GENITIVE AND POSSESIVES
The genitive case is an English grammatical case that is used for a noun, pronoun, or adjective
that modifies another noun. The genitive case is most commonly used to show possession, but it
can also show a thing’s source or a characteristic/trait of something.
The possessive case is used for showing possession.The possessive case applies to nouns,
pronouns, and determiners. For example:
- I don't have a bank account, because I don't know my mother's maiden name.
- Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents'
POSSESSIVE/GENITIVE CASE
FORM
’S
•Used with singular verbs. "
•Used with plural nouns not
ending in -s .
•Used with compounds, the
apostrophe comes after the last
word.
-the girl’s earring, a child’s toy
-Women’s clothing, a children’s
hospital
-His mother-in-law’s house
‘
•Used with plural nouns ending
in -s
- ladies’ shoes, a students’ union
‘"
/ ‘S
•Used with names ending in -s
- Mrs Jones’ car / Mrs Jones’s
car
•Possessive Nouns. With a noun, the possessive case is usually shown by preceding it with
"of" or by adding 's (or just ') to the end."
•Possessive Pronouns. The possessive-case pronouns are "mine," "yours," "his," "hers,"
"its," "ours," and “theirs.”"
•Possessive Determiners. The possessive-case determiners are "my," "your," "his," "her,"
"its," "our," and “their.”"
