ljusto Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) Hi all, I'm studying this topic right now, and I have some difficulties to understand when it's correct to make use of the possessive 's' or not.......let me explain: Instead of saying that this car belongs to John, I can say that this is John's car. Ok, this is clear for me. But there's another example here: "Her colleagues' comments were inappropriate." Is it the same rule? I can't see the possession here.....I know the comments were made by her colleague but can someone help me getting this into my mind? Another one: The name of the movie is GOT. Would it be be correct if I say that the movie's name is GOT ? Here I see the possession cause the movie has a name and it's GOT - but not sure if this possessive 's' rule applies. Thank you all!! Edited April 23, 2019 by ljusto Link to comment
Head Tutor Minoo Posted April 24, 2019 Head Tutor Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Hello Leonardo, Thank you for your question. To clarify: 1. Yes, we use a possessive 's' for comments made by the colleagues because, in a sense, what is made by someone 'belongs' to them, e.g. Newton's laws. Here the apostrophe comes after the plural 's': ... colleagues' comments. 2. 'movie' is inanimate; therefore it would be better to say: the name of the movie. However, in modern English, this rule is not always followed, so you may also hear 'the movie's name'. I recommend you stick to the rule to be on the safe side. rasha j and ljusto 2 Link to comment
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