Use -'s for people and animals, of for things and ideas; either for organisations and places; and -'s with time words such as yesterday's paper and ten minutes' walk.
A -'s for people and animals
Use -'s mostly for people or animals. It can stand without a noun after it.
Avoid tacking -'s onto a long phrase: the dog of the woman who lives upstairs, not the woman who lives upstairs's dog.
Note also a woman's coat (a coat for a woman), a girl's name, a bird's nest.
- Ryan's laptop isn't working. (not the laptop of Ryan)
- How old are Chris's kids? (not the kids of Chris)
- What's your sister's name?
- Mind the dog's tail.
- This isn't my scarf. It's my sister's.
- my mate's mum
- the dog of the woman who lives upstairs
B sister's or sisters'
With a singular noun, -'s. With a plural noun ending in s, just an apostrophe: -s'. With a plural that does not end in s (men, women, children, people), -'s.
You can put -'s after more than one noun.
- my sister's room (one sister)
- Mrs Okoro's house
- my sisters' room (two or more sisters)
- the Okoros' house (Mr and Mrs Okoro)
- the men's changing room
- a children's book
- Ben and Holly's children
C of for things and ideas
Things and ideas normally take of. Position words always do: the start, middle, end of, the top, bottom of, the front, back, side of.
- the depth of the pool (not the pool's depth)
- the title of the film
- the owner of the chip shop
- the end of the month (not the month's end)
- the top of the hill
- the back of the bus
D Organisations and places: either
For an organisation (a group of people), -'s or of both work. Places take -'s happily too.
- the council's decision
- the decision of the council
- the club's success
- the city's parks
- the world's population
- Scotland's First Minister
E Time: yesterday's paper, a week's holiday
Use -'s with time words: yesterday's, today's, tomorrow's, next week's, Monday's.
Also with periods of time, with -s' for plurals: a week's holiday, three weeks' holiday, ten minutes' walk.
- Have you still got yesterday's paper?
- Next week's quiz has been cancelled.
- I've got a week's holiday from Monday.
- Jen has got three weeks' holiday.
- Our flat is close to the beach. It's only five minutes' walk.
Exercises
81.1 In some of these sentences -'s or -s' is more natural. Write OK, or rewrite the part in bold.
Who is the owner of this pub?
OK
Who is the owner of this pub?
Where do the cousins of Leah live?
Leah's cousins
Where do Leah's cousins live?
Is this the coat of your brother?
Is this your brother's coat?
Sign your name at the bottom of the form.
Sign your name at the bottom of the form.
I've never met the husband of Lucy.
I've never met Lucy's husband.
What's the name of the dog of Tom and Mia?
What's the name of Tom and Mia's dog?
Nobody knows the reason for the delay.
Nobody knows the reason for the delay.
I can never remember the title of that film.
I can never remember the title of that film.
The friends of your children are at the door.
Your children's friends are at the door.
Do you know the price of the tickets?
Do you know the price of the tickets?
The garden of our neighbours is tiny.
Our neighbours' garden is tiny.
The hair of Dev is very long.
Dev's hair is very long.
My office is at the back of the building.
My office is at the back of the building.
I missed the wedding of my cousin.
I missed my cousin's wedding.
Kim is the sister of a woman I worked with.
Kim is the sister of a woman I worked with.
Did you like the house of the grandparents of Leo?
Did you like Leo's grandparents' house?
What is the meaning of this phrase?
What is the meaning of this phrase?
What do you think of the plans of the council?
What do you think of the council's plans?
81.2 Which is right? Write the correct form.
Mind the dog's tail. (dog / dog's / dogs')
Mind the dog's tail.
It's my birthday on Friday. (mother / mother's / mothers')
It's my mother's birthday on Friday.
Those look lovely. Shall we get some? (pears / pear's / pears')
Those pears look lovely. Shall we get some?
shoes are so expensive. (Children / Children's / Childrens')
Children's shoes are so expensive.
Glasgow is largest city. (Scotland / Scotland's / Scotlands')
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city.
Your brothers and sisters are your aunts and uncles. (parents / parent's / parents')
Your parents' brothers and sisters are your aunts and uncles.
I took loads of in Cornwall. (photos / photo's / photos')
I took loads of photos in Cornwall.
This isn't my jacket. It's . (someone else / someone else's / someone elses')
This isn't my jacket. It's someone else's.
Have you read any of poems? (Burns / Burns's / Burnses')
Have you read any of Burns's poems?
81.3 Write a new sentence beginning with the words given.
The match on Saturday has been called off. Saturday's match has been called off.
Saturday's match has been called off.
The storm last week brought down a lot of trees. Last .
Last week's storm brought down a lot of trees.
The only swimming pool in the town has shut. The .
The town's only swimming pool has shut.
The coastline of Cornwall is very rugged. Cornwall's .
Cornwall's coastline is very rugged.
Tourism is the biggest employer in the town. The town's .
The town's biggest employer is tourism.
81.4 Use the information to complete the sentences.
If I set off at 9, I reach the coast around midday. The coast is roughly three hours' drive away. (drive)
The coast is roughly three hours' drive away.
If I leave the office at 5.30 and walk to the station, I get there at 5.50. So the station is away. (walk)
So the station is twenty minutes' walk away.
My course ends on 1 July and starts again on 1 September. So I've got . (holiday)
So I've got two months' holiday.
The baby woke at 1 a.m. and finally settled at 4. So last night I lost . (sleep)
So last night I lost three hours' sleep.