Genitive or ‘OF-Construction

Exercise 1
Add the correct genitive ending.
Example:
the manager / office  the manager’s office

1. Alice / friend
2. Europe / future
3. Richard Adams / life
4. Sarah / life
5. our children / birthdays
6. in twenty years / time
7. Jimmy / behaviour
8. Morris / wife
9. David Evans / farm
10 the students / level
.
11 my parents / marriage
.
12 Chris / wedding
.
13 the United States / attitude
.
14 yesterday / meeting
.
15 my boss / wife
.
16 each other / name
.
17 next year / budget
.
18 D.H. Lawrence / last novel
.
19 the Beatles / best known songs
.
20 All Saints / Day
.
21 our neighbours / cottage
.
22 today / news
.
23 my mother / umbrella
.
24 a hard day / work
.
25 last Saturday / newspaper
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 .
26 the women / dressing room
.
27 three months / salary
.
28 one month / salary
.
29 my husband / new car
.
30 the two girls / father
.

Exercise 2
Make sentences as in the example. Decide yourself whether you need the of-
construction or the genitive.
Example:
I like Ann’s camera. (the camera / Ann)
What is the name of this town ? (the name / this town)

1. When is __________________________________ ? (birthday / your sister)

2. Do you like ______________________________ ? (colour / this coat)
3. Write your name at ___________________________. (top / the page)
4. What is ______________________________ ? (address / Jill)
5. What was ________________________________ ? (cause / the accident)
6. _________________________ is near the city centre. (house / my parents)
7. _________________________________ is very good. (spoken English / Maria)
8. For me the morning is _________________________. (best part / day)
9. ____________________________ is very interesting. (job / my brother)
10 The car stopped at ____________________________. (end / the street)
.
11 ________________________________ is blue. (favourite colour / Pat)
.
12 ______________________________ are very thin. (walls / this house)
.
13 Philip is ________________________. (husband / Liz)
.
14 I’ve never met ________________________________. (wives / Mr Kelly & Mr Fiddes)
.
15 Those are ______________________________. (shoes / Sophia)
.

Exercise 3
Fill in the following chart with all of the forms for each noun.

Singular Singular possessive Plural only Plural possessive

wife wife’s wives wives’

1. dog
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 2. wolf
3. tree
4. lady
5. fox
6. tooth
7. play
8. worker
9. shelf
10. man
11. studio
12. place
13. fly
14. child
15. woman
16. face
17. bridge
18. chief
19. company
20. church

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 KEY
Exercise 1
1. Alice’s friend 16. each other’s name
2. Europe’s future 17. next year’s budget
3. Richard Adams’s life 18. D.H. Lawrence’s last novel
4. Sarah’s life 19. the Beatles’ best known songs
5. our children’s birthdays 20. All Saints’ Day
6. in twenty years’ time 21. our neighbours’ cottage
7. Jimmy’s behaviour 22. today’s news
8. Morris’s wife 23. my mother’s umbrella
9. David Evans’s farm 24. a hard day’s work
10. the students’ level 25. last Saturday’s newspaper
11. my parents’ marriage 26. the women’s dressing room
12. Chris’s wedding 27. three months’ salary
13. the United States’ attitude 28. one month’s salary
14. yesterday’s meeting 29. my husband’s new car
15. my boss’s wife 30. the two girls’ father

Exercise 2
1. your sister’s birthday
2. the colour of this coat
3. the top of the page
4. Jill’s address
5. the cause of the accident
6. My parents’ house
7. Maria’s spoken English
8. the best part of the day
9. My brother’s job
10. the end of the street
11. Pat’s favourite colour
12. The walls of this house.
13. Liz’s husband
14. Mr Kelly’s & Mr Fiddes’s wives
15. Sophia’s shoes

Exercise 3
1. dog’s dogs dogs’
2. wolf’s wolves wolves’
3. tree’s trees trees’
4. lady’s ladies ladies’
5. fox’s foxes foxes’
6. tooth’s teeth teeth’s
7. play’s plays plays’
8. worker’s workers workers’
9. shelf’s shelves shelves’
10. man’s men men’s
11. studio’s studios studios’
12. place’s places places’
13. fly’s flies flies’
14. child’s children children’s
15. woman’s women women’s
16. face’s faces faces’
17. bridge’s bridges bridges’
18. chief’s chiefs chiefs’
19. company’s companies companies’
20. church’s churches churches’

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