Possessive Nouns, Inanimate Nouns - English Grammar with JenniferESL

This is my laptop, and this is the cord.

Is it correct to say "my laptop's cord"

or the cord of my laptop?

Can we show possession with inanimate nouns?

That is, a noun that doesn't refer to a living thing.

I'll tell you the answer by the end of today's lesson.

English with Jennifer

An apostrophe helps us show possession in English.

So "Jennifer's computer" and "the teacher's computer"

are both correct.

It's mine. I own this computer.

The same is true for animals.

We can talk about a bird's nest or the lion's roar.

And when two people own something together,

we still need an apostrophe ( ' ) S.

For example, Alex and Natasha's playroom.

The children's playroom.

The rule changes when we have a plural noun ending in -S

or when two people own different things.

Similar, but different.

Let me show you some examples.

Which of these two phrases about the playroom

refers to two or more children?

The first one.

When you have a plural noun that end in -S,

just an apostrophe to show possession.

The kids' playroom.

Look at these next two examples.

Can you easily tell which one means

that the children have separate rooms?

The second one, right?

If I say "Alex and Natasha's room,"

it means they share a room together.

But "Alex's and Natasha's rooms"

means they each have their own.

So now let's talk about inanimate nouns.

Those are nouns that don't refer to living things.

They aren't names of people or animals.

Do inanimate nouns have possessive forms?

Or can they?

Yes.

Can we use 'S with inanimate nouns?

Yes again.

The big question is when?

When is it correct to use 'S

after a noun that doesn't refer to a living thing?

Let me show you four cases when it's common to do this.

We use 'S when a noun refers to a group of people

engaged in some kind of activity.

It's a collective activity.

Here's an example.

My home right now is in Boston,

but I'm originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And Pittsburgh is a big sports town.

Pittsburgh's love of sports is seen at every sporting event

when fans wave their Terrible Towels.

Yes, I still have my black-and-gold towel.

I just said, "Pittsburgh's love of sports."

Why?

Because I'm not talking about the city as a place.

But I'm talking about the sports community,

a group of fans.

So they're engaged in a collective activity.

Pittsburgh's love of sports.

For that same reason, I wouldn't talk about Boston's weather.

I'd probably prefer to use "the weather in Boston."

Because in this case I'm not referring to a group of people.

I'm just talking about a geographical place.

Speaking of collectivity,

don't forget that we have a whole category of collective nouns.

A collective noun refers to a group of people,

and it functions as a unit.

So consider these examples.

These groups own something together.

They share something together,

And we show this with 'S.

We use 'S when a noun refers to a time

and we need to express what we associate with that time.

I said I'd give you an answer

by the end of today's lesson.

We often use a possessive form with TODAY,

YESTERDAY, THIS YEAR, and other time words

to show what we associate with that period of time.

Here are some examples.

So in all three examples,

it's about matching information or a topic to a time period.

We also use 'S with measurements.

The noun refers to a period of time

in order to help us measure something

You'll understand once you see examples

of how a time word helps us measure an amount.

Try answering these questions.

You usually need to give two weeks' notice.

That's for the first and last month.

Usually yes.

You might get one month's pay, for example.

Or if you've worked at the company for many years,

you may get six months' pay.

So remember we can make a time word possessive

to show an amount.

Finally, we use 'S with an inanimate noun

when we're referring to parts of a whole.

Here are some examples.

The school's two campuses.

The Titanic's watertight compartments.

The hotel's 200 guest rooms.

So let's get back to my first question.

Should I say "my laptop's cord"

of "the cord of my laptop"?

It's a trick question.

I probably wouldn't say it either way.

I'd probably use "my computer cord"

or "the cord to my laptop."

Don't forget that prepositions help us express relationships.

And in this case "to" nicely shows a connection.

The cord to my laptop.

But I also said, "My computer cord."

Computer cord.

Nouns can modify other nouns.

They're called noun modifiers.

Let me show you some more examples.

Now compare these phrases.

Here's one you saw earlier.

Pittsburgh's love of sports.

Remember this use of "Pittsburgh"

referred to a group of people in the city.

Similarly, we can talk about Chicago's hockey team.

The people have organized a team.

But when we name the team,

we simply say, "The Chicago Blackhawks"...without 'S.

The name just focuses on the hometown,

where the team is from.

Does that make sense?

Just note this pattern:

For names of sports teams,

simply state the city without 'S.

Let's wrap up with some questions for discussion.

If I've made you curious with my questions,

why don't you try searching for the answers online?

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!