Possessive nouns

Definition: Possessive nouns show ownership. Possessive comes from the same root as possession, something you own.

Singular Possessives

Add 's to singular words to show possession.

Dog's collar	sister's backpack	car's engine
(dog  +  's)	(sister  +  's)	(car  +  's)

If a singular word ends in s, it is still necessary to add 's.

Charles's sneakers	Bess's dresses	bus's tires
(Charles  +  's)	(Bess  +  's)	(bus  +  's)

Plural Possessives

If you have added an s to make a word plural (for example, cat ⇒ cats), adding 's will sound ridiculous (cats's). In that case, add only the apostrophe to the end of the word.

Dogs' collars	sisters' backpacks	cars' engines
(dogs  +  ')	(sisters  +  ')	(cars  +  ')

Just like singular possessives, plural possessives that don't end in s add 's.

Children's homework	fish's bowls	octopi's tentacles
(children  +  's)	(fish  +  's)	(octopi  +  's)

Hint:

Look at the ending in front of the apostrophe to see if the word is singular or plural.

One dog|'s tail	(One dog has one tail.)
Two dogs|' tails	(Two dogs have two tails.)

If two people own something together, use an 's after the second person only.

Joe and Mary's car is new.

(Both Joe and Mary own the car.)

If two people own two separate things, add 's to each name.

Laurie's and Megan's nails are painted the same color.

(Each girl has her own nails.)

You may find that certain names ending in s add only an apostrophe. That rule is somewhat old-fashioned. However, some names, such as Jesus, Moses, Achilles, and Charles Dickens (historical names that end in a z sound), can end with either an apostrophe or 's.

Jesus' parables were instructional stories.	Jesus's parables were instructional stories.
Moses' first tablets were broken.	Moses's first tablets were broken.

Some people prefer to use only the apostrophe, but because we usually pronounce the extra s, adding 's is correct as well.

Prepositions "On," "At," and "In"

A preposition is a word that links a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to some other part of the sentence. Prepositions can be tricky for English learners. There is no definite rule or formula for choosing a preposition. In the beginning stage of learning the language, you should try to identify a preposition when reading or listening in English and recognize its usage. to the office at the desk on the table in an hour about myself A preposition is used to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object. Here are a few common prepositions and examples. On Used to express a surface of something: I put an egg on the kitchen table. The paper is on my desk. Used to specify days and dates: The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays. I was born on the 14th day of June in 1988. Used to indicate a device or machine, such as a phone or computer: He is on the phone right now. She has been on the computer since this morning. My favorite movie will be on TV tonight. Used to indicate a part of the body: The stick hit me on my shoulder. He kissed me on my cheek. I wear a ring on my finger. Used to indicate the state of something: Everything in this store is on sale. The building is on fire. At Used to point out specific time: I will meet you at 12 p.m. The bus will stop here at 5:45 p.m. Used to indicate a place: There is a party at the club house. There were hundreds of people at the park. We saw a baseball game at the stadium. Used to indicate an email address: Please email me at abc@defg.com. Used to indicate an activity: He laughed at my acting. I am good at drawing a portrait. In Used for unspecific times during a day, month, season, year: She always reads newspapers in the morning. In the summer, we have a rainy season for three weeks. The new semester will start in March. Used to indicate a location or place: She looked me directly in the eyes. I am currently staying in a hotel. My hometown is Los Angeles, which is in California. Used to indicate a shape, color, or size: This painting is mostly in blue. The students stood in a circle. This jacket comes in four different sizes. Used to express while doing something: In preparing for the final report, we revised the tone three times. A catch phrase needs to be impressive in marketing a product. Used to indicate a belief, opinion, interest, or feeling: I believe in the next life. We are not interested in gambling.

Can

from English Grammar Today

 

Can: forms

Affirmative (+) form

Can comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb):

We [verb phrase]can take the train to Birmingham.

Can is never used with another modal verb:

He can hear the music from his room sometimes.

Not: He can might hear the music … or He might can might hear the music …

Negative (−) form

The negative form of can is can’t. We don’t use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with can:

I can’t believe you said that!

Not: I don’t can believe you said that!

We can use the full form cannot (one word) in formal contexts or when we want to emphasise something:

I cannot understand why she behaves like that.

See also:

• Modality: forms

Question (?) form

Warning:

The subject and can change position to form questions. We don’t use do/does/did:

Can this really be true?

Not: Does this can really be true?

Can’t you ask for another day off work?

We use can and can’t in question tags:

You can’t take photos inside the museum, can you?

Abby can speak Japanese, can’t she?

 

Can: uses

Permission

We often use can to ask for or give permission:

Can I take Daisy for a walk?

Students can use calculators during the exam.

We use can’t to forbid (say what you must not do):

You can’t park there.

You can’t just take the day off work. You have to have permission in advance.

See also:

• May

Ability

We often use can to talk about ability to do something in the present or future:

I can sing one song in Polish.

Can you sleep on your back?

We can go swimming after school tomorrow, if you like.

We often use can with verbs of perception such as hear, see, smell, taste, and mental process verbs such as guess, imagine, picture, understand and follow (in the sense of ‘understand’):

I can hear you.

I can see her coming down the road now.

Can you smell something burning?

I can guess why you’re angry.

We can’t follow these instructions for installing this new DVD player. (We can’t understand these instructions.)

General truths

We use can to talk about things which we think are usually, but not always, true:

Reducing cholesterol through diet can be difficult. (It’s not always difficult for everyone, but in general it is difficult.)

Fireworks can frighten pets.

Swans can be very vicious.

We don’t normally use could to talk about what we believe to be true in the present.

Ejercicios...

Práctica
Cambia las oraciones a plural.

ejemplo
This is a pencil. 

1.  This is a book.   
 

2.  That is a computer.   
 

3.  This is a television.   
 

4.  That is a pen.   
 

Práctica
Cambia estas oraciones a singular.

ejemplo
Those are teachers.  

1.  These are English books.   
 

2.  Those are pencils.   
 

3.  These are computers.   
 

4.  Those are papers.   

This, that, these, those

from English Grammar Today

This, that, these and those are demonstratives. We use this, that, these and those to point to people and things. This and that are singular. These and those are plural. We use them as determiners and pronouns.

determiners	pronouns
What’s in this box? That water tastes strange. I might get myself a pair of those shoes.	Come and look at this. That’s a very good idea. Can I have one of these?

 

This, that, these, those as determiners

Pointing to things

We use this and that with singular and uncountable nouns:

Try to repeat this exercise every morning and evening. (this + singular countable noun)

What does this music make you think of? (this + singular uncountable noun)

I’ve never been to that part of France. (that + singular countable noun)

Can I have some of that juice, please? (that + singular uncountable noun)

We use these and those with plural nouns:

You can use any one of these computers. (these + plural noun)

I need to paint those windows. (those + plural noun)

Time phrases

We often use this with words describing time and dates like morning, afternoon, evening, week, month, year to refer to ‘the one that’s coming’ or ‘the one we’re currently in’:

I’ll be with you some time this evening.

Johan seemed very happy this afternoon.

Ian is in Germany all this week.

 

This, that, these, those as pronouns

Referring to things or ideas

We normally use this, that, these and those as pronouns to refer to things or ideas:

Put the butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan. Heat this over a low flame until it melts.

We’re going to eat first and then go to the film. Are you happy with that? (Are you happy with the idea of eating first, then going to the film?)

[talking about the TV]

Can you turn that off if you’re not watching it?

[talking about shoes]

What colour are those? Black or dark blue. I can’t see.

Referring to people

We can use this and that as pronouns to refer to people when we want to identify ourselves or others, or to ask the identity of other speakers:

Linda, this is my mother, Anne.

Is that your brother over there?

We often do this in telephone calls and in answer-phone messages:

Hello, is that Ken Orm? This is Jane Bromham here.

 

This and these, that and those: uses

Physical closeness and distance

We use this and these most commonly to point to things and people that are close to the speaker or writer, or things that are happening now:

Shall I use this knife here?

[pointing to something]

Is this what you mean?

I’ll post these letters on my way home.

[pointing to a pile of books]

Do these belong to the Bradshaws?

We use that and those most commonly to point to things and people which are not easy to identify in a situation. They are often more distant from the speaker, and sometimes closer to the listener:

What’s in that bottle over there?

Could you blow out those candles near you?

Sometimes they are not visible to either the speaker or listener:

Budapest! That’s my favourite place!

Emotional distance

We sometimes use this, these, that, those to identify emotional distance. We use this and these to refer to things that we feel positive about, that we are happy to be associated with, or we approve of:

I love these new woollen mobile phone covers that you can get.

We use that and those to create distance:

What are you going to say to that sister of yours?

[talking about a restaurant]

I didn’t like the decoration. It had those awful paintings.

Shared knowledge and new information

We sometimes use that instead of the to refer the listener to shared knowledge, often when we are telling a story or explaining something:

You know that old shop on the corner? Well, they’re going to turn it into a restaurant.

We sometimes use this instead of a/an to refer to something important or recent, or to introduce a new person or thing in a story:

This guy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted new windows.

Then suddenly she pulled out this big pile of papers from her briefcase and threw them on the table.

See also:

• It, this and that in paragraphs
• Pronouns
• Determiners (the, my, some, this)

 

Substitution with that, those

In formal contexts, we can use that and those as substitutes meaning ‘the one(s)’:

The most important information is that given at the beginning of the manual. (that substitutes for the information)

The methods employed are those familiar to researchers. (more formal than The methods employed are the ones familiar to researchers.)

In formal contexts, especially in academic style, we use that of/those of instead of the one of/the ones of or the … one/the … ones. This is preferred to the possessive X’s one/X’s ones:

The proton has a similar mass to that of a neutron. (preferred to The proton has a similar mass to the neutron’s.)

The emotions in the poems are those of loss and grief.

Not: The emotions in the poem are loss and grief ones.

We normally only use that as a substitute for a thing, not for a person or animal:

A:

Have you met Mr Kelly?

B:

The one who works at the town hall, or his brother?

A:

The one at the town hall.

Not: That who works at the town hall.

We can use those as a substitute for persons, animals or things:

There are sports facilities for guests. Those interested in golf can enjoy our eighteen-hole course.