Expressing Possession

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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Zebyper
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Expressing Possession

Post by Zebyper »

Spanish is my mother language and I've always been taught that when we express possession we use the apostrophe ('s) for people and Of for animals and objects but I recently read an article that used expressions like "Sonya was the daughter of Roman", "My dog's toy" and, "That was a family picture", this blew my mind and confused me so I'd like to know when we can really use the apostrophe, when Of and when we change the position of the words


Thanks for helping
*Sorry for my bad English but remember that English isn't my mother language, I hope you understand*
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Alan
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Re: Expressing Possession

Post by Alan »

Your confusion is understandable: use of the possessive apostrophe is one of the more difficult aspects of English grammar! For a full explanation, you'll need to consult a grammar book/website, but to address briefly the specific points you cite here:
(1) It is certainly not impossible to use an of-construction with people, but it is generally only when the name is followed by a modifying phrase, such as a relative clause, e.g.

Jack was the son of Mary, who was chairperson of the local residents' committee.

(2) Animals are generally treated as human as regards use of the possessive apostrophe.

(3)'Family' in 'a family picture' exemplifies a different kind of construction, which is not possessive at all (hence the absence of any apostrophe). 'Family' here serves essentially as an adjective (of a type often termed a "noun modifier") and means simply 'pertaining to a/the family'.

I hope that helps you a little!
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