Restriction

The number of nouns in the Genitive case (= S-genitives) is limited:

1). Animate nouns denoting personal names (John's bed, Mary's job)

2). Personal nouns (my friend's visit, the boy's new shirt)

3). Collective nouns (the government's policy, the team's victory)

4). Higher animals (the dog's barking, the lion's rage)

5). Temporal nouns (a day's work, a few days' trip, a two-years' absence, December’s dusk, a summer’s day)

6). Nouns denoting distance and measure (a mile's distance, a shilling's work)

7). Geographic/proper names of continents, countries, cities, towns//universities, organizations, churches (Europe's future, the United States' policy, the European Economic Community’s exports, St. Stephen’s Cathedral).

8). Locative nouns, e.g. town, city, (the island's outline, the city's white houses, the school's history, world’s population)

9). Names of planets (the sun's rays, the earth’s surface the play's title)

10) Nouns denoting means of transport: the ship's crew, the car’s keys, the plane’s engine.

11) Some abstract (life’s little ironies) and concrete nouns (river, water, ocean- water’s edge, the ocean’s foam)

+ Set phrases (23 units): (in one's mind's eye, a pin's head, a needle's point, to one's heart's content, at one's finger's end (at one's fingers’ ends), at a hair’s breadth, at arm’s length (reach), (at) a stone’s throw from.., at death’s door, at razor’s edge, at gun’s point, at one's wit's end, out of harm's way, duty's call, one’s money’s worth, for Goodness' sake, for Heaven’s sake, for economy’s sake, for convenience’s sake, for appearance’s sake, to be nobody’s fool, to know someone for donkey’s years, a bird’s eye view.

REMEMBER! The following pattern with plural expressions of measure:

1. A man deserves a few weeks’ holiday. (genitive case)

2. …a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment. (common case)

3. A two-week period, ten-dollar bills.

§4. Types of Genitive

the Dependent Genitive = a Noun in the G.C + another Noun

1. the specifying genitive (Whose?)

the word in the G.C. denotes a particular person/thing – may be replaced by an of-phrase:

The car’s owner, London University student, said…

The owner of the car was nowhere to be seen.

Meanings of the S.G.C. :

Possession: Mary's suitcase, the children's toys

Subjective G: that boy's answer

Genitive of origin: the girl's story, the general's letter

Objective G: the boy's punishment

2. The classifying/descriptive G (What kind of?)

e.g. His hair felt like a bird’s nest. He was a mess.

The N in the G.C. refers to a whole class of similar objects. Generally it is not replaced by an of-phrase. They form an inseparable combination and do not allow an intervening adjective:

* A bird’s new nest

* children’s new clothes

But it is possible to say a new bird’s nest, new children’s clothes.

e.g. Sheep's eyes, a doctor's degree, cow's milk, a woman's college, a soldier's uniform.

Set phrases: a spider's web, the serpent's tooth, the bee's sting, a giant's task, a fool's errand, a cat's paw, child's play

3. The Group Genitive

The apostrophe 's is added to a whole group of words:

Smith and Brown's office, the Prince of Denmark's tragedy, sb else's umbrella, Jack&Ann's children, the Prime Minister of England's residence, the man we saw yesterday's son.

4. The Double Genitive: 's + of

He was an old business client of grandfather's (one of grandfather's clients)

5. The Independent Genitive (= Elliptic genitive)

A word in the G.C. without a head-word

If a car is dirty, it is a woman’s.

+ other independent genitives meaning:

• trade & shops: I met him at the grocer's. When choosing a restaurant she suggested Scott's.

• relationship The nephew liked to stay at his aunt's. She is going to a friend’s.

• with proper nouns: We were married at St. Paul's.