EnglishClub ESL Forums

Hi!

I've been researching for a concrete explanation about how we can classify the function of 'today' in "Today's topic" or 'today's activity'.

Someone corrected me with this sentence,
"Today's topic is about ' and 'You did a good job in today's activity.'

He told me that 'today' cannot own a topic or an activity, since apostrophe notes possession if not contraction.

How does 'today' function in the above sentences?

Thanks!

Your friend is quite incorrect!

It is perfectly possible in English to add a possessive apostrophe to nouns denoting time, e.g. this week's news. In your example, the word 'today' functions nominally and the apostrophe may therefore be added.

As regards functional classification, a noun in the possessive case is termed a determiner.