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TEMA 16

THE EXPRESSION OF POSSESSION

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………… 3

2. THE –‘S GENITIVE ……………………………………………………………………… 7

3. THE OF-CONSTRUCTION ……………………………………………..……………… 16

4. THE CHOICE OF GENITIVES …………………………………………...………….… 17

5. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………... 21

6. RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………….. 22

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1.- INTRODUCCIÓN.

The idea of possession, of ownership, is basic to human psychology and behaviour, and is
one of the most primitive instincts of human beings. In analysing this topic, we are going to
look at various ways of conveying the idea of possession in English, namely:

a) By means of the –‘s genitive,

b) By means of the –‘of-genitive’ constructions, and
c) By means of certain verbs and certain possessive pronouns and adjectives.

These cover a wide range of meanings from practical ownership (John’s feelings, the love
of Mary…) through kinds of association (their clothes, Marlowe’s birthday), to more general
and often figurative and idiomatic relationships (to have a date, the story of his life…).

1.1. ORIGIN

In Old English, the genitive case was used much, and was used to modify or limit a word
(generally a noun) by associating it with something. For example, in the phrase þæs cyninges
sweord ‘the king's sword’, the sense of sweord is modified by our saying that it belongs to
the king: we're not speaking of just any sword. In this respect, a word in the genitive case is
like an adjective, limiting the reference of the word it is associated with.

Most genitives fall into one of three categories:

 Possessive. This is the ancestor of the possessive of Modern English. It does not
always indicate actual possession, but often some other kind of association, e.g.
sanctes Eadmundes mæssedæg ‘the feast of St Edmund’ does not mean that the day
actually belongs to St Edmund, but rather that he is venerated on that day.
 Partitive. The partitive genitive represents the whole collection of things to which a
particular thing belongs, e.g. ælc þara manna ‘each of the men’. As the translation
‘each of the men’ suggests, Modern English has a roughly similar construction made
with the preposition of; but Old English used the partitive genitive much more
extensively than we use this partitive construction, e.g. manig manna ‘many men’, twelf
mila lang ‘twelve miles long’, ealra cyninga betst ‘best of all kings’.
 Descriptive. This genitive attributes a quality to a thing, e.g. þæt lamb sceal beon
hwites hiwes ‘the lamb must be of a white colour’. Here the translation with of echoes
the genitive construction and shows that similar constructions are still possible in
Modern English, but it is now more idiomatic to say ‘white in colour’.

A few prepositions (andlang, innan, to, toforan, utan, wiþ) sometimes have objects in the
genitive case, and some verbs govern genitive words. Genitive constructions may also be used
adverbially, especially in expressions of time.

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1.2. EXPRESSING POSSESSION IN ENGLISH

As we have previously mentioned, possession can be expressed in English in some

different ways:
a) By the –‘s genitive: John’s table, my mum’s dress…
b) By the –‘of-genitive’ constructions: the pen of my father, the wheel of Mary’s car
c) By certain possessive pronouns and adjectives: her car, our computers…
d) By certain verbs: I have a car, this rubber belongs to me, he owns a cottage…

1.3. POSSESSIVE VERBS

The idea of possession can be expressed in a very direct way by means of the
intransitive verb belong and the transitive ones possess, own or simply have got.

She owns a very large property in the countryside

I have some good news
That pen belongs to her
That dog has got very sharp teeth

The difference between have and have got is very slight in Modern British English. But
when such difference exists, it is that have got is used to talk about a more temporary
situation than have.
You have got dirty shoes (at this moment)
You have dirty shoes (this person always has dirty shoes)

Only have is used for actions.

I usually have breakfast at 8 o'clock.*I usually have got breakfast at 8 o'clock.

The question form for 'have' follows regular present simple:

Do you have a fast car? *Have you a fast car?

Have and Have got are only used in the present simple. Use have for the past simple or
future forms.

She had a copy of that book.

There is no contracted form for 'Have' in the positive form. The contracted form is
used for 'have got'

I have a red bicycle. OR I've got a red bicycle. NOT I've a red bicycle

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1.4. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

Persons Possessive Adjectives Possessive Pronouns

1st person (sing) MY MINE
2nd person (sing) YOUR YOURS
3rd person (sing) HIS HIS
HER HERS
ITS ITS
1st person (plural) OUR OURS
2nd person (plural) YOUR YOURS
3rd person (plural) THEIR THEIRS

In English, possessive adjectives change according to the gender and number of the
possessor.

The boys have lost their pens.

The student does his exercises.
A dog wags its tail when it is happy.
The woman cleans her house.

Notice that the possessive adjective remains the same whether the thing possessed is
singular or plural, masculine or feminine:

her uncle her uncles

her aunt her aunts
her book her books

1.5. USE OF THE POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS:

Possessive adjectives always modify a noun so they must be used together with a noun or
a noun equivalent:
Their house is made of wood
You take care of your things

Possessive pronouns do not modify a noun, they are independent of any other word in the
sentence. They are used to replace possessive adjectives + nouns avoiding repetitions.
Instead of saying:
That car is my car, we prefer
That car is mine
This book is her book, we prefer
This book is hers
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There is a pattern used with possessive pronouns, i.e.: of + possessive pronoun.

I saw a friend of mine (not ‘a friend of me’)

A friend of mine/yours means ‘one of my friends/one of your friends’
An aunt of ours has just arrived
Have you seen that dog of theirs?

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