![family at dinner table Possessives](/sites/podcasts/files/RS8140_GettyImages-664662825-hig.jpg)
Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how possessives are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.
Choose a topic and start improving your English grammar today.
Average
Do you need to improve your English grammar?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English grammar with our online courses.
Hello,
I would like which of the following is correct
1.Also, please find attached your homework
2. Also please find attached the homework
Does it need a comma?
Is it your or the?
Thank you in advance
Hello Nagie23,
In general, yes, you should put a comma after 'also' at the beginning of a sentence. There are exceptions to this, but here it is correct.
Both 'the' and 'your' are fine.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
1 is correct
"I'm a fan of him" vs. "I'm a fan of his"
Is the former considered completely wrong? Couldn't it be used to mean "I adore him"? Could we say that the "of" is similar to "about" (like "I'm crazy about him") in that case? The latter, on the other hand, means "I'm one of his fans", which is quite clear.
My question is more related to "a fan of him".
Thank you.
Hi Sefika,
No, it's absolutely fine to say I'm a fan of him, and the meaning is as you say!
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Thank you so much!
Hello!
Should I write:
teens' life
or can I use only
teens life?
Thank you.
Hello Fonseca,
Depending on the situation you want to use it in, I would suggest 'teen life', which is a noun modifier. If you follow the link, you can read more about how they work.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi there
I'm getting confused with these two sentences. The first sentence is "He hasn't worked," and the second sentence is "He doesn't have a car." But how come the second sentence is used with "doesn't have" but not with "hasn't"? because I'm thinking that "has" is used with the singular, not the plural.
Hello John_walker90,
Although both sentences contain the verb 'have', the function of in each sentence is different.
In the sentence 'He hasn't worked' have is used as an auxiliary verb to form the present perfect (have + past participle). To form the negative of verb forms with auxiliary verbs we always attach the negative 'not' to the auxiliary:
In the sentence 'He doesn't have a car' have is the main verb with the meaning of possession or ownership, not an auxiliary verb. When we construct negatives with main verbs we add the auxiliary do in the appropriate form:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello there!
Can I write Granollers facilities? Or shoud I write Granollers' or Granollers's?
Thanks!!
Hi Nessie1979,
It should be Granollers' facilities or Granollers's facilities (both are acceptable spellings when the noun ends in -s, but I think the first one is more common).
However, with cities, it's also common to phrase it like this: the facilities in Granollers.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, can you please advise which is correct please with the use of the apostrophe. Jess’ Travel Journal or Jess’s Travel Journal?
Thanks
Hi zppp1611,
Both are correct, but most people would use the first one, I think :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi,
Clear my doubts please.
Apostrophes are not used for any living things then why do we write apostrophe here with this noun-
My school's name is xyz
Why can't I just say or write it as
My school name is xyz.
Thank you
Hello SaraZaber,
I'm not sure where you got that rule! It's perfectly fine to use apostrophes with both animate and inanimate nouns to form possessives:
Sometimes we can form a compound noun using two nouns together:
the car door
the city limits
the school building
You could use 'school name' but it would be more likely in the context of talking about the name in general terms (as a concept) rather than a specific example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
hello everyone good afternoon, possessive pronouns help us improve the way we refer to something as ours, simply with the help of the 's or s'. Normally, people who do not know or are learning English, think of the sentence in Spanish and in the same way they believe that it is written in English.
Hello, I have heard a few years back that the use of the apostrophe is rather informal and should be avoided when possible. Can you please confirm if this is accurate?
Thanks!
Hello saka2005,
I assume you're talking about the use of contractions such as you're (you are), he's (he is), they've (they have) and so on. In writing, contractions are informal but that doesn't mean we should avoid them. Often, and informal style is appropriate, especially when we know the other person well or when the context is informal, such as on an internet forum! It's a question of knowing your audience and their expectations. Being very formal can also be an error in some situations.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Good morning,
I have got a question concerning the possessives with -of or 's in connection with a relative clause. I would be grateful if you could send me a feedback on the following three sentences:
1. The article deals with the immigration to England of Joshua who is a teacher from Jamaica.
This sentence seems grammatically correct, but does it sound natural? Is the sentence structure ok or would it be better to say "the immigration of Joshua to England"? Would the relative clause still fit then?
2. The article deals with Joshua’s immigration to England who is a teacher from Jamaica.
In this case the possessive -s probably works better (the noun [possessing] is a person), but the relative pronoun ‘who’ does not clearly refer back to Joshua so that the relative clause would be grammatically wrong.
3. The article deals with Joshua’s immigration from Jamaica to England.
The information that he is a teacher is left out (can it be included somehow?). Does the possessive -s sound more idiomatic than ‘the immigration to England of Joshua'?
Thank you for your help which has always been very useful.
Best,
Magnus
Hello Magnus,
1. Yes, this sentence is grammatically correct, though a comma is needed before 'who'. It's slightly awkward, but not unnatural, and I think is the best way to express all of these ideas in one sentence without a semi-colon (see my comments on 3 below).
2. Yes, the possessive 's is more natural, but this sentence doesn't work for the reason you mention -- its object makes the antecedent of the relative pronoun 'who' unclear.
3. This sentence is correct and natural. If you wanted to add in the information about him being a teacher, you could add a semi-colon and another clause: 'The article deals with Joshua's immigration from Jamaica to England; Joshua is a teacher.'
Assuming that this sentence occurs in a larger context, though, I think a more elegant solution would be to have either his name or his profession appear in another sentence. For example, 'The article deals with Joshua's immigration to England. Feeling a desire to teach children in a large city, he decided to move from his native Jamaica to London.'
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot for this detailed and helpful reply (as usual)!
Hello Samin,
Concrete nouns are generally things that can be perceived by one of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell). Abstract nouns are ideas or concepts which exist in the mind. Note that concrete nouns do not have to be real: unicorn, dragon and the Starship Enterprise are all concrete nouns.
I would say that all of your examples are concrete nouns, though in certain contexts some could be used as abstract nouns.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Yigido,
It's a good question :) The short answer to your question is yes - we can use the possessive 's for things. However, the situation is a bit complicated, and it depends on what the thing is and the context of use.
As you mentioned, books often teach that the possessive 's cannot be used for things. But, this is only a general pattern, not a strict grammatical rule. Words about places and countries often use the possessive 's, and so do words about companies or institutions, and words about time.
It's true that for physical objects, people tend not to use the possessive 's. People more commonly say, for example:
Your example of the notebook's cover is another example of this. I would probably say the cover of the notebook here. But it's important to realise that even though using the possessive 's is less common, it's not impossible, and you might hear or see these forms being occasionally used.
In my opinion, using the possessive 's (e.g. the car's door) gives slightly more emphasis to the possessor (i.e. the car). We might use this if we want to maintain focus on the possessor, e.g. We need to repair this car's door, not that car's door. The alternative forms give slightly more emphasis to the thing that is possessed (i.e. the door in the car door or the door of the car), so we might use this if there's no need to emphasise the possessor, e.g. We need to repair the car door, not the window.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi dipakrgandhi,
Thanks for your question. We don't have a specific section for prepositions at the moment.
First of all, condolences for the loss of your friend.
Your sentence ending with at is a correct sentence. At relates to the noun age earlier in the sentence.
Traditionally, it is sometimes taught that we should not end a sentence with a preposition, as you mention. However, speakers and writers actually do this very often, especially in everyday language use, so your sentence is perfectly acceptable.
You could rephrase it like this, e.g.: Not an age at which to leave this world. But this sounds rather more formal in style, and is unnecessary for all but the most formal situations.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello dipakrgandhi,
You are correct that it is not the standard way to express this, and your suggestions are much better.
I wouldn't say that there is a grammar rule which explains why your son's formulation is not correct. It's more a case of convention.
You can use of in this way: the fees of the university. When talking about the period which they cover, use for: the fees for the second year.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello NoelBiju17,
If you want to say where a blow fell, then the correct form is 'struck in'. However, you could use by with the sense of next to, if that was your intention.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello InmaLD
Except for the fact that the first forms suggest that Susan has more than one friend, there is no real difference in meaning between the two forms.
Just as you can say 'mi amiga' or 'una amiga mía', but not '
una mi amiga', in English you can say 'my friend' or 'a friend of mine', but not 'a my friend'.All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Vidyaarthi,
The sentence is grammatically correct. However, it would be unusual (but not impossible) to have a garden inside a house. Generally the garden is outside the house.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Adya's,
There is no rule for this. However, common sense tells us that multiple examples of possessive 's will make a sentence clumsy, inelegant and possibly hard to follow. It's very unusual to see more than two in a row.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello zenger62,
I don't think there are any contexts in which one of these would be preferred over the other. Neither has any particular stylistic (formal, informal) tone and they can be used interchangeably.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team