Possession

Question

I have heard:The nation's historycan we use that structure fora school's bella dog's bonea house's door?

Neeraj Jain · Accepted Answer

I have come across the nation's history but never came across a school's bell, a dog's bone, or a house's door.

Feebs11 · Answer

BellyI have heard:

The nation's history

can we use that structure for

a school's bell

a dog's bone

a house's door

?

Yes, you can. It is quite normal.

Bokeh · Answer

Hello Belly,

As a matter of style, use adjectives instead of possessives whenever possible as this improves readability.

~~the school's bell~~ -> the school bell

CalifJim · Answer

Although there are lots of exceptions, the main use of the possessive construction ('s) is with a person, that is, with entities to whom things can belong.

A nation consists of many people, so the nation's history does not stray far from the basic principle. However, in the other examples you present, it's usually better to use a compound noun or an of construction. In many cases, only attention to typical usage determines which.

a school bell, a dog bone, the door of a house

Since a dog is one of the domesticated animals, there may be a case for using a dog's bone.

CJ

Belly · Answer

But I have heard my teacher said:" You can't use in that style if the subject/ object is not human being". Likewise, when I do a writing "The dog's bone", he considered it incorrect

Khoff · Answer

As Jim said, "Although there are lots of exceptions, the main use of the possessive construction ('s) is with a person, that is, with entities to whom things can belong."

Your teacher might not think that dogs can possess things, but dogs think otherwise -- I hope your teacher never tries to take away a dog's bone.

Americans at least, tend to think of their pets as members of the family, and so, especially when referring to a specific animal, using the 's form would not seem strange at all. I might go to the store to buy "a dog bed" but when my own dog is sleeping in it I would call it "the dog's bed." Someone might buy "cat food," but they might also serve it to the cat up on a table so that the dog would not eat "the cat's food."

In fact, I never heard of the "rule" that the 's form could only be used for people until I started reading this forum -- it's certainly not something most native speakers are taught. I would be more likely to say "the table leg" or "the leg of the table," but if I heard someone say "the table's leg" I would not think "that's wrong!" And even if you maintain that only someone/something that can possess things can take the 's, I see nothing at all wrong with using it for animals. Of course, I'm not your teacher, so I can't tell you what to write in class; I'm just telling you how I use it as a native speaker.

Bokeh · Answer

BellyYou can't use in that style if the subject/ object is not human being

That's nonsense! The genitive does not require a human being. The following are a few examples which I believe would sound completely natural to all native speakers:

the bible's influence
the Government's tactics
Europe's difficulties
the play's structure
a hornet's nest
the dam's importance
the church's walls
London's art treasures
HMS Invincible's crew
two shilling's worth of apples
an hour's work
today's traffic problems
last night's snowfall
yesterday's paper
for decency's sake

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