The Possessive Case

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The Possessive Case :


Cases of Nouns

The noun has Four Principal Cases of Nouns.

1. Subjective (Nominative) Case
2. Objective (Accusative and Dative) Case
3. Possessive (Genitive) Case
4. Vocative Case



1. The Subjective Case = The Nominative Case

The subjective case indicates the subject of the verb. The subject may be a noun or a pronoun.

a. When subject precedes the verb

1. Babies cry.
2. Birds fly.
3. Boys play.
4. Dancers dance.
5. Enemies quarrel.
6. Friends cooperate.
7. Hunters hunt.
8. Jokers joke.
9. Ladies gossip.
10. Liars lie.
11. She weeps.
12. Men toil.
13. Players play.
14. Readers read.
15. Singers sing.
16. Soldiers fight.
17. Students study.
18. Swimmers swim.
19. Teachers teach.
20. Workmen work.
21. Writers write.
22. He Laughs.

b. The indirect object that which is preceded by to or for.

1. He is my brother.
2. Mohammad became a great man.
3. She is the queen of my heart.
4. His sister is a lady of quality.
5. He is a poor fish.
6. He is a man of straw.



2. The Objective Case

a. The Accusative Case

1. When the noun is the direct object.
2. Architects design buildings.
3. Bees like flowers.
4. Boys eat ice-cream.
5. Doctors treat the patient.
6. Drivers drive cars.
7. Her daughter sings beautiful song.
8. Her grand mother likes television.
9. Her mother runs the house.
10. His cousin studies Spanish.
11. His father writes books.
12. His grand father tells stories.
13. My family speaks English.
14. My sister plays tennis.
15. My son learns medicine.
16. My uncle likes music.
17. Painters paint portraits.
18. People hate liars.
19. People smoke cigarettes.
20. Pilots fly aero planes.
21. Policeman helps the people.
22. Rats hate cats.
23. Scientists invent wonders.
24. Soldiers defeat the enemies.
25. Students study lessons.
26. Teachers teach students.
27. Women adore jewellery.

b. The Dative Case

When the noun is the indirect object….

SUBJECT + VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT

1. I gave my wife a kiss.
2. He writes his fiancee a letter.
3. He can’t tell his wife the truth.
4. She gives the students private lesson.
5. The girl left her sister some sweets.
6. The boy told his friend a lie.
7. The police gave the thief a lesson.
8. The wife wished her husband good luck.
9. The mother wished her son happy birthday.
10. They paid the merchant much money.
11. That will do your children much good.
12. Ali gave Omar a book.
13. That will save the worker a lot of work.
14. Ali gave a book to Omar.
15. That will save our friend much trouble.

When object is a complement….

1. They made him a minister.
2. He thought her a fool.

Nouns in Apposition

When two nouns are used together to denote the same person or thing, the second is said to be in apposition with the first.

1. Al-Maarri. the poet. was blind.
2. I admire Al-Maarri. the poet.
3. I respect her father, the well-known surgeon.
4. Has she met your sister Mona?
5. The Nile is a good source of wealth.



3. The Possessive (Genitive) Case

The possessive (Genitive) case denotes owner ship and it has two kinds.

By using S and apostrophe

Use ’S for Singular Nouns

1. The artist’s touches
2. The baby’s hand
3. The boy’s brain
4. The cat’s paw
5. The cook’s tongue
6. The footballer’s feet
7. The girl’s hair
8. The lady’s mouth
9. Lion’s mouth
10. The man’s heart
11. The servant’s life
12. The soldier’s eye
13. The woman’s breast
14. The writer’s mind

Use the apostrophe only for singular nouns ending in S.

1. Hercules’power
2. Archimedes’ law
3. Moses’ law

Use apostrophe only for plural nouns ending in S.

1. The soldiers’ camps
2. The typists’ typewriter
3. The boys’ books
4. The dogs ’ tails
5. The girls’ room
6. The girls’ dresses

Use ’S for plural not ending in S.

1. The children’s books
2. The men’s cars
3. The woncn’s dresses

Sometimes ’S means a house or a shop.

Have you been to the doctor’s? (to the doctor’s clinic?)
I came back from the baker’s. (from the baker’s shop.)

Use OF if the possessor is a thing not a person.

1. The streets of the town
2. The wheels of the car
3. The legs of the table
4. The cover of the book
5. The branch of the tree
6. The shores of the ocean
7. The boundaries of the country

Use OF instead of ‘S for the man or the animal if it is followed by a clause or a phrase.

The boys obeyed the teacher’s orders

The boys obeyed the order’s of the teacher who had a stick in his hand.

Note : The word teacher is followed by a clause in the second sentence. So we used OF in spite of teacher is a man.

The Genitive Case

When two things are attached with each other in any case, we (as usual) put the two nouns together without using OF considering that the first one is an Adjective or noun attribute.

1. The lamp of the street (changed into) The street lamp.
2. autumn colour
3. birthday party
4. coffee cup
5. Cairo airport
6. crime stories
7. detective stories
8. fairy stories
9. ghost stories
10. Giza Pyramids
11. January rains
12. murder stories
13. summer holidays
14. shoe polish
15. spring flowers
16. tennis shoes
17. winter sports



4. The Vocative Case

The vocative case is a noun used for the sake of address or the nominative of address

1. Hasan, you must do your duty!
2. Are you coming with me, honey?
3. Don’t make such a fuss, Mona.
4. Son, you must be careful.
5. You know Ahmed, if it wasn’t for my headache, I would accompany you.

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