The use of 5 and 5 with non-living things: 'an hour's journey'
We use 's and s' with some non-living things:
□ fixed phrases: the earth's surface, journey's end, the ship's company;
□ time phrases (singular): an hour's journey, a day's work, a month's salary;
□ time phrases (plural): two hours' journey, two days' work, two months' salary. It's also used with nouns expressing space and weight, with the names of countries, cities and ships and with the nouns world, country, city, ship:
□ the river's edge
U Moscow's theatres
□ world's best museums
□ our country's best opera house
□ the ship's crew
We can use 's when the first noun is an organisation:
□ the government's decision
□ the company's success
The Genitive is used in some set expressions:
□ for Heaven's sake / for God's sake
□ at one's wit's end
□ a hair's breadth
U at a stone's throw
OMISSION OF THE NOUN AFTER 5
We generally omit the noun after's when referring to work-places, shops, and houses: the doctor's rather than the doctor's surgery, my mother's rather than my mother's house.
EXERCISES_____________________________________________________________
Ex. 1. (A, B) Use 's or s' only where possible with these nouns.
1. the clothes of the boys the bovs' clothes
2. a journey of two days______________________________
3. the walls of the room ______________________________
4. the days of the week_______________________________
5. the birthday of my daughter Helen____________________
6. the pages of the book______________________________
7. work of seven years_______________________________
8. the surface of the Earth____________________________
9. the orders of the Commander-in-Chief_________________
Ex. 2. (A, B) What could we use in place of the words in brackets?
1. Your father has gone to (the shop owned by the butcher) the butcher's.
2. I'll meet you at (the shop owned by the chemist)___________________
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3. I'm going to spend the night at (the house owned by my aunt)_________________ .
4. We always buy things at (the department store owned by Emma Hart)___________ .
Ex. 3. (B) Rewrite these sentences using 's, s', or just an apostrophe/",).
1. The books for children. These are children's books.
2. This bag belongs to my friend.__________________________________________ .
3. He described the career of the actress.____________________________________ .
4. This is the signature of Mr Brown._______________________________________ .
5. The mistakes which students make. _____________________________________ .
6. This is a club for women.______________________________________________ .
7. It's a school for girls.__________________________________________________ .
8. The room is for the guests._____________________________________________ .
9. This umbrella belongs to James.________________________________________ .
10. I liked the dinner we had yesterday at the cafe belonging to Mike._______________ .
Ex. 4. (B) Only where possible, use 's or(') to show possession in these sentences.
1. The book of this author. The author's book.
2. I can't see the bottom of the box._________________________________________ .
3. The crew of the ship was small._________________________________________ .
4. It's the fault of no one._________________________________________________ .
5. Do you like the poetry of Eliot?__________________________________________ .
6. That's the leg of the table.______________________________________________ .
7. Where's the key of the car?_____________________________________________ .
8. The sound of carriage was heard._______________________________________ .
Ex. 5. (A, B) Supply a phrase with 's or a compound noun in place of the phrases in italics.
1. He is the son of Mr Right. Mr Right's son.
2. Where's the surgery of the doctor? _______________________________________ .
3. The keyboard of the piano was damaged.__________________________________ .
4. She is the secretary of our director.______________________________________ .
5. It was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. ____________________________________ .
6. It's the responsibility of no one.__________________________________________ .
7. Polish the knob of the front door. ________________________________________ .
8. The journey of Scott is historic.__________________________________________ .
9. I spoke to the manager of the company.___________________________________ .
10. The cover of the book is torn. ___________________________________________ .
11. The gate of the factory was shut. ________________________________________ .
12. \'\fe\ostthebookof my mother. ___________________________________________ .
13. The phone in the office is out of order._____________________________________ .
14. The critic of the film was wrong. _________________________________________ .
15. Who's the mother of the twins?__________________________________________ .
16. That's the sister of my husband._________________________________________ .
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Ex. 6. (В) In this exercise you have to join two nouns with 's, an apostrophe ('), or a compound noun. Sometimes you have to use... of... .
Model: Ann's mother; stidenfs club; the door of the room; car key.
1. the photo/my son ____________________________________
2. the eyes/the dog_____________________________________
3. the top/the page_____________________________________
4. the club/students____________________________________
5. the newspaper/today _
6. a month/holiday_____
7. the name/your wife___
8. the name/this street___
9. the car/Mike's parents
10. Rosa/love __________
11. the new manager/the company
12. the leg/table_______________
13. the ground floor/the building
14. the children/Don and Mary
15. the economic policy/the government
16. the house/my aunt and uncle ______
Ex. 7. (B) Read each sentence and write a new sentence using 's with the words in italics.
Example: The surface of the Earth looks wonderful from space. The Earth's surface looks wonderful from space.