.: sister’s room)

Education

The possessive case is formed:

Using an apostrophe (‘) and the letter s (‘s) for singular nouns and for plural nouns that do not have an ending -s:
the boy’s room - the boy’s room, Tom’s book - Tom’s book, the men’s hats - men’s hats, women’s work - women’s work.
Only use an apostrophe (‘) for plural nouns ending in -s:
the boys’ room - the boys’ room, the students answers - the students’ answers.

Use

In the form of the possessive case we use:

Mainly nouns denoting animate objects:
my teacher’s pen - my teacher’s pen. Tom's friends - Tom's friends.
Nouns meaning:
- time - with words such as minute, hour, day, week, night, month, year, expressing the meaning “during”, “per period”, etc. (unlike cases when this case is not used - see point 2 of the next paragraph):
  today’s newspapers - today’s newspapers, an hour’s absence - absence for an hour, a week’s holiday - a week’s vacation, a year’s journey - a journey that lasts a year;
- distance:
  a mile s distance - a distance of a mile, two kilometres’ walk - a path of two kilometers;
- price:
  ten dollars worth of chocolate - 10 dollars worth of chocolate;
- names of stars and planets:
  the Sun's rays - Sun rays, the Moon's light - Moonlight, the Earth’s resources - resources of the Earth;
- names of countries, cities, etc.:
  the United States’ participation - participation of the United States, Moscow s squares - squares of Moscow, this Liverpool’s Cathedral - this cathedral of Liverpool;
- moving mechanisms or machine parts (in the language technical literature):
  the plane’s propellers - airplane propellers.

Notes

Relationships expressed using the possessive case can be conveyed by a construction with a preposition of:
France’s economy - the economy of France - the economy of France.

In cases where the belonging of something to something is expressed (that is, belonging to an inanimate object), then, as a rule, a construction with the preposition is used of:

the walls of the town - the walls of the city, the legs of the table - table legs.
Possessive nouns can be used without a subsequent location noun. In this case, the possessive case has a local meaning. For example:
at my sister’s - in my sister’s house, at the baker’s - in the bakery.

The possessive case is not used:

If of two, usually inanimate, nouns, the first acts as a definition with a pronounced meaning “characteristic, ordinary, used for something,” etc. and the combination is considered as a single, holistic concept:
a street lamp is a street lamp, and a newspaper article is a newspaper article.
With words that express time and act as definitions:
summer holidays - summer holidays, November fogs - November fogs, birthday party - evening on the occasion of a birthday (time is expressed through age).
With names of cities, regions, proper names, etc., when they are an integral element of the name:
the Gomel University - Gomel University, “The Vitebsk Worker” - “Vitebsk Worker” (newspaper), the Pushkin Museum - Pushkin Museum.
With the names of items of clothing, equipment with shades of the meaning described in paragraph I:
a football ground - a football ground, a coffee cup - a coffee cup.

The speech of a speaker in English can be conveyed in two ways: in direct speech (Direct Speech) and in indirect speech(Indirect/Reported Speech).

English, being an analytical language, does not, by and large, distinguish between cases, since nouns do not have endings (the exception is the ending in number). All relationships between words in a sentence are conveyed through prepositions.
However, in grammar it is generally accepted that the English language still has two cases - common (in fact, the dictionary version of the word, which is used in the vast majority of cases) and possessive ( Possessive Case). Let's get straight to the point:

A beautiful house of my friend’s sister. - Beautiful house my friend's sisters.

We tried to screw it up as best we could. In this sentence there are as many as three manifestations of such a phenomenon as the possessive case:

friend 's sister - friend's sister
house of...sister- sister's house
my friend's is my friend

What is the possessive case?

The possessive case is a modifier of the noun that comes after it. The word in the possessive case answers the question “Whose”?

We decided to rephrase this wonderful definition a little and make it more understandable:

The possessive case denotes “owner” (a word with apostrophe or preposition of) object or phenomenon (following word). It turns out that:

a siste r's house = sister- owner (therefore stands with an apostrophe), and house- what belongs to her

friend 's sister = friend- the owner, and sister(rather tongue-tied, but clearly) belongs to him.

a leg of the table= table- owner (that’s why there is a preposition before the word of, expressing the meaning “whose?”), and leg- what belongs to the table.

Formation of the possessive case

The possessive case will be formed differently with animate and inanimate nouns. Here we are talking about possessive case forms.

Animate nouns

The possessive case can be formed animate nouns by adding ‘s singular. Let's call this “pure form”:

mother 's car - mom's car = (whose?) mom's car
Jack 's friend - Jack's friend = (whose?) Jack's friend
cat 's rug - cat rug = (whose?) “cat” rug

In English, nouns in the possessive case always stand before defined by the word (“owner - object”).

In plural we only add apostrophe ‘. The form of the word itself already has an ending -s/ -es. Conglomeration large quantity Hissing words are not welcome in English:

cat s’ tails - cats' tails
sister s’ family name - sisters' surname

There are a number of nouns that form their plural by changing their root vowels or word form. Such words will form the possessive case by adding the traditional s':

women 's clothes - women's clothing
children 's toys - children's toys

Possessive case with inanimate nouns

In practice, it is generally accepted that inanimate nouns form the possessive case by resorting to preposition of- we will call this the “prepositional” form. In this case, the “owner” stands after a preposition and after the defined word:

the roof of the house= house - owner ( of conveys the meaning of the question “whose?”) - roof (whose? what?) of the house

the door of the library- door (whose? which?) of the library

Can't do without exceptions! There are a number inanimate nouns, which will form the possessive case traditional way - 's. These words can be grouped according to the following characteristics:

1. nouns denoting time And adverbs of time/ distance/ cost:
a month’s holiday - time
today's paper - adverb of time
a kilometer’s walk - distance
two dollar's worth - cost

2. nouns denoting celestial bodies:

sun's rays

3. collective nouns relating to groups or communities of people/ pronouns replacing animate nouns:

our family's house - group
nobody’s business - pronoun

Possessive pronouns

Another manifestation of the possessive case can be found in possessive pronouns.

In the case where there is a desire to use a pronoun without a subsequent noun, it partially acquires the characteristics 's.

It is my car. - It is mine.
your room - yours
his toy - his
her boyfriend - hers
its leg - its
our house - ours
thier cafe - theirs

This is called the absolute form of a possessive pronoun, which can replace a noun.

P.S. Words in the possessive case have the same properties as possessive pronouns and displace the article. If “owners” are two or more words, apostrophe joins the latter:

Mary and Jack 's flat - Mary and Jack's apartment

In English you can find a number of stable expressions in which the possessive case will be formed against the rules, for example:

for goodness ’ sake - for God's sake

Although goodness is an inanimate and abstract noun, the possessive case is expressed in a “pure” form.

We wish you interesting practice and success!

Victoria Tetkina