True or False. Classifying and specifying possessives are the same.
False. Classifying possessives describe the type of thing something is. They answer the question ‘What kind of…?’ and are similar to compound nouns
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heart
Other team wins 5 points!
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magnet
Take 25 points!
Okay!
shark
Other team loses 10 points!
Okay!
banana
Go to last place!
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Think of 1 example that illustrates the rule: Classifying possessives describe the type of thing something is. They answer the question ‘What kind of…?’ and are similar to compound nouns
Janice has opened a shop specialising in children’s clothes. (= clothes any children can wear)
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Think of 2 examples that illustrate the rule: An adjective in front of a specifying possessive only describes the noun immediately following it.
Marion washed the older children’s clothes in the machine. (= the children are older) Marion washed the children’s older clothes in the machine. (= the clothes
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baam
Lose 10 points!
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gold
Win 50 points!
Okay!
gift
Win 25 points!
Okay!
lifesaver
Give 25 points!
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True or False? We can have two possessive ’s forms together
True! We’re fed up with our neighbour’s tenant’s loud music
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lifesaver
Give 20 points!
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magnet
Take 10 points!
Okay!
fairy
Take points!
5
10
15
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25
baam
Lose 20 points!
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Answer. What do specifying possessives show?
A relationship with something specific such as a person or place: Marion washes the children’s clothes on Thursdays. (Whose clothes?)
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Answer. When the nouns do not form a single group, how must we use ’s?
We must use ’s with both nouns: Schrodinger’s and Heisenberg’s versions of quantum mechanics had seemed different. (two versions of the theory)
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Complete the sentence. If the possessive form consists of a compound noun or two or more nouns which form a single team or group, we add the 's to ...
We add the ’s to the last noun only: Are you coming to my brother-in-law’s party? (compound noun) I’m a great fan of Lerner and Lowe’s musicals. (They both wrot
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Answer. Is the double possessive common with pronouns?
Yes, it is. We always use the possessive pronoun: ✗ She’s a friend of us. ✓ She’s a friend of ours. (= We have several friends. She is one of them)
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Answer. What does an adjective in front of a classifying possessive describe?
An adjective describes the whole phrase: Janice’s shop had a large selection of expensive children’s clothes. (= The clothes are expencive)
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Complete the sentence. If the possessive noun is part of a prepositional phrase, we usually put the ’s ...
... at the end of the phrase: ✗ The woman’s in the corner baby began to cry. ✓ The woman in the corner’s baby began to cry.
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True or False. We can use a double possessive – noun + of + noun (with possessive ’s) – to show that the fi rst noun means ‘one of several’.
True. I heard the story from a friend of my brother’s. (= one of my brother’s friends)
