The Case is of 3 types,
- Nominative Case (Subjective Case)
- Accusative Case (Objective Case)
- Possessive Case
Now have a look at an example for proper understanding,
- Sachin is a Cricket player (Nominative)
- We like Sachin (Accusative)
- This is Sachin's Bat (Possessive)
Possessive Case :
- 'S (apostrophe) --- This is used for Human-beings / Living Things
- Of -------- Non Living / Living Things
Note : Usually we don't use 'S(apostrophe S) for Non Living Things.
- ✔ This is Ravi's Book
- ☓ The building's roof needs to be repaired
- ✔ The roof of the building needs to be repaired
Exceptions :
- There are some exceptions for the above mentioned case. We can use 'S(apostrophe S) for Time, Distance, Weight etc
- An Hour's Time
- A Ton's weight
Note : When a singular noun, which doesn't end in S (Hissing sound), The possessive case takes "S"
- Kamal's Pen
- Karthik's Watch
- Ramu's Dress
Note : When a singular noun, ends in S(Hissing Sound), the possessive case takes only apostrophe ( ' ) at the end (no need to add S)
- Keats' Poetry
- Lotus' Petals
When a plural noun doesn't end in S, the possessive case takes apostrophe S ('S)
- Children's specialist
- Women's college
- Men's single
When a plural noun ends in 'S', the possessive case takes only apostrophe at the end.
- Boys' Hostel
- Girls' College
When two persons and one possession in the sentence, the possessive case should be added to the latter
- ☓ I went to Raju's and Rani's house but i found the couple absent
- ✔ I
went to Raju and Rani's house, but i found the couple absent (Whats the
difference? here Raju and Rani are couple. So obviously they live in
the same house :) so two persons and one possession, so we should use 'S to the latter (Rani)
When two different things are referred to, the possessive case should be added to both
- ☓ India and China's problems are different
- ✔ India's and China's problems are different (because, here india and china are different countries and cant be same)
The comparison should be made between the same cases
- ☓ India's problems are the same as Pakistan
- ✔ India's problems are the same as Pakistan's
In apposition, the possessive case should be added to the latter
- ☓ This is Prime minister's manmohan singh's speech
- ✔ This is Prime minister manmohan singh's speech
Both of and apostrophe cannot usually be used i none sentence
- ☓ This is the house of Gandhi's
- ✔ This is the house of Gandhi
Note : But the following expression is an exception
- Its -----> Of It
- It's -----> It is, It Was, It Has
- Hers ---> Of Her
- ☓ Her's --> Her was, Her is (but these are wrong expressions)
- yours ---> Of Your
- ☓ Your's ---->
Your Is, Your Was (How horrible it is... so thats the reason why, our
teachers tell us dont use apostrophe while writing yours faithfully at
the end of letter. But we neglect it ;)
Note : Dont use apostrophe for pronouns
- He is my friend
- He is a friend of mine
- He is her friend
- He is a friend of hers
- He is a friend of my brother ✔
- He is a friend of my brother's ☓
Care should be taken while using a relative pronoun
- I have seen many of amitabh's movies who is considered a great actor ☓
- I have seen many movies of amitabh, who is considered a great actor ✔
- I have read Shakespeare's four great tragedies who is the greatest writer in English ☓
- I have read four great tragedies of Shakespeare who is considered the greatest writer in English ✔
- I have read the four great tragedies of Shakespeare which are worth reading ☓
- I have read Shakespeare's four great tragedies which are worth reading ✔
In compound nouns the possessive case should be added to the last word
- He is my brother's-in-law friend ☓
- He is my brother-in-lwas's friend ✔
In the sentences with "One of These" the possessive should be used carefully
- I met, the minister at one of my friends house (this means, I have number of friends, and i met the minister in one of those friend's house)
- I met the minister at one of my friend's house (this means, my friend have number of houses and i met the minister in one of those houses)
