jueves, 4 de octubre de 2012

POSSESION. SAXON GENITIVE WITH ´S


Possession, in addition to being expressed with the verb 'have' (or 'have got') and possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their), is expressed by a special construction which in English is called  Genitive Saxon, and which in Spanish it is equivalent to the structure with the preposition 'de' (of).

Consider these examples:


El libro del niño = the child's book

El libro de Juan = Juan's book


As seen, in English, first we put the possessor (person) followed by the apostrophe and 's' and after this the thing possessed.

the student's new pencil = el lápiz nuevo del alumno

Mary's brother = el hermano de María


If the possessor is a regular plural (ending in-s), add only the apostrophe. If the plural is irregular (not ending in -s) then 's remains
:
the students' uniforms = los uniformes de los alumnos

the children's toys = los juguetes de los niños


Finally, if the possessor's name ends in -s, 's remains. This ending is then pronounced
/zIz/:
James's house = la casa de Jaime

Charles's wife = la mujer de Carlos


NOTICE! If  the possessor is not a person, then Saxon Genitive is not used, but an of-construction
:
Las patas de la mesa = the legs of the table

Las manecillas del reloj = the handles of the clock

Las hojas del libro = the pages of the book






CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO DO  ON-LINE EXERCISES:


EXERCISE ONE
EXERCISE TWO
EXERCISE THREE
EXERCISE FOUR

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