The case category of the noun

Case – grammatical category which indicates the relation of the noun with other words in a sentence. There are cases two in English: Common and Possessive Case. Although, Common Case has not any inflexion, it has a very wide and general meaning. I am a professor. Did you send invitation to your friend? My classmates have stayed in Almaty for ten days.

The Possessive Case shows possessions or source of two constructions. The Possessive Case is generally formed by adding ’s to the noun.

· Singular possessive nouns: noun + apostrophe (’) + s

a student a student`s mark

a month a month’s absence

a girl the girl’s dress

· Plural possessive nouns: noun + s + apostrophe (’)

students the students’ marks

months the months’ absence

girls the girls’ dresses

Irregular plural nouns: noun + apostrophe (’) + s

men men’s activity

children children’s plays

· Many phrases of time take the ’s form:

a month’s pay three months’ vacation

a week’s work season’s greeting

· Certain idioms take the ’s form:

our money’s worth, an arm’s length

· Higher animals can take the ’s form:

a dog’s life, the puppy’s cry, the horse’s mane, the cat’s meow

· The noun following the ’s possessive can be omitted to make the

meaning clear. Saulet’s course is harder than Saule’s. (Saule’s course)

Pete’s dog is well trained, but Jack’s is not. (Jack’s dog)

They bought their furniture at David’s. (David’s furniture store)

· When the classes of some nouns end in - s,we use ’s, when it ends in -es we omit it:

proper nouns: Socrates’ philosophy

personal nouns: the boy’s shirt

collective nouns: the team’s success

nouns relating to human activity: the body’s ability

geographical names: Kazakhstan’s history

institutions: The government’s budget

The organization’s member

· The noun is followed by sake when the last syllable of a singular noun

ends in s or ce: for goodness’ sake

for conscience’ sake

for justice’ sake

· Usually s is used to the living things; of is used in the case of lifeless things:

the man’s leg

the mare’s back

the back of a train

the legs of a table

· The use of double possessives ’s and of should be avoided:

the absence of my brother’s father-in-law

my brother’s father-in-law

a symphony of Beethoven’s

Beethoven’s symphony

Units of measures are used to identify a specific quantity of uncountable nouns which usually describe the container. When uncountable nouns measured or classified, and they follow of.

a piece of furniture / of advice / of coal / of sugar / of land/ of paper/ of information (news)/ of bread/ ofevidence /; a chunk of ice; a lump of coal

a slice of / bacon/ bread meat/ lemon/ cake; a blade of wheat; a fit of passion a heap of / mistakes/ coal /people / money; a cup of chocolate/tea/coffee/milk; a grain of a blade wheat; a bundle of newspaper; an amount of leisure

an item of information (news) ;bottle of milk/ yoghurt/mineral water;

a bar of soup/ chocolate/ copper / candy; a yard of / ate /cloth/ satin/ wine

a flock of birds/herds; a pile of plates/ logs/books; a tin of / peaches / sardines.

EXERCISES FOR BETTER REMEMBERING THE TOPIC