Case in English. Possessive case in English. Formation of the possessive case

IN English language nouns have only two cases: possessive case (Possessive Case), in which nouns take a special ending and general case (Common Case), in which nouns do not have any endings.

Common case is the form in which the noun is given in the dictionary.

Majority meaning Russian case forms expressed in English in the general case form with or without a preposition:

In English, nouns in general case can be used in the functions of the subject and direct object(always without a preposition), indirect and prepositional objects, circumstances (usually with a preposition), definitions (both with and without a preposition).

Possessive nouns in the only one number is formed by adding the ending to a noun 's:

Possessive nouns in plural number is formed by adding only one apostrophe:

If the plural of a noun is formed not by adding the ending /s/, but by changing the form, then the possessive case is formed in the same way as for the singular, i.e. adding the ending / 's/:

A noun in the possessive case has only one function - definitions(individual characteristics of the word being defined):

The possessive construction can be represented with a preposition of:

the boy' s room = the room of the boy

3. Possessive case of animate and inanimate nouns:

Basically, only the possessive case has the form animate a noun denoting a living being to which some object, quality or attribute belongs:

Rare cases of using the possessive case with inanimate nouns are limited to the meaning of a specific subject:

the car 's roof - car roof(specific, specific car)

4. Cases of using the possessive case for inanimate nouns:

• Nouns denoting time and distance:
  
• Nouns denoting countries, cities and ships, as well as words: world, country, city, ship:
  
• Some adverbs of time:
  
• The word being defined has other qualifiers - indefinite article or demonstrative pronouns:
  
• Phrases that do not contain a noun:
  
• To name an establishment, shop or house (of someone):
  

Two nouns in the possessive case do not usually follow one another. In such cases, the pretext is used of:

IN next video In the video, children show the belonging of objects to each other, and the teacher pronounces a sentence using nouns in the possessive case:

English Joke

A young man hired by a supermarket reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom and said, “Your first job will be to sweep out the store.”
“But I’m a college graduate,” the young man replied indignantly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. “I didn’t know that,” said the manager. “Here, give me the broom - I’ll show you how.”

English has two cases: common and possessive. Let's look at each one separately.

Common case - Common case

Nouns in the general case are used in the functions of the subject (and correspond in Russian to a noun in the nominative case), the nominal part of a compound predicate, complement, and adverbial case.

The general case form alone, without the help of additional means, cannot convey the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. Such additional funds in English, the order of words in a sentence and prepositions are: of - corresponds to the genitive case, to - to the dative case, by, with - to the instrumental case, of, about - to the prepositional case with the prepositions “about” and “about”.

For example:

The dean spoke of our faculty.
Dean (the dean - Nominative case) spoke about our faculty.

Students greeted the dean.
Students greeted the dean ( accusative).

The lecture of the dean was listened to with great attention.
Dean's lecture ( Genitive) listened with great attention.

A very interesting story was told by the dean.
Very interesting story was told by the dean (the instrumental case).

He missed many lectures and had to explain the reason to the dean.
He missed many lectures and must explain the reason to the dean ( dative).

She told me many interesting things about our new dean.
She told me a lot of interesting things about our new dean (prepositional case).

Possessive case - Possessive case

Nouns in the possessive case denote the ownership of an object or concept, answering the question whose? - whose?, or relation to another subject, answering the questions what? - which one?, how much? - How many? etc. The possessive case is used in the function of definition and stands before the word being defined.

My sister's room... My sister's room...

The possessive case is formed:

Using an apostrophe (") and the letter s ("s) for singular nouns and for plural nouns that do not end in -s:

the boy's room - the boy's room, Tom's book - Tom's book, the men's hats - men's hats, women's work - women's work.

Only use an apostrophe (") for plural nouns ending in -s:

the boys" room - the boys' room, the students answers - the students' answers.

In the form of the possessive case we use:

Mainly nouns denoting animate objects:

my teacher's pen - my teacher's pen. Tom's friends - Tom's friends.

Nouns meaning:

time - with words such as minute, hour, day, week, night, month, year, expressing the meaning “during”, “per period”, etc. (unlike cases when this case is not used - see point 2 of the next paragraph):

today's newspapers - today's newspapers, an hour's absence - absence for an hour, a week's holiday - a week's vacation, a year's journey - a journey that lasts a year;

distance:

a mile s distance - a distance of a mile, two kilometres" walk - a path of two kilometers;

price:

ten dollars worth of chocolate - 10 dollars worth of chocolate;

names of stars and planets:

the Sun's rays - Sun rays, the Moon's light - moonlight, the Earth's resources - Earth's resources;

names of countries, cities, etc.:

the United States" participation - participation of the United States, Moscow s squares - Moscow squares, this Liverpool"s Cathedral - this Liverpool Cathedral;

moving mechanisms or machine parts (in the language of technical literature):

the plane's propellers - airplane propellers.

Notes

Relationships expressed using the possessive case can be conveyed by a construction with the preposition of:

France's economy - the economy of France - the economy of France.

In cases where the belonging of something to something is expressed (i.e. belonging inanimate object), then, as a rule, a construction with the preposition of is used:

the walls of the town - the walls of the city, the legs of the table - table legs.

Possessive nouns can be used without a subsequent location noun. In this case, the possessive case has a local meaning.

For example: at my sister's - in my sister's house, at the baker's - in the bakery.

The possessive case is not used:

If of two, usually inanimate, nouns, the first acts as a definition with a pronounced meaning “characteristic, ordinary, used for something,” etc. and the combination is considered as a single, holistic concept:

a street lamp is a street lamp, and a newspaper article is a newspaper article.

With words that express time and act as definitions:

summer holidays - summer holidays, November fogs - November fogs, birthday party - evening on the occasion of a birthday (time is expressed through age).

With names of cities, regions, proper names, etc., when they are an integral element of the name:

the Gomel University - Gomel University, “The Vitebsk Worker” - “Vitebsk Worker” (newspaper), the Pushkin Museum - Pushkin Museum.

With the names of items of clothing, equipment with shades of the meaning described in paragraph I:

a football ground - a football ground, a coffee cup - a coffee cup.

A moment like, occupies far from the last place in grammar textbooks. Without this theme, how can we talk about the ownership of something? You can still somehow deal with inanimate nouns, but what about in other cases? First things first...

Possessive case rules in English

As you know, Possessive case rules in English are needed to express the ownership of an object to a certain person. That is, today we will learn to say “friend’s house”, “wife’s letters” and so on. The following instructions will help you figure out what's what.

1. According to the standard rule, the ownership of an object is expressed by adding an apostrophe and –s to the animate person to whom the thing belongs.

For example: my sister 's powder - my sister's powder

2. If the object belongs to a noun in plural(formed according to the rules, using –s), then you only need to add an apostrophe to this word.

For example: my sisters ’ house – my sisters' house

3. In cases where a noun forms the plural in a special way, it is recommended to adhere to the standard rule (apostrophe + -s).

For example: the children 's toys - children's toys

4. If in a sentence you need to name two persons to whom something belongs, then an apostrophe and –s are added to the last noun.

For example: Peter and Mary 's apartment – ​​Peter and Mary’s apartment

5. There are phrases with compound nouns. In this case, the apostrophe and –s It is recommended to add to the last part.

For example: my mother-in-law 's dog - my mother-in-law's dog

6. The rules of the possessive case in English usually apply only to animate nouns. That is, inanimate nouns are not friendly with an apostrophe + -s. The pretext we know will help here of.

For example: a piece of paper - a piece of paper

Possessive case in English. Examples

Agree, it’s not at all difficult to start using possessive case in English. Examples, which are presented below, will help you understand even better.

There are 6 cases in Russian, and only 2 in English. Does this mean that they do not need to be studied? Of course not. Without knowing the rules for forming cases and expressing case relations, you will not be able to freely operate with vocabulary and construct grammatically correct and understandable phrases. So let's consider cases more details.

What are the cases in English?

• General case, which is divided into subjective and objective:
  • Subjective case, which is also called nominal. It indicates that the part of speech in a sentence functions as the subject. This is true for both nouns and pronouns.
  • Objective case or Used to designate a noun or pronoun as the recipient of an action. For nouns this is not very relevant, but in the case of personal pronouns oblique case significantly affects the form of the word.
• Possessive or Possessive It is used to express the ownership of some objects or subjects by others.

Below we will look at the cases in more detail.

Important! Only nouns in the possessive case change their form in speech and writing. It is formed by adding the ending to the word - s. In other cases, nouns do not change their form. This is why it is often said that English is the easiest language to learn. However, with pronouns the situation is different. Their form changes depending on the case, and it is most convenient to trace these changes using the example of personal pronouns,

Common case of nouns

In the common case, if a noun is used without a preposition, its function in the sentence depends on where it appears. This is achieved due to the analytical nature of the language, when instead of endings, changing the place of a word in a sentence and adding prepositions is used to express case relations. This is one of the reasons why English is considered the easiest language to learn. As such, there are no complex rules for changing words by case; moreover, the lack of designation of grammatical genders in writing greatly simplifies the matter.

Nouns without prepositions and their translation

If a noun comes before a predicate in affirmative sentence or before auxiliary verb in the interrogative, then in the sentence it plays the role of the subject and is translated in the nominative case.

If a noun comes after a predicate in a function, then it is translated in the accusative case.

If between the direct object and the predicate there is a noun without a preposition as an object, then it is translated into the accusative case.

Nouns with prepositions and their translation

To make it easier to understand prepositions and case relations, we put them in a table. The table shows the cases of pronouns and nouns, the prepositions with which they are indicated in English, and examples with translation.

Possessive

Nouns in the possessive case always denote ownership and come before the noun that they define. Only animate nouns are used in the possessive case. Inanimate nouns are used in this case only in some cases.

How is the possessive case formed? For animate nouns

For animate nouns that are in singular. h., the possessive case is formed using the ending ‘s, which is added to the word:

the Queen’s crown - the queen’s crown, the dog’s bone - dog bone, Mike’s dad - Mike’s dad

If an animate noun ends in -s, then either simply ‘ or -‘s is added to it:

Jhones’s friend = Jhones’ friend - Jones’ friend

With the plural, everything is simpler. If you need to put a noun in the plural. in the possessive case, only an apostrophe is added - ‘. Phonetically, no changes occur. For example:

boys’ toys – boys’ toys

If the noun forms the plural. according to other rules, that for them the possessive case is formed in the same way as in the first case - by adding the ending – 's:

Child’s cat – children’s cat – children’s cat

goose's feather - geese's feather - geese feathers

What inanimate nouns are used in the possessive case?

Below we will look in table form at which groups of inanimate nouns are used in the possessive case:

Pronoun cases: what you need to know

Pronouns have the same cases as nouns. However, if nouns undergo minor changes when expressing case relations, then pronouns can completely change their form. This is best seen in the example of personal pronouns in the plural, which almost completely change their form. Interrogative and relative pronouns also change, but remain recognizable and their use is intuitive.

We are accustomed to the fact that in Russian it is enough to inflect a word by case, thereby forming the context we need. But what to do in a similar situation with English, where there is practically no case system? Firstly, here the syntactic meaning of a word is always determined by its place in the sentence. And secondly, there are as many as three case categories, but not all of them are actually played significant role. In today's material we will look at how cases are formed in the English language, what parts of speech they correspond to, and what function they perform.

First, let's find out what this section of grammar is. Case is a term denoting the syntactic role of a member of a sentence or the semantic meaning of a word in a phrase. In simple terms, case determines the dependence of one word on another. The corresponding case in the sentence expresses the subject, object, definition.

Russian grammar allows this term to be applied to a noun, pronoun, adjective, participle, numeral. But in English, cases can occur only in two parts of speech: nouns and pronouns. Moreover, they bring more changes to the class of pronouns. Let's look at the English case system.

Cases in English

Since English uses a fixed word order, the role of cases is somewhat confused and is not always actively expressed. But this is not a reason not to consider their construction and use. On the contrary, to confidently use the language you need to be able to work with any grammatical structures, and the category of case is no exception. Let's ask ourselves: how many cases are there in English? Officially there are three, but only two are identified. We will analyze the three-level classification.

Subjective category

Translated into Russian, this is the most common nominative case, which emphasizes that the noun/pronoun acts as the subject. This grammatical construction does not differ in anything remarkable: both nouns and pronouns are used in it in their usual dictionary form.

• She is my best friend –ShemybestFriend.
• Peter is a clever boy –Peter -smartboy.
• Children read the book –Childrenreadbook.

The second case in English is much more unique.

Objective category

This is the so-called indirect case. IN in this case nouns/pronouns are not active persons/objects, but objects of these actions. Accordingly, in a sentence this construction is associated with the role of a complement.

When translated into Russian, depending on the context, words can be put in the genitive, dative, propositional and accusative case. It is noteworthy that nouns still do not change their construction, and most personal pronouns receive a completely new form.

The pronoun who (who?) also undergoes changes, which turns into whom (whom? to whom?).

• Give me a pen, please –Giveto me,Please,handle.
• I told them the truth –Isaidthemthe truth.
• The boy bought a ball – Boyboughtball.

These two case categories in the case of nouns are combined into one common case, because no changes occur in their composition anyway, and the syntactic role is to a greater extent always determined by the location of the word. A separate and most specific case is the third group.

Possessive category

The most important type of case in English . It is a significant construction that not only expresses the role of a noun/pronoun, but also changes its composition.

The class of pronouns is also being transformed into new forms.

The purpose of these forms and endings, as well as this case group as a whole, is to show belonging to someone or possessing something, as well as to describe and tell what kind of persons/objects they are. Parts of speech of this category always appear before the word being defined, which means that it finally controls the position of the member of the sentence. And this is another exceptional feature of this category.

• This is Liz' s mirror –ThisLizinomirror.
• These are mine children 's pictures –Thesedrawingsmychildren.

Accordingly, the syntactic role of such constructions is definition.

And last important nuance this group: as a rule, possessive endings are attached only to the animate class of nouns. But there are exceptions to this law. Let's take a closer look at them.

Grammar note: in constructions related to dedication, the erection of something in honor of someone, the possessive form is not used: theLermontovmonument.

It is noteworthy that in addition to its own case system, English grammar has other possibilities for declension of a noun. Next, we will learn how to form cases in English using function words.

Prepositions as cases

Prepositions and cases actually have a lot in common even in Russian. Remember that many of them are used only with certain cases and are unique markers of these cases. But prepositions in English not only indicate case, but also help form it. Let's consider such cases at specific examples, and the table below will help us with this.

Now we've sorted it all out possible ways declination English words. Having mastered this material, we not only learned to put nouns into the correct form, but also became acquainted with many frequently encountered stable constructions. This means that with each lesson we become more and more aware of the nuances of English speech. See you in new classes!