How Do You Use Possessive Case In A Sentence? | (with Examples)

Definitions of Possessive Case

Do you know what a right case is? This article will provide you with all the information you need in possessive or genitive cases, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

What Is the Possessive Case?

The possessive or genitive case is a grammatical case which indicates possession of a noun or pronoun by another noun or pronoun. This may apply both to the proper noun, as the person or geographical location is called, or to the general noun, such as cars, houses, cows or dogs. Almost every language has a possessive or genitive case, although the structure of this case varies greatly. This is one of the most commonly used genetic cases, indicating the relationship between the two nouns in the linguistic field.

In English, possessive or genitive case is commonly expressed in one of two ways.

1. 

• When the possessing noun comes first (1st) in a phrase, an apostrophe and the letter "s" are usually added to the word. For example, a new bike owned by Sally would be described as "Sally's bike". In the case of a plural word, only one (1) apostrophe is added at the end. For example, a building owned by a business would be described as a "business building".
• Some English pronouns can also be used as possessors between themselves and themselves. For example, in a sentence "Did you seen her?" The pronoun "her" refers to a woman. However, if the sentence reads "this is her bike", the word "her" would indicate the woman's possession.

2. 

• When an English pronoun follows the noun possessing it, it usually does not require an apostrophe, but only an "s". For example, "her" becomes "hers" and "theirs" becomes "their". In one (1) sentence, an example would be: "The new car is hers."
• Occupancy can also be indicated by inserting the word "of" between the possessive noun first, the possessive noun second, and the two (2). For example, "Sally's bike." These constructions are generally considered awkward in English and are often exchanged for simple apostrophe-s combinations. Although this choice is not common all over the world.
• Most people speak many other languages, including Romance. longer constructions are actually more used forms of the possessive or genitive case. For example, 'girl's a new car' would translate into French "la bicyclette de la fille". It literally reads "girl's a new bike". In Spanish, the phrase would become "la moto de la musaca", which literally translates to "girl's new bike". For this reason, possessive or genitive case can be a challenge for both local English speakers trying to learn a foreign language and for non-native speakers trying to learn English.

Examples of the Possessive Case

The (possessive or genitive case is mainly used to show possession but not always. See these examples (possessive case shaded):

• This is Adam’s new car.
• This is his new car.
• Alex’s name is written here.
• Her name is written here.
• Is this your story book?
• What is your full name?
• This is Smith’s house.
• This is his house building.
• This assignment is Toma’s.
• That is his assignment.
• Is Promy your sister?
• This is Allen’s hand writing.
• This is his hand writing.
• This is Mary’s dog.
• This is her dog.
• That necklace is mine.
• We are at Jeff’s home town now.
• We are at his home town now.
• Bob will live today at his aunt’s new place.
• We are coming to your house building.

Conclusion

In this article, we have tried to cover the use of Possessive or Genitive Case with the proper nouns and any noun in general.

Remember this: If you follow the rules yourself and get the grammar right - that's great. But, always check the rest of the team does the same thing. Consistency in user manuals is great!

Each documentation team must have a style guide to follow. First (1st), you can use a guide from another company as a reference, but, at the end of the day, you need to work on your own one.

To use everyone's style guide, include it in your documentation plan. That way, everyone will be able to reach faster.

The fact that you are reading this article right now proves that your corporate style guide must have a Possessive Or Genitive Case dilemma: This article is a good technical article!