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1. Possession:
should it be of
or 's?
Sadly there's no absolute rule to tell you
whether you need to use, or can use, a "possessive" form with
"of", on one with "'s".
The simple rule that you can "only use 's with people" is a very broad
generalisation, with lots of exceptions. Besides, there are a lot of cases
where, even with people, you cannot use
's. So here are the main forms of "possession",
and some examples to remember:
HUMAN POSSESSORS, OR ASSIMILATED:
True possession:'s
is normal.
A1) The director's car wouldn't start.
A2) The dog's leg was broken
Qualities, attributes or actions:
's is common.
A3) Madonna's reputation is international.
A4) The dog's name was Jackson.
A5) The Queen's arrival was delayed.
These can also be easily expressed using of.
A31) The reputation of Madonna....
A41) The name of the dog .....
There is a difference in emphasis: examples A3-A5
emphasize the possessor, A31 and A41 emphasize the quality or attribute.
In A5, the "possessor" is the subject of the verbal noun following it.
Sometimes the structure of a sentence will determine the choice of expression,
as a word may need to stand next
to other words qualifying it:
A32) The reputation of Madonna,
the American singer, is....
We can't say:
A32X) ** Madonna's reputation, the
American singer, is.... **
Categories A1 and A2 will only be rephrased using
"of" if this is structurally essential:
A 11) This is the car of the accountant
I had lunch with yesterday.
INANIMATE "POSSESSORS"
Qualities, attributes, actions, or parts:
"Of" is the usual structure, but 's may be possible; the
unusual "'s" form can be used with some familiar nouns for stress,
or for reasons of sentence structure.
B1) The cost of the operation was enormous.
B2) The condition of the goods we received
was not very satisfactory
B21) The house's situation was spectacular.
B3) The book's cover was missing.
B4) Where's the lid of the saucepan?
B5) The front end of the car was smashed up.
's tends to be impossible
after prepositions.
B6) It's at the top of the stairs. (never
at the stairs' top)
B7) It's in the back of the car. (never
in the car's back)
"POSSESSIVE" STRUCTURES FOR OTHER PURPOSES:
When "possession" is not involved in any sense,
there is no difference between animates and inanimates:
C. INCLUSIVE NOUNS. Nouns like lot,
group, collection, whole, regiment, etc.:
NEVER USE 'S:
a structure with "of" is essential.
C1) A lot of people
C2) A collection of paintings.
N.B. do not confuse C2 with cases of real possession:
A12) It's the artist's (own) collection.
(i.e., we can say "an artist's paintings"
but not "a collection's paintings")
D. OTHER COMPLEMENTAL
NOUN GROUPS:
"of" is essential, except in a few specific
cases.
D1) The theory of relativity.
D2) The director of marketing.
Complemental noun groups on models D1/D2 can often
be rephrased as compounds, without
's:
D21) The marketing director (not marketing's
director)
D3) The creation of a new TV channel
In D3, new TV channel is the complement
of creation.
Often it is important to understand the different
relationships that link the nouns in a noun group. For example, compare
the following:
E1. He is a pizza maker.
E2. This is a pizza restaurant.
An 's structure is possible in E1, but
not in E2:
He is a maker of pizzas. but notThis
is a restaurant of pizzas
In E1, pizzas is the notional direct
object of the verb to make.
In E2, pizza is a function, a precision
defining the word restaurant; it is not the notional object of a
verb - there is no verb.
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