Hey, what's up! And welcome to Series English! My name is Antonia Romaker
and today we'll focus on possession using an apostrophe s.
There's another variant when you use the preposition of.
But today we'll study mainly, purely the apostrophe s situation.
Firstly we need to understand that an apostrophe s is used to show
that something belongs to somebody or something.
Here there is an asterix, because mostly something belongs to somebody.
A couple of examples.
Is that Mary's car?
So I mean: Does this car belong to Mary?
Is that Mary's car?
Russia's territory is so vast.
How do we pronounce an apostrophe s?
Here the rules are absolutely the same as for the plural ending s.
So it can be pronounced as [s] for example cat's, the plural form is pronounced the same way - cats.
It can be pronounced as [z], kid's, kids, kids' - all three forms are pronounced the same.
And [iz], George's, Georges.
If you do not remember the rules then let me refresh your memory,
take a look at this chart.
And now let's review some peculiarities which you are supposed to know when you deal with an apostrophe s.
First off we can use an apostrophe s with noun phrases.
An example. This is my brother's girlfriend. This is a noun phrase - my brother, two words.
And we add an apostrophe s to the last word.
This is my brother's girlfriend.
Second off we can use two possessive contractions.
We went to Sarah's parents' house. So the house belongs to the parents.
And the parents belong to Sarah, so they are Sarah's parents and we went to their house.
So therefore we have - We went to Sarah's parents house.
By the way have you noticed that here we do not have an apostrophe s, we have just an apostrophe and that's it.
That's because it is a plural noun which ends in the ending s,
so we add just an apostrophe. For singular nouns we add an apostrophe s,
but for plural nouns which end in s already we add just an apostrophe.
Thirdly an apostrophe s can be about time and duration. Is this today's paper?
The next point. As I have already said we use an apostrophe s with singular nouns
and we use just an apostrophe with plural nouns which have the ending s.
But with irregular plural forms we use an apostrophe s. The children's toys are all over the place.
Children is plural, but it is an irregular form that's why we add an apostrophe s.
Moving on, if the first or the second name ends in s,
we can add an apostrophe s or just an apostrophe, both variants are possible.
And usually we pronounce such words as [ziz] or [siz].
Is that James' dog? James - that's why this - James'.
As for compound words we add an apostrophe s to the final noun.
My mother-in-law's cooking is delish, is delicious.
Do not forget that we don't usually use an apostrophe s with things.
Therefore we have - the door handle, the kitchen table, the shop window and so on.
Also when we talk about places familiar to the speaker and the listener
we sometimes can drop the noun after an apostrophe s.
The hairdressers, the doctors, the vets - the vet's office I mean, the John's - I mean the John's house,
the Whites' - the Whites' place. Here Whites' stands for the whole family. The Johnsons.
And the last two points. Number 9 - in short answers we can omit the noun if it is not necessary to repeat it.
Iis that your coat? No, it's Sandra's.
10. We can use an apostrophe s with one, anyone, someone, anybody, somebody.
It's essential to know one's rights. And answering the previous question - It is someone else's coat.
Else's. If you add else then an apostrophe s is added to else.
And take a look at these two forms. What is the difference? What do you think?
This is a singular form and this is a plural form, the same logic.
You should ask for others' opinion - other people, many people, that's why we use this form.
You should ask for others opinion.
And finally do not use an apostrophe s with possessive pronouns. Be careful.
Anyway that's it. If you have any questions as usual feel free to write a comment,
also do not forget to like, share and subscribe, it will help me a lot.
And I hope that you would like to continue studying English with me.
See you in my next video! Happy English and Russian practice! Bye!