Retroalimentación
In the passage, there are several Genitive Cases. Remember that the Genitive Case can be either a Saxon Genitive (Paco's sister) or an of-construction or Norman Genitive (the colours of the brochures) and that they are mainly used to express possession or origin.
Let's recognise some of the phrases in the Genitive Case which are included in the text.
Saxon Genitive ('s) |
of-construction |
UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites |
the English county of Wiltshire |
Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase |
the earliest phase of the monument |
the monument's use |
The dating of cremated remains |
a domain of the dead |
As you can see, the Saxon Genitive has been formed by adding 's to the possessor, whereas the Norman Genitive is formed following the structure thing possessed + of + possessor. Moreover, you must remember that the Saxon Genitive is mainly used when the possessors are living things (people or animals). However, it can also be used when we refer to possessors that are countries (England's legends), institutions / organizations (UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites), places + superlatives (Cáceres' greatest buildings), time references (in two years' time), fixed expressions (a stone's throw), well-known places such as shops, churches or friends' homes (Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase or I met her at St Patrick's [cathedral]).
Now, it's time to practise. Write the Saxon Genitive of the following phrases. If you doubt how to add 's to the possessor, click here to remember it.
of-construction |
Saxon Genitive |
The sister of Paco |
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The car of Andrés |
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The poorest districts of London |
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The top tourist attractions of the British Isles |
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The father of Sonia and Paco |
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The books of Paco and the books of Sonia |
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The Saxon Genitive of the previous phrases would be the following ones:
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Paco's sister |
Remember that in front of proper nouns we don't normally use the definite article the. |
Andrés' car or Andres's car |
Remember that proper nouns ending in -s may take just the ' or 's. |
London's poorest districts |
Place (London) + superlative (poorest). |
The British Isles' top tourist attractions |
Remember that regular plural nouns (Isles) just add ' to form the Saxon Genitive. |
Paco and Sonia's father |
When there are several possessors and the things possessed belong to all of them, 's is added to the last one. |
Paco's and Sonia's books |
When there are several possessors and some of the things possessed belong to a possessor and some othes to another possessor, 's is added to each possessor. |
On the other hand, when possessors are non-living things, we normally use the of-construction or Norman Genitive. In the following phrases, say which ones you would say with the Saxon Genitive and which with the of-construction.
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the manager /office |
Saxon Genitive (the manager's office) |
the door / room |
Of-construction (the door of the room) |
my friends / party |
Saxon Genitive (my friends' party) |
the lamps / sitting room |
Of-construction (the lamps of the sitting room) |
the team / equipment |
Saxon Genitive (the team's equipment) |
Quite frequently the apostrophe (') is misused and English people get really angry whenever this happens. Have a look at the following sentences and study whether the apostrophe is correctly used or not.
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Paco's mother's Spanish |
Correct |
Paco's mother is Spanish |
Does Paco know where Stonehenge's is? |
Incorrect |
Does Paco know where Stonehenge is? |
The boys' tickets are in their cupboard |
Correct |
|
The boys' father is talking to him |
Incorrect |
The boy's father is talking to him |
That's not mine. That's Simon's |
Correct |
Double genitive |
London is England's largest city |
Correct |
|
I really like the colour of the travel brochures of Paco |
Incorrect |
I really like the colour of Paco's travel brochures |
Paco's sister thinks its not a good idea |
Incorrect |
Paco's sister thinks it's not a good idea |
In the last sentence, the Saxon Genitive, Paco's sister, is used to express the relationship between Paco and his sister, it doesn't literally mean that Paco possesses her sister, Sonia. So, as you should have noticed, the Saxon Genitive is very frequently used to talk about family relationships. Draw a family tree of Paco's family after the following information:
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Elaboración propia
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- Sonia is Paco's sister.
- Francisco is Paco, Sonia and Alex's father.
- Francisco's wife is Isabel.
- Alex's girlfriend is called Susan.
- Isabel's parents are Javier and Marta. They are Paco's grandparents.
- Sonia's grandparents are also Josefa and José. They have another daughter apart from Francisco, her name is Lucía. Lucía is Alex, Sonia and Paco's aunt.
- Lucía is married with Antonio. Antonio is Alex's uncle. They have two children, Jesús and Alfredo. They are Paco, Alex and Sonia's cousins.
If you need help, click here.