To show that someone owns something, or has something, we use “ ’s”.
Pattern: N’s N:
My brother’s car is red.
I spoke to James’s teacher last week.
Mr. Smith’s house burned down.
The man’s horse ran away.
Sometimes we don’t need a noun after the ’s, if we can tell what the noun should be:
My classes are more difficult than Mary’s. (= Mary’s classes)
Whose book is this? Is it yours? —No, it’s my sister’s. (= my sister’s book)
We went to John’s for lunch. (= John’s house)
Note:
If there is more than one owner (where the plural form already ends in s), we use s’ instead of ’s:
My friend’s vacation was cut short by bad weather. (friend’s ==> one friend)
My friends’ vacation was cut short by bad weather. (friends’ ==> more than one friend)
His father’s car was wrecked. (father’s ==> only one parent)
His parents’ car was wrecked. (parents’ ==> both parents, not just one)
Note:
’s is usually used for persons. For things, we often use of ______:
Peanut butter always sticks to the roof of my mouth.
Tom sat in the back of the room.
Put the cups on the top shelf of the cupboard.
The cover of the book is blue.
Exercises. Write sentences about the people in the family.
Row 1 (L to R): Jack, Mary, Sarah, Peter
Row 2 (L to R): James, Susan, Paulette, Mark
Jack and Mary are married. Their son is James. James is married to Susan.
Sarah and Peter are married. Their son is Mark, and their daughter is Paulette.
Jack and Peter are brothers.
Example:
(Jack / husband) ==> Jack is Mary’s husband.
1. (Mary / mother)
2. (James / cousin)
3. (Jack / uncle)
4. (Susan / daughter-in-law)
5. (Peter / brother)
6. (Mary / sister-in-law)
7. (James / nephew)
8. (Paulette / niece)
9. (Sarah / aunt)
10. (Peter / father)
11. (Paulette / sister)
12. Jack is Sarah’s brother-in-law.
13. Jack is Susan’s father-in-law.
14. Paulette is Peter’s daughter.
15. James is Jack’s son.
16. Sarah is Peter’s wife.
Exercise. Answer the questions by looking at the pictures.
Example:
(Timmy)
Whose umbrella is that?
Whose umbrella is that? ==> It’s Timmy’s.
(Marcy)
1. Whose ball is that?
(Jane)
2. Whose car is that?
(Steve)
3. Whose bicycle is that?
(Edwin)
4. Whose horse is that?
(Rob)
5. Whose tent is that?
(Nancy)
6. Whose camera is that?
Exercise. Look at the following sentences and correct the underlined portion if need be. If the sentence needs no correction, write “OK.”
Example:
The squirrel crawled on the roof of the house. ==> OK
I rode in the car of my brother. ==> my brother’s car
1. I put the book of Jack on the table.
2. The fifth grade class gave a retirement present to the principal of the school.
3. The keys of Mr. Smith are hanging on the key rack.
4. The coach displayed the trophy of the team in the school lobby.
5. We took a rest in the shade of the tree.
6. Grandmother threw out the shoes of my sister.
7. The dog likes to sleep at the foot of the bed.
8. Mrs. Johnson always sits at the front of the bus.
9. Ride the subway until you get to the end of the line, and then get off.
10. The cat was hiding under the bed of the twins.
11. Let’s have a party in the middle of the month.
12. Someone stole the trumpet of Mark.
13. I can’t remember the name of the movie.
14. The car of my dad had a flat tire.
15. The nose of my uncle was sunburned.
16. The floor of the cabin was made of rough planks of wood.