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Orwe Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

apostrophe 's to show possession

I'm trying to understand when should I put 's in order to show possession. I found couple of websites with all the rules but I'm still confused.

Clear part:
-always after persons "Elizabeth's crown"
-always after animals "Cat's food"

Not clear part:
-always after months "May's data" ?
-always after things "Car's wheels" ?
but that would mean that I should always put 's ?

Ps: If someone knows any decent exercises with 's please share because I didn't find any.
  

Top answer

-always after things "Car's wheels" ? No: seldom after non-human or non-humanlike nouns: Data for May or May data the wheels of the car table leg Occasionally for anthropomorphic purposes, for smoother style, for conciseness, etc, we use the Anglo-Saxon genitive for non-human objects.

— Mister Micawber

  • -always after things "Car's wheels" ?
  • No: seldom after non-human or non-humanlike nouns: Data for May or May data the wheels of the car table leg Occasionally for anthropomorphic purposes, for smoother style, for conciseness, etc, we use the Anglo-Saxon genitive for non-human objects.
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4 Answers
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orweNot clear part:-always after months "May's data" ?-always after things "Car's wheels" ?
No: seldom after non-human or non-humanlike nouns:

Data for May or May data
the wheels of the car
table leg

Occasionally for anthropomorphic purposes, for smoother style, for conciseness, etc, we use the Anglo
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Leaving aside the question of making possessives with inanimate objects, to form the possessive of any noun, add an apostrophe and an ess when you would say the ess, but add just an apostrophe if you do not say the ess.

Charles's shoes
the twins' bunk bed
in Jesus' name
for goodness' sake
Norman Bates's mother
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Do you mean that after all humanlike nouns I should put 's (or s') to indicate possession ?

Did you mean:
-animals,
-cartons characters,
-any thing which is "alive" and "behave"
by humanlike nones ? If so what about plants ?

Thanks
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orweDo you mean that after all humanlike nouns I should put 's (or s') to indicate possession ?
Nothing is set in stone in English, but that is generally the case. One counter-example is long human-like nouns:

The opinion of the prosecutor's second cousin.
orweDid you mean: -animals,-cartons characters,-any thing
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