UNIT 81. –‘s (your sister’s name) and of … (the name of the book) ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

UNIT 81. –‘s (your sister’s name) and of … (the name of the book)

A	We use-'s (apostrophe+ s) mostly for people or animals: √ Tom's computer isn't working. (not the computer of Tom) How old are Chris's children? (not the children of Chris) What’s (=What is) your sister's name? What's Tom's sister's name? Be careful. Don't step on the u tail. √ √ √ √ You can use-'s without a noun after it: √ This isn't my book. It's my sister's. (=my sister's book) We use-'s with a noun (Tom/friend/teacher etc.). We do not use-'s with a long group of words. So we say: √ your friend's name but √ the name of the woman sitting by the door Note that we say a woman's hat(= a hat for a woman), a boy's name (=a name for a boy), a bird's egg(= an egg laid by a bird) etc.
B	With a singular noun we use -'s: my sister's room (=her room- one sister) Mr Carter's house(= his house) With a plural noun (sisters, friends etc.) we put an apostrophe (') at the end of the word: √ my sisters' room (= their room - two or more sisters) the Carters' house(= their house- Mr and Mrs Carter) √ If a plural noun does not end in -s (for example men/women/children/people) we use-'s: the men's changing room a children's book(= a book for children) You can use-'s after more than one noun: Jack and Karen's wedding Mr and Mrs Carter's house
C	For things, ideas etc., we normally use of (... of the water / ... of the book etc.): √ the temperature of the water        (not the water's temperature) the name of the book                    the owner of the restaurant √ Sometimes the structure noun+ noun is possible (see Unit 80): the water temperature the restaurant owner We say the beginning/end/middle of ... /the top/bottom of ... /the front/back/side of ... : √ the beginning of the month (not the month's beginning) the top of the hill                 the back of the car √
D	You can usually use-'s or of ... for an organisation(= a group of people). So you can say: √ the government's decision              or            the decision of the government the company's success                   or             the success of the company √ It is also possible to use -'s for places. So you can say: the city's streets The world's population Italy's prime minister
E	You can also use -'s with time words (yesterday /next week etc.): √ Do you still have yesterday's newspaper? Next week's meeting has been cancelled. √ In the same way, you can say today's /tomorrow's /this evening's /Monday's etc. We also use -'s (or -s' with plural words) with periods of time: √ I've got a week's holiday starting on Monday. Julia has got three weeks' holiday. I live near the station - it's only about ten minutes' walk. √ √

EXERCISES

81.1	In some of these sentences, it would be more natural to use-'s or-'. Change the underlined parts where necessary. 1 Who is the owner of this restaurant? How old are the children of Chris? Is this the umbrella of your friend? Write your name at the top of the page. I've never met the daughter of Charles. _____OK­­­­_____ 2 __Chris’s children__ 3 ________________ 4 ________________ 5 ________________ 6 Have you met the son of Helen and Dan? We don't know the cause of the problem. Do we still have the newspaper of last Monday? I don't know the words of this song. What is the cost of a new computer? ________________ 7 ________________ 8 ________________ 9 ________________ 10 ________________ 11 The friends of your children are here. The garden of our neighbours is very nice. I work on the ground floor of the building. The hair of David is very long. I couldn't go to the party of Katherine. ________________ 12 ________________ 13 ________________ 14 ________________ 15 ________________ 16 Do you know the number of the man I need to speak to? Have you seen the car of the parents of Mike? What's the meaning of this expression? Do you agree with the economic policy of the government? ________________ 17 ________________ 18 ________________ 19 ________________
81.2	What is another way of saying these things? Use-'s or -s'. 1 a hat for a woman ____ a woman’s hat ___________ 2 a name for a boy _____________________________ 3 clothes for children _____________________________ 4 a school for girls _____________________________ 5 a nest for a bird _____________________________ 6 a magazine for woman _____________________________
81.3	Read each sentence and write a new sentence beginning with the underlined words. 1 The meeting tomorrow has been cancelled. _____ Tomorrow’s meeting has been cancelled. ________ 2 The storm last week caused a lot of damage. Last ________________________________________________ 3 The only cinema in the town has closed down. The ________________________________________________ 4 The weather in Britain is very changeable. ________________________________________________ 5 Tourism is the main industry in the region. ________________________________________________
81.4	Use the information given to complete the sentences. 1 If I leave my house at 9 o'clock and drive to the airport, I arrive at about 11. So it’s  about ______________two hours’ drive ______ from my house to the airport. (drive) 2 If I leave my house at 8.40 and walk to the centre, I get there at 9 o'clock. So it's _________________ from my house to the centre. (walk) 3 I'm going on holiday on the 12th. I have to be back at work on the 26th. So I've got ___________________. (holiday) 4 I went to sleep at 3 o'clock this morning and woke up an hour later. After that I couldn't sleep. So last night I only had _________________ . (sleep)

ANSWER KEY