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PLAIN ENGLISH
LESSON 4
POSSESSIVE FORM
Оглавление89. There is just one more change made in the form of a noun, and that is when we wish to show who or what owns or possesses a thing. Thus we write:
John's book.
The boy's hat.
And since this form of the noun denotes possession, it is called the possessive form. Some grammarians call this the possessive case.
The possessive form of nouns is made by adding an apostrophe and s, ('s); thus, day's, lady's, girl's, clerk's.
To plural nouns ending in s add only an apostrophe; thus, days', ladies', girls', clerks'.
When plural nouns do not end in s, their possessive forms are made by adding the apostrophe and s, the same as singular nouns, thus:
They make men's and women's shoes.
90. In words which end with a sound that resembles that of s, the apostrophe with s forms an additional syllable. Thus:
James's (pronounced James-ez.)
Mr. Lynch's (pronounced Lynch-ez.)
The only exception to the rule occurs when the addition of another s would make too many hissing sounds, then we add the apostrophe alone. Thus:
For goodness' sake.
In Jesus' name.
91. In forming the possessive of compound nouns, the possessive sign is always placed at the end, thus:
My son-in-law's sister.
The man-of-war's cannon.
92. When we wish to show that a thing belongs to two or more persons who are joint owners of it, we add the possessive sign to the last word only, thus:
Carson, Price and Scott's store.
Mason and Hamlin's pianos.
If it is a separate ownership that we wish to denote, we place the possessive sign after each name, thus:
Bring me John's and Mary's books.
Lee's and Grant's armies met in battle.
Remember that the noun has just three changes in form, one for the plural number, one to denote gender and one for the possessive form. Watch carefully your own language and that of your friends and note if these changes are correctly made.
Exercise 3
Write the plural form of each of the following:
ax
beef
chief
hero
knife
T
hoof
man-of-war
axis
basis
cherry
leaf
son-in-law
Mr. Smith
thief
Doctor Wood
alley
buffalo
chimney
staff
Frenchman
Miss Brown
ox
spoonful
alto
calf
cargo
two
3
tooth
foot
turkey
Exercise 4
Underscore the nouns in the following:
How many abstract nouns?
How many concrete?
How many singular?
How many plural?
FIVE AND FIFTY
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
If fifty men did all the work
And gave the price to five;
And let those five make all the rules—
You'd say the fifty men were fools,
Unfit to be alive.
And if you heard complaining cries
From fifty brawny men,
Blaming the five for graft and greed,
Injustice, cruelty indeed—
What would you call them then?
Not by their own superior force
Do five on fifty live,
But by election and assent—
And privilege of government—
Powers that the fifty give.
If fifty men are really fools—
And five have all the brains—
The five must rule as now we find;
But if the fifty have the mind—
Why don't they take the reins?
Exercise 5
Select all the nouns in the following. Write their singular, plural and possessive forms. Decide whether they are abstract or concrete, common or proper or collective, masculine, feminine or neuter.
Brother!
Whoever you are, wherever you are on all the earth, I greet you.
I extend to you my right hand.
I make you a pledge.
Here is my pledge to you:—
I refuse to kill your father. I refuse to slay your mother's son. I refuse to plunge a bayonet into the breast of your sister's brother. I refuse to slaughter your sweetheart's lover. I refuse to murder your wife's husband. I refuse to butcher your little child's father. I refuse to wet the earth with blood and blind kind eyes with tears. I refuse to assassinate you and then hide my stained fists in the folds of any flag.
Will you thus pledge me and pledge all the members of our working class?—Kirkpatrick.
