اسم‌ در زبان انگلیسی – Nouns

اسم در زبان انگلیسی
استفاده صحیح از اسم در زبان انگلیسی با قواعد استاندارد و تنها با چند استثنا، نسبتاً ساده است. از این صفحات برای آشنایی با قوانین دستور زبان انگلیسی برای جنسیت، جمع، اسم‌های قابل شمارش و غیر قابل شمارش، اسامی مرکب، بزرگ نوشتن، ملیت‌ها و تشکیل مالکیت استفاده کنید. این مقاله در مورد اسم‌ در زبان انگلیسی است.

Gendered nouns

Nouns answer the questions “What is it?” and “Who is it?” They give names to things, people, and places.

Examples

  • dog
  • bicycle
  • Mary
  • girl
  • beauty
  • France
  • world

In general there is no distinction between masculine, feminine in English nouns. However, gender is sometimes shown by different forms or different words when referring to people or animals.

Examples

Masculine Feminine Gender neutral
man woman person
father mother parent
boy girl child
uncle aunt
husband wife spouse
actor actress
prince princess
waiter waitress server
rooster hen chicken
stallion mare horse

Many nouns that refer to people’s roles and jobs can be used for either a masculine or a feminine subject, like for example cousin, teenager, teacher, doctor, student, friend, colleague

Examples

  • Mary is my friend. She is a doctor.
  • Peter is my cousin. He is a doctor.
  • Arthur is my friend. He is a student.
  • Jane is my cousin. She is a student.

It is possible to make the distinction for these neutral words by adding the words male or female.

Examples

  • Sam is a female doctor.
  • No, he is not my boyfriend, he is just a male friend.
  • I have three female cousins and two male cousins.

Infrequently, nouns describing things without a gender are referred to with a gendered pronoun to show familiarity. It is also correct to use the gender-neutral pronoun (it).

Examples

  • I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.
  • France is popular with her (France’s) neighbours at the moment.
  • I travelled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth; she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.

Singular and plural nouns

Regular nouns

Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

Examples

Singular Plural
boat boats
house houses
cat cats
river rivers

A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.

Examples

Singular Plural
bus buses
wish wishes
pitch pitches
box boxes

A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.

Examples

Singular Plural
penny pennies
spy spies
baby babies
city cities
daisy daisies

Irregular nouns

There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed below.

Examples

Singular Plural
woman women
man men
child children
tooth teeth
foot feet
person people
leaf leaves
mouse mice
goose geese
half halves
knife knives
wife wives
life lives
elf elves
loaf loaves
potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
cactus cacti
focus foci
fungus fungi
nucleus nuclei
syllabus syllabi/syllabuses
analysis analyses
diagnosis diagnoses
oasis oases
thesis theses
crisis crises
phenomenon phenomena
criterion criteria
datum data

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

Examples
Singular Plural
sheep sheep
fish fish
deer deer
species species
aircraft aircraft

Irregular verb/noun agreement

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

Plural nouns used with a singular verb Sentence
news The news is at 6.30 p.m.
athletics Athletics is good for young people.
linguistics Linguistics is the study of language.
darts Darts is a popular game in England.
billiards Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits

Plural noun with plural verb Sentence
trousers My trousers are too tight.
jeans Her jeans are black.
glasses Those glasses are his.

Countable and uncountable nouns

It’s important to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns in English because their usage is different in regards to both determiners and verbs.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the determiner “a” or “an”. If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask “How many?” combined with the plural countable noun.

Singular Plural
one dog two dogs
one horse two horses
one man two men
one idea two ideas
one shop two shops

Examples

  • She has three dogs.
  • I own a house.
  • I would like two books please.
  • How many friends do you have?

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.

Examples

  • tea
  • sugar
  • water
  • air
  • rice
  • knowledge
  • beauty
  • anger
  • fear
  • love
  • money
  • research
  • safety
  • evidence

We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an uncountable noun, use a word or expression like some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of, 1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. If you want to ask about the quantity of an uncountable noun, you ask “How much?”

Examples

  • There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
  • He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
  • Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?
  • He did not have much sugar left.
  • Measure 1 cup of water, 300g of flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
  • How much rice do you want?

Tricky spots

Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English. They must follow the rules for uncountable nouns. The most common ones are:
accommodation, advice, baggage, behavior, bread, furniture, information, luggage, news, progress, traffic, travel, trouble, weather, work

Examples

  • I would like to give you some advice.
  • How much bread should I bring?
  • I didn’t make much progress today.
  • This looks like a lot of trouble to me.
  • We did an hour of work yesterday.

Be careful with the noun hair which is normally uncountable in English, so it is not used in the plural. It can be countable only when referring to individual hairs.

Examples

  • She has long blond hair.
  • The child’s hair was curly.
  • I washed my hair yesterday.
  • My father is getting a few grey hairs now. (refers to individual hairs)
  • I found a hair in my soup! (refers to a single strand of hair)

Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns. A different pronoun is required depending on two elements: the noun being replaced and the function that noun has in the sentence. In English, pronouns only take the gender of the noun they replace in the 3rd person singular form. The 2nd person plural pronouns are identical to the 2nd person singular pronouns except for the reflexive pronoun.

Subject pronoun Object pronoun Possessive adjective (determiner) Possessive pronoun Reflexive or intensive pronoun
1st person singular I me my mine myself
2nd person singular you you your yours yourself
3rd person singular, male he him his his himself
3rd person singular, female she her her hers herself
3rd person singular, neutral it it its itself
1st person plural we us our ours ourselves
2nd person plural you you your yours yourselves
3rd person plural they them their theirs themselves

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their clause. In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are often used to avoid repetition of the subject’s name.

Examples

  • I am 16.
  • You seem lost.
  • Jim is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
  • This table is old. It needs to be repainted.
  • We aren’t coming.
  • They don’t like pancakes.

Object pronouns

Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or indirect object of a clause.

Examples

  • Give the book to me.
  • The teacher wants to talk to you.
  • Jake is hurt because Bill hit him.
  • Rachid recieved a letter from her last week.
  • Mark can’t find it.
  • Don’t be angry with us.
  • Tell them to hurry up!

Possessive adjectives (determiners)

Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners. It is useful to learn them at the same time as pronouns, however, because they are similar in form to the possessive pronouns. Possessive adjectives function as adjectives, so they appear before the noun they modify. They do not replace a noun as pronouns do.

Examples

  • Did mother find my shoes?
  • Mrs. Baker wants to see your homework.
  • Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
  • Samantha will fix her bike tomorrow.
  • The cat broke its leg.
  • This is our house.
  • Where is their school?

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced doesn’t appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.

Examples

  • This bag is mine.
  • Yours is not blue.
  • That bag looks like his.
  • These shoes are not hers.
  • That car is ours.
  • Theirs is parked in the garage.

Reflexive & intensive pronouns

Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the same set of words but they have different functions in a sentence.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause because the subject of the action is also the direct or indirect object. Only certain types of verbs can be reflexive. You cannot remove a reflexive pronoun from a sentence because the remaining sentence would be grammatically incorrect.

Examples

  • I told myself to calm down.
  • You cut yourself on this nail?
  • He hurt himself on the stairs.
  • She found herself in a dangerous part of town.
  • The cat threw itself under my car!
  • We blame ourselves for the fire.
  • The children can take care of themselves.

Intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of a clause. They are not the object of the action. The intensive pronoun can always be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning significantly, although the emphasis on the subject will be removed. Intensive pronouns can be placed immediately after the subject of the clause, or at the end of the clause.

Examples

  • I made these cookies myself.
  • You yourself asked Jake to come.
  • The Pope himself pardoned Mr. Brown.
  • My teacher didn’t know the answer herself.
  • The test itself wasn’t scary, but my teacher certainly is.
  • We would like to finish the renovation before Christmas ourselves.
  • They themselves told me the lost shoe wasn’t a problem.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceeded by any, some, every and no.

Person Place Thing
All everyone
everybody
everywhere everything
Part (positive) someone
somebody
somewhere something
Part (negative) anyone
anybody
anywhere anything
None no one
nobody
nowhere nothing

Indefinite pronouns with  some and any are used to describe indefinite and incomplete quantities in the same way that some and any are used alone.

Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun would go in the sentence.

Noun Indefinite pronoun
I would like to go to Paris this summer. I would like to go somewhere this summer.
Jim gave me this book. Someone gave me this book.
I won’t tell your secret to Sam. I won’t tell your secret to anyone.
I bought my school supplies at the mall. I bought everything at the mall.

Affirmative

In affirmative sentences, indefinite pronouns using some are used to describe an indefinite quantity, the indefinite pronouns with every are used to describe a complete quantity, and the pronouns with no are used to describe an absence. Indefinite pronouns with no are often used in affirmative sentences with a negative meaning, but these are nevertheless not negative sentences because they are lacking the word not.

Examples

  • Everyone is sleeping in my bed.
  • Someone is sleeping in my bed.
  • No one is sleeping in my bed.
  • I gave everything to Sally.
  • He saw something in the garden.
  • There is nothing to eat.
  • I looked everywhere for my keys.
  • Keith is looking for somewhere to live.
  • There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris.

Any and the indefinite pronouns formed with it can also be used in affirmative sentences with a meaning that is close to every: whichever person, whichever place, whichever thing, etc.

Examples

  • They can choose anything from the menu.
  • You may invite anybody you want to your birthday party.
  • We can go anywhere you’d like this summer.
  • He would give anything to get into Oxford.
  • Fido would follow you anywhere.

Negative sentences

Negative sentences can only be formed with the indefinite pronouns that include any.

Examples

  • I don’t have anything to eat.
  • She didn’t go anywhere last week.
  • I can’t find anyone to come with me.

Many negative sentences that include an indefinite pronoun with any can be turned into affirmative sentences with a negative meaning by using an indefinite pronoun with no. However, there is a change in meaning with this transformation: the sentence that includes an indefinite pronoun with no is stronger, and can imply emotional content such as definsiveness, hopelessness, anger, etc.

Examples

  • I don’t know anything about it. = neutral
  • I know nothing about it. = defensive
  • I don’t have anybody to talk to. = neutral
  • I have nobody to talk to. = hopeless
  • There wasn’t anything we could do. = neutral
  • There was nothing we could do. = defensive/angry

Negative questions

Indefinite pronouns with every, some, and any can be used to form negative questions. These questions can usually be answered with a “yes” or a “no”

Pronouns formed with anyand every are used to form true questions, while those with some generally imply a question to which we already know or suspect the answer.

Examples

  • Is there anything to eat?
  • Did you go anywhere last night?
  • Is everyone here?
  • Have you looked everywhere?

These questions can be turned in to false or rhetorical questions by making them negative. The speaker, when posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer of “no”.

Examples

  • Isn’t there anything to eat?
  • Didn’t you go anywhere last night?
  • Isn’t everyone here?
  • Haven’t you looked everywhere?

Some and pronouns formed with it is only used in questions to which we think we already know the answer, or questions which are not true questions (invitations, requests, etc.) The person asking these questions is expecting an answer of “Yes”.

Examples

  • Are you looking for someone?
  • Have you lost something?
  • Are you going somewhere?
  • Could somebody help me, please? = request
  • Would you like to go somewhere this weekend? = invitation

These questions can be made even more definite if they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is absolutely certain he will receive the answer “Yes”.

Examples

  • Aren’t you looking for someone?
  • Haven’t you lost something?
  • Aren’t you going somewhere?
  • Couldn’t somebody help me, please?
  • Wouldn’t you like to go somewhere this weekend?

Compound nouns

Words can be combined to form compound nouns. These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally have two parts. The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is. The second part identifies the object or person in question. Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

First part: type or purpose Second part: what or who Compound noun
police man policeman
boy friend boyfriend
water tank water tank
dining table dining-table

You have noticed that the compound noun can be written either as a single word, as a word with a hyphen, or as two words. There are no clear rules about this. A good rule of thumb is to write the most common compound nouns as one word, and the others as two words.

The elements in a compound noun are very diverse parts of speech.

Compound elements Examples
noun + noun bedroom
water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge
noun + verb rainfall
haircut
train-spotting
noun + adverb hanger-on
passer-by
verb + noun washing machine
driving licence
swimming pool
verb + adverb lookout
take-off
drawback
adverb + noun onlooker
bystander
adjective + verb dry-cleaning
public speaking
adjective + noun greenhouse
software
redhead
adverb + verb output
overthrow
upturn
input
Pronunciation

Stress is important in pronunciation, as it distinguishes between a compound noun and an adjective with a noun. In compound nouns, the stress usually falls on the first syllable.

Examples

  • a ‘greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)
  • a green ‘house = house painted green (adjective and noun)
  • a ‘bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
  • a blue ‘bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun)

Capitalization rules

Capital letters are used with particular types of nouns, in certain positions in sentences, and with some adjectives. You must always use capital letters for:

The beginning of a sentence

Examples

  • Dogs are noisy.
  • Children are noisy too.

The first person personal pronoun, I

Examples

  • Yesterday, I went to the park.
  • He isn’t like I am.

Names and titles of people

Examples

  • Winston Churchill
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • the Queen of England
  • the President of the United States
  • the Headmaster of Eton
  • Doctor Mathews
  • Professor Samuels

Titles of works, books, movies

Examples

  • War and Peace
  • The Merchant of Venice
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Spider Man II

Months of the year

Examples

  • January
  • July
  • February
  • August

Days of the week

Examples

  • Monday
  • Friday
  • Tuesday
  • Saturday

Holidays

Examples

  • Christmas
  • Easter
  • New Year’s Day
  • Thanksgiving Day

Names of countries and continents

Examples

  • America
  • England
  • Scotland
  • China

Names of regions, states, districts

Examples

  • Sussex
  • California
  • Provence
  • Tuscany

Names of cities, towns, villages

Examples

  • London
  • Cape Town
  • Florence
  • Vancouver

Names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes

Examples

  • the Atlantic
  • the Pacific
  • Lake Victoria
  • the Rhine
  • the Thames

Names of geographical formations

Examples

  • the Himalayas
  • the Alps
  • the Sahara

Adjectives relating to nationality

Examples

  • French music
  • Australian animals
  • German literature
  • Arabic writing

Collective nouns for nationalities

Examples

  • the French
  • the Germans
  • the Americans
  • the Chinese

Language names

Examples

  • I speak Chinese.
  • He understands English.

Names of streets, buildings, parks

Examples

  • Park Lane
  • Sydney Opera House
  • Central Park
  • the Empire State Building
  • Wall Street

Nationalities

Forming nationality adjectives and nouns from country names is not always simple in English. Use the nationality adjective ending in -ese or -ish with a plural verb, to refer to all people of that nationality. The adjective listed also often refers to the language spoken in the country, although this is not always the case.

Examples

  • Country: I live in Japan.
  • Adjective: He likes Japanese food.
  • Origins: She is a Japanese person. = She is from Japan. = She is Japanese.
  • Language: She speaks Japanese.
  • Describing a group: Spaniards often drink wine. = Spanish people often drink wine.
  • Describing a group: The Chinese enjoy fireworks. = Chinese people enjoy fireworks.

In some cases, a nationality or regional noun may be negatively corrolated for some people, for historic or political reasons. When this is the case, many people will not use it, but will instead use a more neutral adjective + “people” formulation or “people from” + country name. This is the case for the examples with an asterisk below. Alternative formulations, less likely to give offense, are given in parentheses.

Geographic region/Continent Adjective Noun
Africa African an African* (an African person, someone from Africa)
Asia Asian an Asian* (an Asian person, someone from Asia)
Europe European a European
Central America Central American a Central American
Middle East Middle Eastern a Middle Easterner
North Africa North African a North African
South America South American a South American
Southeast Asia Southeast Asian a Southeast Asian person
Country or region Adjective Noun
Afghanistan Afghan an Afghan
Algeria Algerian an Algerian
Angola Angolan an Angolan
Argentina Argentine an Argentine
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Australia Australian an Australian
Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi
Belarus Belarusian a Belarusian
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian/Herzegovinian a Bosnian/a Herzegovinian
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain British a Briton (informally: a Brit)
Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian a Cameroonian
Canada Canadian a Canadian
Central African Republic Central African a Central African
Chad Chadian a Chadian
China Chinese a Chinese person
Colombia Colombian a Colombian
Costa Rica Costa Rican a Costa Rican
Croatia Croatian a Croat
the Czech Republic Czech a Czech person
Democratic Republic of the Congo Congolese a Congolese person (note: this refers to people from the Republic of the Congo as well)
Denmark Danish a Dane
Ecuador Ecuadorian an Ecuadorian
Egypt Egyptian an Egyptian
El Salvador Salvadoran a Salvadoran (also accepted are Salvadorian & Salvadorean)
England English an Englishman/Englishwoman
Estonia Estonian an Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian an Ethiopian
Finland Finnish a Finn
France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman
Germany German a German
Ghana Ghanaian a Ghanaian
Greece Greek a Greek
Guatemala Guatemalan a Guatemalan
Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman
Honduras Honduran a Honduran
Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian
Iceland Icelandic an Icelander
India Indian an Indian
Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian
Iran Iranian an Iranian
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi
Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman
Italy Italian an Italian
Ivory Coast Ivorian an Ivorian
Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican
Japan Japanese a Japanese person
Jordan Jordanian a Jordanian
Kazakhstan Kazakh a Kazakhstani (used as a noun, “a Kazakh” refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality)
Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan
Laos Lao a Laotian (used as a noun, “a Lao” refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality)
Latvia Latvian a Latvian
Libya Libyan a Libyan
Lithuania Lithuanian a Lithuanian
Madagascar Malagasy a Malagasy
Malaysia Malaysian a Malaysian
Mali Malian a Malian
Mauritania Mauritanian a Mauritanian
Mexico Mexican a Mexican* (may be offensive in the USA. Use “someone from Mexico” instead.)
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan
Namibia Namibian a Namibian
New Zealand New Zealand a New Zealander
Nicaragua Nicaraguan a Nicaraguan
Niger Nigerien a Nigerien
Nigeria Nigerian a Nigerian
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian
Oman Omani an Omani
Pakistan Pakistani a Pakistani* (may be offensive in the UK. Use “someone from Pakistan” instead.)
Panama Panamanian a Panamanian
Paraguay Paraguayan a Paraguayan
Peru Peruvian a Peruvian
The Philippines Philippine a Filipino* (someone from the Philippines)
Poland Polish a Pole* (someone from Poland, a Polish person)
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese person
Republic of the Congo Congolese a Congolese person (note: this refers to people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well)
Romania Romanian a Romanian
Russia Russian a Russian
Saudi Arabia Saudi, Saudi Arabian a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian
Scotland Scottish a Scot
Senegal Senegalese a Senegalese person
Serbia Serbian a Serbian (used as a noun, “a Serb” refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality
Singapore Singaporean a Singaporean
Slovakia Slovak a Slovak
Somalia Somalian a Somalian
South Africa South African a South African
Spain Spanish a Spaniard* (a Spanish person, someone from Spain)
Sudan Sudanese a Sudanese person
Sweden Swedish a Swede
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss person
Syria Syrian a Syrian
Thailand Thai a Thai person
Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian
Turkey Turkish a Turk
Turkmenistan Turkmen a Turkmen / the Turkmens
Ukraine Ukranian a Ukranian
The United Arab Emirates Emirati an Emirati
The United States American an American
Uruguay Uruguayan a Uruguayan
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese person
Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman
Zambia Zambian a Zambian
Zimbabwe Zimbabwean a Zimbabwean

Cities also can be transformed into adjectives and nouns, although they are highly irregular and the nominal form is not always agreed upon (there may be several). Some examples of transformed city names are below.

City Adjective Noun
Paris Parisian a Parisian
New York New York a New Yorker
Sydney Sydney a Sydney-sider
London London a Londoner
São Paulo São Paulo a Paulistano
New Delhi New Delhi a Delhiite
Cape Town Cape Town a Capetonian

Forming the possessive

The possessive form is used with nouns referring to people, groups of people, countries, and animals. It shows a relationship of belonging between one thing and another. To form the possessive, add apostrophe + s to the noun. If the noun is plural, or already ends in s, just add an apostrophe after the s.

Examples

  • the car of John = John’s car
  • the room of the girls = the girls’ room
  • clothes for men = men’s clothes
  • the boat of the sailors = the sailors’ boat

For names ending in s, you can either add an apostrophe + s, or just an apostrophe. The first option is more common. When pronouncing a possessive name, we add the sound /z/ to the end of the name.

Examples

  • Thomas’s book (or Thomas’ book)
  • James’s shop (or James’ shop)
  • the Smiths’s house (or the Smiths’ house)

Functions of the possessive

‘Belonging to’ or ‘ownership’ is the most common relationship the possessive expresses.

Examples

  • John owns a car. = It is John’s car.
  • America has some gold reserves. = They are America’s gold reserves.

The possessive can also express where someone works, studies or spends time

Examples

  • John goes to this school. = This is John’s school.
  • John sleeps in this room. = This is John’s room.

The possessive can express a relationship between people.

Examples

  • John’s mother is running late.
  • Mrs Brown’s colleague will not be coming to the meeting.

The possessive can express intangible things as well.

Examples

  • John’s patience is running out.
  • The politician’s hypocrisy was deeply shocking.

Fixed expressions

There are also some fixed expressions where the possessive form is used.

Examples with time

  • a day’s work
  • a month’s pay
  • today’s newspaper
  • in a year’s time

Other examples

  • For God’s sake! (= exclamation of exasperation)
  • a stone’s throw away (= very near)
  • at death’s door (= very ill)
  • in my mind’s eye (= in my imagination)

The possessive is also used to refer to shops, restaurants, churches and colleges, using the name or job title of the owner.

Examples

  • Shall we go to Luigi’s for lunch?
  • I’ve got an appointment at the dentist’s at eleven o’clock.
  • Is Saint Mary’s an all-girls school?

دیدگاهتان را بنویسید