1. Genitive

2. Genitive
The genitive or possessive case expresses possession, belonging, or some form of relationship. Paul’s book Mary’s arm Peter’s family

3. How to make the genitive
The basic rule is that you add ‘s to the “owner” when it is a person or living creature Shakespeare’s sonnets the boy’s toy the cat’s milk When the owner is an inanimate object it is more common to use an of-construction the rules of the game

4. Words that end in –s (plural)
If a word ends in –s because it is in the plural you add only an apostrophe the boys’ toys the cats’ milk N.B.: Irregular plurals that do not end in –s follow the basic rule, i.e. they take ‘s to form the genitive men’s fashion the children’s clothes

5. Singular words that end in -s
There is some disagreement about what to do when a word in the singular ends in an s-sound and you will find different rules in different grammar books or style guides. The majority, though, advocates following the basic rule for normal names, i.e. adding ‘s. This is especially true in British English. Marcus’s mother Beatrice’s book

6. Summary
For inanimate objects we generally use an of-construction With persons or living creatures we add ‘s Unless they are in the plural and therefore already end in –s, in which case we only add an apostrophe Now do the first exercise
Exercise 1

7. Classical names that end in an s-sound
Most grammar books recommend that for older, biblical or foreign names that end in an s-sound only an apostrophe is used Guy Fawkes' night Cervantes' Don Quixote Socrates' ideas Tacitus’ prose style

8. Genitive of phrases
The genitive-s can also be used for longer phrases The Duke of Edinburgh’s tailor James the First’s foreign policy The woman next door’s husband Note that in the last case an of-construction would be the preferred solution the husband of the women next door

9. Several “owners”
Again, there is some disagreement here. The majority of grammar books advocate the following: If several people own something together, put the genitive-s only on the last person mentioned. Paul and Mary’s marriage If they own things separately, put the ‘s on both/all owners. Newton’s and Darwin’s theories In the latter case you can also use the of-construction

10. Summary For inanimate objects we generally use an of-construction
With persons or living creatures we add ‘s
Unless they are in the plural and therefore already end in –s, in which case we only add an apostrophe
Names that end in an s-sound get ‘s unless they are classical, biblical or historical, in which case we add an apostrophe only
The genitive –s can also be used for longer phrases, but sometimes an of-construction sounds better
If several people own something jointly we put the genitive on the last person mentioned
If they own things separately we add ‘s to all names

11. Now do exercise 2
Exercise 2