USE OF THE POSSESSIVE CASE

The  Possessive Case is now used chiefly with names of living thing; as,

The governor’s bodyground; the lion’s mane.

So we must say :

The leg of the table [not, the table’s leg].

                    The cover of the book [ not , the book’s cover].

                    The roof of the house [not, the house’s roof].

But Possessive is used with the names of personified* objects; as,

     

India’s heroes; Nature’s laws; fortune’s favourite; at duty’s call; at death’s door.

The Possessive is also  used with nouns denoting time, space or weight; as,

A day’s  march; a week’s holiday; in a year’s time; a stone’s throw; a foot’s length; a pounds’ weight.

The following phrases are also in common use:

FORMATION OF THE POSSESSIVE CASE

(1) When the noun is singular, the Possessive Case is formed by adding‘s to the noun; as,

The boy’s book; the king’s crown.

Note- the letter  s is omitted in a few words too many hissing sounds would come together; as,

 For conscience’ sake; for goodness’ sake;

For justice’ sake; for Jesus’ sake; Moses’ laws.

(2))When the noun is Plural, and ends in s, the Possessive Case is formed by adding only an apostrophe; as,

Boys’ school; girl’s school; horses’ tails..

(3)When noun is Plural but does not end in s, the Possessive sign is formed by adding’s as

  Men’s club; children’s books.

 When a noun or a title consists of several words , the Possessive sign is attached only to the last word; as,

 The King of Bhutan’s visit.

The Prime Mister of Mauritius’s  speech.

When two nouns are in apposition the possessive sign is put to the latter only; as,

    That is Tagore the poet’s house.

also when two nouns are closely connected, the possessive is put to the latter; as,

 Karim and Salim’s bakery.

William and Mary’s reign.

Each of two or more connected nouns implying separate possession must take the possessive sign; as,

  Raja Rao’s and R.K. Narayan’s novels.

Goldsmith’s and Cowper’s poems.

THE NOUN: CASE

  Examine these sentences:

1. John threw a stone.

2. the horse kicked the boy.

In sentence 1, the noun John is the Subject. It is the answer to the question. “who threw a stone?”

 The group of words threw a stone in the Predicate.

The Predicate contains the verb threw.

What did John throw?  - A stone. Stone is the object  which John threw. The noun stone is therefore called the Object.

In sentence 2, the noun horse is the Subject. It is the answer to the question, ‘Who kicked the boy?”

The noun boy is the Object. It is the answer to the question, ‘Whom did the horse kick?”

When a noun (or pronoun is used as the Subject of a verb, it is said to be in the Nominative Case.

When a noun (pronoun) is used as the Object of a verb, it is said to be in the Objective (orAccusative) Case

 Note- To find the Nominative, put Who? or what? Before the verb.

To find the Accusative, put whom? or Whom? Before the verb and it subject.

A noun which cones after a preposition is also to be in the Accusative Cases; as,

 The book is on the desk.

The noun desk is in the Accusative Case, governed by the preposition in.

HOW PLURALS ARE FORMED

 (I)The Plural of nouns is generally formed by adding –s to the singular; as,

 Boy, boys; girl, girls, book, books;

Pen, pens; desk, desks; cow, cows.

   ( ii)But Nouns ending in –s, -sh, -ch (soft), or –x form the floral by adding –es to the singular; as,

Class, classes; kiss, kisses; dish, dishes;

Bruch, brushes; match, matches; watch, watches;

Branch, branches; tax, taxes; box, boxes.

(iii) Most Nouns ending in –o also form the plural by adding –es to the singular ; as,

Buffalo, buffaloes; mango, mangoes; hero, heroes;

Potato, potatoes; cargo, cargoes, echo, echoes;

Negro, Negroes; volcano, volcanoes.

(iv) A few nouns ending  in –o merely add –s, ; as,

Dynamo, dynamos; solo, solos; ratio, ratios;

Canto, cantos; memento, mementos; quarto, quartos;

Piano, pianos; photo; photos; stereo, stereos.

Kilo, kilos; logo, logos; commando, commandos

(v) Nouns ending in –y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing –y into –I and adding –es; as,

Baby, babies; lady, ladies; city cities; army, armies; story, stories; pony, ponies.

THE NOUN: NUMBER

 Notice the change of form in the second word of each pair:

{Tress, trees} {Box, Boxes} {ox, oxen} {Man, men}

 The first word of each pair denotes one thing, the second word of each pair denotes more than one.

A noun that denotes one person or thing, is said to be in Singular Number; as,

 Boy, girl, cow, bird, tress, book, epn.

A Noun that denotes more than one person or thing, is said to be in the Plural Number; as,

 Boys, girls, cows, birds, tress, books, pens.

Thus there are two Numbers in English - the Singular and the Plural.