Question
Updated on
27 Nov 2022
- Hebrew
-
English (US)
-
Arabic
Question about English (US)
what is the difference between _s'_ and "of" ?
how to use s' correctly?
this is my friend's house
I talked to jone's mother
I talked to her son
I talked to jane's duaghter
I took the dog's leash
please help cause it is very important and I noticed that im having trouble using it
what is the difference between _s'_ and "of" ?
how to use s' correctly?
this is my friend's house
I talked to jone's mother
I talked to her son
I talked to jane's duaghter
I took the dog's leash
please help cause it is very important and I noticed that im having trouble using it
how to use s' correctly?
this is my friend's house
I talked to jone's mother
I talked to her son
I talked to jane's duaghter
I took the dog's leash
please help cause it is very important and I noticed that im having trouble using it
Answers
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- English (US)
- Russian
Your examples are correct, except I'd say "dog leash".
You use "of" when it's an inanimate object, e.g. "leg of the table" (can't really say "table's leg"). With people and animals, you use the apostrophe (').
- Hebrew
thank you!!
I took my mother's glasses , correct?
he stole dian's wallet
I ripped my dog leash
my mother doesn't agree to me to take my granpa's candies
what do you say?
I took my mother's glasses , correct?
he stole dian's wallet
I ripped my dog leash
my mother doesn't agree to me to take my granpa's candies
what do you say?
- English (US)
This is my friend's house = This is the house of my friend
I talked to Jane's daughter = I talked to the daughter of Jane.
I don't agree that it doesn't apply to inanimate objects. You could use the apostrophe or of.
"My car's fender got dented in the crash." = The fender of my car got dented in the crash.
"The tree's branch fell on my house." = The branch of the tree fell on my house.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
- Russian
@HebrewDane Well, I'm not saying it's never possible to use an apostrophe with an inanimate object. I'm just saying it's a lot less common. Oftentimes, with inanimate objects, it would be neither an apostrophe nor "of", but rather just a noun used as an adjective. Your example about the tree brunch sounds a bit artificial to me. I think it would be a lot more common to say "A tree branch fell on my house". Try Googling "tree branch" vs. "tree's branch", and you'll see that the latter will return far fewer hits (in fact, Google says "did you mean "tree branch"?) :)
Since the author of the thread asks about the difference between the two (apostrophe vs. "of"), I'd say the easiest explanation is the one I provided, although of course there may be exceptions.
Regarding animate nouns, they're very rarely used with "of". Again, it sounds uncommon to say "I spoke to the daughter of Jane" as opposed to "Jane's daughter".
- English (US)
- Russian
@shalomAti Well, in this example, it would be "my dog's leash" because it's actually a leash belonging to your dog. If it's just any "dog leash", then there doesn't have to be an apostrophe.
Your last example is not entirely correct grammatically, but the use of the apostrophe is right. I would say "My mom doesn't allow me to take my grandpa's candy"
- Hebrew
- English (US)
@Allophone I see your point but I still don't see eye to eye on the inaminate object part.
The reason I spelled out "Jane's daughter = the daugther of Jane" is to show the OP what using the apostraphe means. Which is basically what was asked at the start.
Thanks for sharing your point of view though.
Highly-rated answerer
- Hebrew
this jacket is her
this jacket's is hers
this car is mine
I took your duaghter's phone
correct?
this jacket's is hers
this car is mine
I took your duaghter's phone
correct?
- English (US)
@shalomAti
First one is wrong. Should be "This jacket is hers."
Second one wrong. You are using the 's here as a contraction for "jacket is" so you don't need the "is" again. "This jacket's hers." (this jacket IS hers)
This car is mine is correct. I took your daughter's phone is correct.
Highly-rated answerer
- Hebrew
the nieghbours' house is scary, I heard that if someone gets in their house he is not coming back. correct?
Read more comments
- Hebrew
- English (US)
@shalomAti OK. So you are saying plural neighbors. Then yes, you'd put the ' at the end.
"Both my neighbors' houses are scary."
Highly-rated answerer
- Hebrew
- English (US)
@shalomAti It doesn't really matter. The point is that if it's a word that doesn't end in the letter "s" you add an apostrophe and then "s" and if it's a word that already ends in the letter "s" then you put the apostrophe after the "s"
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
- Russian
- Hebrew
- English (US)
- Russian
@shalomAti Again, I would say the general rule is to use "of" with some inanimate objects, but it really depends on the context.
- Hebrew
- English (US)
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