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Possessive 's'


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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 by ljusto
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  • Head Tutor

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.

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