The Category of Case

Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other words in a sentence. It is expressed by the form of the noun.

English nouns have 2 cases: the common case and the genitive case. However, not all English nouns possess the category of case; there are certain nouns, mainly nouns denoting inanimate objects, which cannot be used in the genitive case.

The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion (zero inflexion) and its meaning is very general.

The genitive case is marked by the apostrophe s (’s).

In writing there are 2 forms of the genitive: for most nouns it is ’s (mother’s) and for nouns ending in -s and regular plural nouns only the apostrophe (mothers’). Irregular plural nouns also add ’s to the noun (women’s, children’s).

Besides nouns denoting living beings we can use ’s when a first noun is

1. an organization (= a group of people), ships, boats, names of people to mean a house:

the government’s decision, the company’s success, the ship’s captain. We met at Bill’s.

2. the place: town, city, country, ocean, world, the sun, the moon, the earth, names of the countries: the city’s new centre, the world’s population, Britain’s government, Russia’s exports.

3. time & distance: an hour’s rest, two hours’ drive, month’s holiday, night’s sleep, in two years’ time, ten minutes’ break=a ten-minute break.

4. time words: tomorrow’s meeting, today’s paper, Sunday’s dinner.

5. names of newspapers: The Guardian’s analysis, The Tribune’s role.

When two persons possess or are elated to something they have in common: Mum & Dad’s room, John & Mary’s car.

In compounds and names consisting of several words the last word takes apostrophe ’s: My sister-in-law’s guitar. My father-in-law’s son. Henry the Eighth’s wives. The Prince of Wale’s helicopter.

Sometimes certain nouns can be used in the possessive case without the second noun: the baker’s, the chemist’s. It means the baker’s shop, the chemist’s shop.

It can also be used after the initials & the names of the owners of some business: the PM’s secretary, the MP’s briefcase, Selfridge’s, Sotheby’s, but Harrods, Foyles.

With Greek nouns in –s of more than one syllable: Socrates’, Euripides’.

After the preposition of: an old friend of my mother’s, that cousin of my husband’s.

With for + noun+ sake: for heaven’s sake, for God’s sake.

With some inanimate nouns in the following set expressions: to one’s heart’s content(desire), at death’s door, at arm’s length, out of harm’s way, a hair’s breadth, a needle’s eye, at a stone’s throw, to move at a snail’s pace, at the water’s edge

Of+ noun is used :

1. When the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or a clause: I took the advice of a couple I met on the train & hired a car.

2. With inanimate possessors: the walls of the town, the key of the car.

3. With the words denoting quantity: part, slice, bit, etc.: a piece of cake, a slice of bread, a pound of butter, a bit of news.

Exercises

Ex. 1. Use ‘s or s’ only where possible with these.

1. an absence of a year; 2. at the door of death; 3. the surface of the earth; 4. work of seven years; 5. the inside of the box; 6. the shade of the tree; 7. a journey of four days; 8. a delay of an hour; 9. the clothes of the boys; 10. the birthday of my daughter Helen; 11. the pages of the book; 12. the orders of the Commander-in-chief.

Ex. 2. Join two nouns with ‘s, an apostrophe (‘) or the preposition of.

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 car/Mike’s parents; 9. the ground floor/the building; 10. the children/Don and Mary.

Ex 3. Open the brackets, using the Possessive Case.

1. Have you seen (Henry) new bicycle? 2. Let’s join in the (children) games. 3. We heard the (men) shouts in the distance. 4. Mary sings in the (ladies) choir. 5. That building is (Jack & Mary) house. 6. What’s (the Wilsons) number? 7. You can buy this mixture at the (chemist). 8. Henry is a ballet-dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre which is the (world) best ballet house. 9. The (ship) crew stood on deck. 10. She went to the (baker). 11. (Moscow) theatres are the best in the world. 12. My (sister) friend is coming to tea. 13. The name of Mrs. (Smith) dog is Mickey. 14. My elder brother (Peter) son is very ill. 15. He’s my (sister) (husband) father. 16. Ellen is a (lady) servant. 17. Hilary is going to the (dentist). 18. The students have ten (minutes) break. 19. That’s (the Prince of Wales) helicopter. 20. Did you see the cartoon in (yesterday) paper?

Ex. 4. Rewrite these sentences using ‘s, s’ or (‘).

1. This bicycle is for a child. 2. That umbrella belongs to James. 3. This pen belongs to the teacher. 4. The theatres in Moscow are the best in the world. 5. This is the signature of Mr. Brown. 6. The room is for the guests. 7. I always buy newspapers in the evening. 8. Exports from Britain to the United States have fallen recently. 9. This bag belongs to my friend. 10. I liked the dinner we had yesterday at the café belonging to Mike.

Ex. 5. Only where possible use ‘s.

1. That’s the voice of a woman. 2. Where’s the key of the car? 3. That’s the decision of the committee. 4. It’s the book of no one. 5. This is the copy of the poetry of Keats. 6. The sound of a carriage was heard. 7. Do you have a book of this author? 8. Where’s the surgery of the doctor? 9. The keyboard of the piano was damaged. 10. It was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 11. The cover of the book is torn.

Ex. 6. What could we use in the place of the words in brackets?

1. Your mother has gone to (the shop owned by the hairdresser). 2. I’ll meet you at (the shop owned by the chemist). 3. I’m going to spend the night at (the house owned by my aunt). 4. We were married in (the church dedicated to St. Andrew). 5. I bought this at (the department store owned by Marks and Spencer). 6. I had dinner (in the house of my friend).

Ex. 7. Join the sentences using ‘s or s’.

Example: The Joneses have a house. It is very large.

The Joneses’ house is very large.

1. My parents live on a farm. It’s near the Russian border. 2. Alice has written a novel. It’s not very good. 3. Mr. Shephard uses a computer. It saves him a lot of time. 4. Jake has got a new job. It seems to be very interesting. 5. The girls have music lessons. They’re on Mondays. 6. The dogs were barking last night. It woke me up.

Ex. 8. Write a new sentence using ’s with underlined words.

1. The meeting tomorrow has been cancelled. 2. The storm last week caused a lot of damage in our town. 3. The only cinema in the town has been closed down. 4. Exports from Britain to the USA have fallen recently. 5. Tourism is the main industry in the region. 6. There will be a big crowd at the football match this evening. 7. The son of my elder bother Peter is a doctor. 8. I usually buy bread at the bakery not far from my house. 9. I’m looking forward to spending my holiday in the house of my aunt near the sea. 10. Russia has the largest deposits of oil in the world. 11. There are a lot of interesting books in the libraries of the city.

Ex. 9. Write a new sentence according to the model.

Model: a) Our holiday lasted three weeks. – It was a three-week holiday.

b) The girls were 15 years old. – They were 15 year-old girls.

1. The woman was 27. She was a … 2. The flight lasted three hours. It was a … 3. The strike lasted four days. It was a … 4. The book has 200 pages. It is a … 5. The boys were 10 years old. They were … 6. The television series has 10 parts. It is… 7. The bottle holds 2 liters. It is … 8. Each of the tickets cost 10 pounds. They were … 9. The building has 10 floors. It is … 10. This bag of potatoes weights 5 kilos. It is… 11. We walked for 5 miles. It was …

Ex. 10. Using the given information, make sentences with nouns denoting periods of time and distance.

Example: My house is near here. It takes us five minutes to get it on foot. (walk)

So it’s only five minutes’ walk.

1. I went to sleep at 3 o’clock this morning and woke up an hour later at 4 o’clock. (sleep) 2. If I leave my house at 9 o’clock and drive to London, I arrive at about 12 o’clock. (drive) 3. Carol is leaving on holiday on the 13^th. She has to come back at work on the 27^th. (holiday) 4. If I leave my house at 8.50 and walk to work, I get to work at 9 o’clock. (walk) 5. I flew from Heathrow to Paris. The plane took off at 9 a.m. and landed at 10 a.m. (flight) 6. The delegation arrived in Stockholm on the 5^th and left it on the 8^th. (visit) 7. We started travelling round the region six days ago. Today we are coming back home. (trip) 8. That morning he had already done his work. It had taken him three hours. (work) 9. Rex decided to walk to Offendene which was two miles far from the village. (walk).

Ex. 11. Translate into English.

1. Рабочий день моего брата начинается в 9 утра. 2. Муж моей сестры сейчас в Лондоне. 3. Это твоё кольцо? Да, это подарок моей тёти. 4. Комната вашего друга большая? – Нет, она маленькая, но очень светлая. 5. Твой друг хорошо говорит по-английски? – Да, очень хорошо. 6. Как зовут вашу сестру? 7. Мне неизвестно название этой улицы. 8. Чьи это перчатки? – Я думаю, Дианы. 9. Где вчерашние газеты? – Они на Верином письменном столе. 10. Где деньги? – В сумке брата. 11. Какого цвета глаза Анны? 12. Тебе нравится зонтик Тома? – Да, но он очень тяжёлый. 13. Завтрашний митинг состоится в конференц-зале. 14. Жена моего брата не работает, она смотрит за детьми. 15. В саду у Паркеров много необычных деревьев и цветов. 16. Сестра Виктора учится в нашем университете. 17. Она – любимая актриса моей мамы. 18. Часы Анны спешат. Посмотри на часы Джона, они всегда идут правильно. 19. Ты уже видел новую машину Тома и Салли? 20. Это ваша собака? – Нет, не наша. Это собака наших соседей. 21. Сын моей сестры хорошо учится. 22. Мне нравится квартира Марии. 23. Она много пишет сестрам Анны. 24. Вчера нас навестили дети наших друзей. 25. Комната Бесс большая и светлая. 26. Учитель вернул тетради студентов. 27. Я не помню имени сестры моего друга. 28. Друзья моего брата хорошо говорят по-немецки. 29. Это книги коллег моего сына. 30. Вам нравится новая книга этого писателя? 31. Где ключ от машины? 32. Мальчики взяли велосипед почтальона. 33. Дверь гаража была закрыта. 34. Поверхность дороги была скользкой. 35. Я не знаю результат вчерашнего матча.

Ex. 12. Translate from Russian into English.

1. В Московском университете имеется много факультетов. 2. Есть ли колледжи в наших университетах? 3. На этой улице будет много магазинов: булочная, овощной и мясной магазины. 4. Здесь было много деревьев. Где они? 5. У меня две племянницы и три племянника. 6. Моя тетя очень приятная женщина, а у моего дяди чудесное чувство юмора. 7. Джон и Джейн работают в ресторане: он официант, а она официантка. 8. Ваша посетительница оставила свои очки здесь, когда была у нас вчера. 9. Летом мы едим много фруктов. 10. В этом заповеднике вы можете увидеть много оленей. 11. Принеси мне ножницы, пожалуйста. 12. У Джейн очень красивые волосы. 13. Положи свою одежду на стул. 14. После десятиминутного перерыва они снова начали работать. 15. Вчера в лесу дети нашли птичье гнездо. 16. Где вчерашняя газета? 17. Легкая атлетика очень популярна в нашей стране. 18. Физика очень трудна для моего брата. 19. Он дал мне несколько полезных советов. Я обязательно последую им. 20. Эти помидоры очень спелые.