Língua Inglesa

Intermediária
Genitive Case

Responsável pelo Conteúdo:

Prof.ª Me. Silvana Nogueira da Rocha

Revisão Técnica e Textual:

Prof.ª Dr. ª Nathalia Botura de Paula Brennecke
 Genitive Case

• Focus – Something That Belongs to…;

• Grammar – Genitive Cases;
• Phonetic – “th” Sound ;
• Anexo I.

OBJETIVOS DE APRENDIZADO
• To enlarge our knowledge concerning possessive cases in English by making use of the
Genitive Case and by highlighting the peculiarities of the English language in this aspect;
• To investigate and to understand the organization and functioning of the
morphosyntactic structures of the English language, at the various levels of linguistic
analysis, observing and respecting the varieties of the language;
• To understand the language in its heterogeneity, as a social and cognitive activity, always
historically situated and built interactively.
Orientações de estudo
Para que o conteúdo desta Disciplina seja bem
aproveitado e haja maior aplicabilidade na sua
formação acadêmica e atuação profissional, siga
algumas recomendações básicas:

Assim:
Organize seus estudos de maneira que passem a fazer parte
da sua rotina. Por exemplo, você poderá determinar um dia e
horário fixos como seu “momento do estudo”;

Procure se alimentar e se hidratar quando for estudar; lembre-se de que uma

alimentação saudável pode proporcionar melhor aproveitamento do estudo;

No material de cada Unidade, há leituras indicadas e, entre elas, artigos científicos, livros, vídeos
e sites para aprofundar os conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo da Unidade. Além disso, você tam-
bém encontrará sugestões de conteúdo extra no item Material Complementar, que ampliarão sua
interpretação e auxiliarão no pleno entendimento dos temas abordados;

Após o contato com o conteúdo proposto, participe dos debates mediados em fóruns de discus-
são, pois irão auxiliar a verificar o quanto você absorveu de conhecimento, além de propiciar o
contato com seus colegas e tutores, o que se apresenta como rico espaço de troca de ideias e
de aprendizagem.
UNIDADE Genitive Case

Contextualização
Have you ever thought of the meaning of this (’s) in English?

Well, it’s familiar to many of us, isn’t it? However, many people don’t have any
idea about its meaning and use. So, it’s time to explore this subject!

Get ready!

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Focus – Something That Belongs to…
Have you ever noticed this (’s) at the end of some words when you read in
English? Of course, you have! This is a very common structure in English, which
means that something belongs to someone/something.

Figura 1
Fonte: Adaptado de Wikimedia Commons

So, this means “possession”, right? As the logos we’ve just seen above (McDonald’s,
Habib’s, Hershey’s they are the names of the owners of some business.

Well, but this is not the only possibility and use of the Genitive Case in English.
There are many cases and peculiarities that we’re going to see right now.

Grammar – Genitive Cases

Case 1 – The (’s) is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in “-s”
Table 1
Singular nouns Plural nouns no ending in “-s”:
A man’s job. Men’s work.
(O emprego / trabalho de um homem.) (O trabalho dos homens.)
A woman’s intuition. The children’s room.
(A intuição de uma mulher.) (O quarto das crianças.)
A child’s voice. The people’s choice.
(A voz de uma criança.) (A escolha das pessoas.)
The doctor’s prescription. The crew’s quarters.
(A prescrição do médico.) (Os alojamentos da tripulação.)

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Case 2 – A simple apostrophe (’) is used with plural nouns ending in “-s”
• The girls’ room. (O quarto das garotas.)
• The eagles’ nest. (O ninho das águias.)
• The students’ hostel. (O albergue dos estudantes.)
• The Smiths’ car. (O carro dos Smith.)

Case 3 – Classical names ending in “-s” usually take only the apostrophe
• Pythagoras’ Theorem. (O Teorema de Pitágoras1.)
• Archimedes’ Law. (A Lei de Arquimedes2.)
• Sophocles’ plays. (As peças de Sófocles3.)
• Jesus’ power. (O poder de Jesus.)

Case 4 – Other names ending in “-s” can take (’s) or the apostrophe alone
• Mr. Jones’s house.
Mr. Jones’ house.
(A casa do Sr. Jones.)
• Yeats’s poems.
Yeats’ poems.
(Os poemas de Yeats.4)
• Charles’s sister.
Charles’ sister.
(A irmã de Charles.)

Case 5 – In compounds, the last word takes the (’s)

• My brother-in-law’s guitar. (O violão do meu cunhado.)
• Her son-in-law’s car. (O carro do genro dela.)
• His sister-in-law’s birthday. (O aniversário da cunhada dele.)
• Her mother-in-law’s wedding anniversary. (O aniversário de casamento da
sogra dela.)

Case 6 – Names consisting of several words are

treated similarly (the last word takes the (’s)
• Henry the VIII’s wives. (As esposas de Henrique VIII.)
• The Prince of Wales’s castle. (O castelo do Príncipe de Gales.)
• Queen Elizabeth II’s jewelry. (As joias da Rainha Elizabeth II.)
• D. Pedro II’s family. (A família de D. Pedro II.)

1
A Greek philosopher and mathematician.
2
A Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astronomer.
3
A Greek playwright and one of the most important writers of tragedy together with Aeschylus and Euripides.
4
A famous Irish poet.

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 Case 7 – (’s) also can be used after initials
• The VIP’s escort. (A escolta dos VIP.)
• The CEO55 ’s briefcase. (A maleta do diretor executivo.)

Importante! Importante!

When the Possessive Case (Genitive Case) is used, the article before the person or thing
“possessed” disappears.
The daughter of the neighbor = The neighbor’s daughter
*The article “the” before the name “daughter” disappears because she is the person possessed.
The intervention of America = America’s intervention
*The article “the” before the name “intervention” disappears because it is the thing possessed.
The plays of Shakespeare = Shakespeare’s plays
*The article “the” before the name “plays” disappears because they are the things possessed.

But is it possible to use the Genitive Case in every situation? No, because the
possessive case is chiefly used for people, countries or animals. But it can also be
used when we talk about:

Case 8 – Ships and boats

• The ship’s bell. (O sino do navio.)
• The yacht’s mast. (O mastro do iate.)

Figura 2
Fonte: Adaptado de morguefile.com

Case 9 – Planes, trains, cars and other vehicles

Although it’s important to say the “of” construction is safer in these cases.
• The airplane’s wings.
The wings of the airplane.
(As asas do avião.)

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Chief Executive Officer (“diretor executivo”).

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

• The car’s headlights.

The headlights of the car.
(Os faróis dianteiros do carro.)

Figura 3
Fonte: Adaptado de Getty Images

• The train’s heating system.

The heating system of the train.
(O sistema de calefação / aquecimento do trem.)

Figura 4
Fonte: morguefile.com

Case 10 – In time expressions

• A week’s holiday. (Férias de uma semana.)
• In two years’ time. (Dentro de dois anos.)
• Today’s paper. (O jornal de hoje.)
• Ten minutes’ break. (Intervalo de 10 minutos.)
• Tomorrow’s weather. (O clima / tempo de amanhã.)
• Two hours’ delay. (Atraso de duas horas.)

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 Figura 5
Fonte: Getty Images

Case 11 – In expressions of money + worth

• She bought £1’s worth of stamps. (Ela comprou £1 [uma libra] em selos.)
• He bought U$10’s worth of ice cream. (Ele comprou U$10 [dez dólares]
em sorvete.)

Figura 6
Fonte: Getty Images

Case 12 – With “for” + noun + “sake”

• For heaven’s sake! (Pelo amor de Deus!)
• For goodness’ sake! (Pelo amor de Deus!)
• For God’s sake! (Pelo amor de Deus!)

Importante! Importante!

The expressions above, although said in many different ways in English, mean the same.

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Case 13
Sometimes certain nouns can be used in the possessive case without the second
noun as the following examples:
• The butcher’s = the butcher shop
He is going to the butcher’s.
(Ele está indo ao açougue.)
• The baker’s = the baker shop
You can find it at the baker’s.
(Você pode encontrar isso na padaria.)

Figura 7
Fonte: Adaptado de Getty Images

• The car dealer’s = the car dealer shop

He is working at the car dealer’s on the corner.
(Ele está trabalhando na concessionária da esquina.)
• The chemist’s = the chemist shop
I bought it at the chemist’s.
(Eu o comprei na farmácia.)

Figura 8
Fonte: Adaptado de Getty Images

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 • The florist’s = the florist shop
Go to the florist’s and bring me a bunch of red roses.
(Vá até a floricultura e traga-me um buquê de rosas vermelhas.)
In those cases, the word “shop” can be infered.

Figura 9
Fonte: Getty Images

Case 14 – When the word “office” is omitted, but can be clearly infered
• The estate agent’s = the estate agent office
• The travel agent’s = the travel agent office
• The dentist’s = the dentist office / surgery
• The doctor’s = the doctor office / surgery
• The vet’s = the vet office / surgery

Case 15 – Names of people meaning “house of somebody”

• We had lunch at Bill’s. (Nós almoçamos no Bill / na casa do Bill.)
• They came from Ann’s. (Eles vieram da Ann / da casa da Ann.)
• He is going to have lunch at Michael’s. (Ele vai almoçar no Michael / na casa
do Michael.)
• Let’s go to Giorgia’s. (Vamos à Giorgia / à casa da Giorgia.)
• We are spending our free time today at Betsy’s. (Vamos passar nosso tempo
livre hoje na Betsy / na casa da Betsy.)
Well, there is enough information about the Genitive Case. And it is important
to say that not always it is possible to use the Genitive Case. Sometimes, it is neces-
sary to use the construction “of + noun”. Exemple:
• With inanimate “possessors”:
» The walls of the town. (Os muros da cidade.)
» The roof of the church. (O telhado da igreja.)
» The mirror of the soul. (O espelho da alma.)

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Importante! Importante!

Although the construction with the Genitive Case is not possible in the previous examples, it
is possible to replace the order “noun X” + of + “noun Y” with “noun Y” + “ noun X”.
So, we’d have:
The walls of the town. = The town walls.
X Y Y X
The roof of the church. = The church roof.
X Y Y X
The mirror of the soul. = The soul mirror.
X Y Y X
So the first noun becomes a sort of adjective and is not made plural.

If you have the CD-ROM of a dictionary installed on your computer like the
Oxford Dictionary, which is always recommended in the Extra Material section, it’s
possible to listen to the new words learned.

If you don’t have it yet, access the links to practice the sounds of the new words you learned
Explor

in this unit. It is important to practice, otherwise you won’t be able to communicate or listen
well: https://bit.ly/39xXpFk or https://bit.ly/2QZKSEc

Importante! Importante!

As we’ve already learned some structures of the English language, it’s advisable to pay
attention to this:
The (’s) can be used in three different situations. So, not always it is the Genitive Case.
1. As verb “to be” contracted:
Mary’s coming to my house to study the lesson.
Mary is coming to my house to study the lesson.
(Mary está vindo para a minha casa para estudar a lição.)
2. As verb “to have” contracted when it’s an auxiliary verb:
She’s gone.
She has gone.
(Ela se foi.)
3. As possession in the Genitive Case:
Bob’s books are on the shelf.
The books of Bob are on the shelf.
(Os livros do Bob estão na prateleira.)

Now, let’s read the following text and then answer the questions related to it.

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Text Comprehension – Text: The Leopard

The leopard
The leopard /’l3pred/ is one of the five “big cats” in the genus Panthera. It’s a mem-
ber of the Felidae family with a wide range in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa,
West Asia, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia to Siberia. Compared to other
members of the Felidae, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with
a large skull. It’s similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more sli-
ghtly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the
leopard’s rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have
central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are
known as black panthers.
The species’ success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior,
its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometers per
hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy car-
cass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal
that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.
It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because it is declining in large
parts of its range due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting for trade and
pest control. It is regionally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Syria, Libya
and Tunisia.

Figura 10
Fonte: Getty Images

Font: https://bit.ly/2R20Tt8

Find all the (’s) you can in the text and rewrite the examples, saying which case
they belong to: verb “to be”, verb “to have” or the “Genitive Case”.
1. What are the characteristics of the leopard that contribute to the species’ success?

The answers for the exercises are in

the section “Anexo I” of this unit.

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Table 2 – Vocabulary
Leopard: leopardo; In the wild: na natureza;
Jaguar: jaguar; Hunting: caça, de caça;
Panther: pantera; Behavior: comportamento;
Member: membro; Heavy: pesado(a);
Range: variedade, classe; Carcass: carcaça, ossada, esqueleto;
Leg(s): perna(s); Stealth: discrição, reserva;
Body: corpo; Rainforest: floresta tropical;
Skull: crânio; Loss: perda;
Fur: pele (de animal); Trade: comércio;
Spot(s): mancha(s); Pest: praga, pragas;
Wild: selvagem; Extinct: extinto(a).

Phonetic – “th” Sound

Among the words shown in the “Vocabulary”, let’s practice the ones that have
the “th” sound:

Table 3
the o, a, os, as
with com
South sul
Southeast sudeste
other outro, outra, outros, outras
panther pantera
stealth reserva, discrição
that aquele, aquela, aquilo
threatened ameaçado(a)

In English, the sound of “th” has two possibilities of pronunciation and none
of them is present in the Portuguese language. They are symbolized phonetically
as / ð / and / θ /. So, they are a characteristic of the English language. They are
sounds we produce putting the tongue between the teeth.

From the words listed above, we’re going to divide them in two columns in order
to show you which sound they have.

Table 4
/ð/ /θ/
the with
other South
that Southeast
panther
stealth
threatened

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 You will be able to listen to all of them in order to practice and improve your English!
Explor

Check the new words in the following link: https://bit.ly/2QZKSEc

Exercises: Genitive Case and “th” sound

1. Practice the Genitive Case:
a) The skirts of the women are white. The women’s skirts are white.
b) The tail of the horse is not short.
c) The offices of the doctors are beautiful.
d) The books of the students are new.
e) The toys of the babies are funny.
f) The hat of Mrs. Sally is red.
g) The dress of my sister is old.
h) The house of Charlotte is far from here.
i) The car of Bob is imported.
j) The briefcase of Mr. Brown was stolen.

2. Which is / ð / and / θ /?
a) think / θ /
b) those
c) smooth
d) path
e) warmth
f) panther
g) tooth
h) this
i) thin
j) although

The answers for the exercises are in

the section “Anexo I” of this unit.

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Anexo I
Aswer Key
Text Comprehension – Text: The Leopard
1. Verb “to be”: 1. It’s a member (É um membro); 2. It’s similar (É parecido)
Verb “to have”: ------
Genitive Case: 1. Leopard’s rosettes (As rosetas do leopardo); 2. The spe-
cies’ success (O sucesso da espécie).
2. The characteristics are its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability
to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometers per hour,
its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass,
and its notorious ability for stealth.

Exercises: Genitive Case and “th” sound

1. The horse’s tail is not short; 3. The doctors’ offices are beautiful; 4. The
students’ books are new; 5. The babies’ toys are funny; 6. Mrs. Sally’s hat
is red; 7. My sister’s dress is old; 8. Charlotte’s house is far from here; 9.
Bob’s car is imported; 10. Mr. Brown’s briefcase was stolen.
2. Which is / ð / and / θ / ?

Sound / ð /:
b) those; h) this; j) although

Sound / θ /:
c) smooth; d) path; e) warmth; f) panther; g) tooth; i) thin

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Material Complementar
Indicações para saber mais sobre os assuntos abordados nesta Unidade:

Sites
OneLook: Dictionary Search
https://bit.ly/3dCGCUK
Tecla SAP - Dicas de inglês, falsos cognatos, gírias, expressões, erros
https://bit.ly/2Uwrv7N
Rachel’s English
https://bit.ly/39xXpFk

Livros
Essential grammar in use: a self-study reference and practice book for elementary students of English
MURPHY, R. Essential grammar in use: a self-study reference and practice book
for elementary students of English. 2. ed. New York: University Press, 2007.
Dicionário Oxford Escolar Para Estudantes Brasileiros
TEMPLE, M. Dicionário Oxford Escolar Para Estudantes Brasileiros. Oxford
University Press, 2010.

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UNIDADE Genitive Case

Referências
ALTANO, B. Reading themes and skills: skills-based american culture reader.
Michigan: Michigan University, 2007. (e-book)

AZAR, B. S.; HAGEN, S. A. Understanding and using English grammar. 4.

ed. Pearson/Longman, 2009. (e-book)

CRYSTAL, D. Spell it out: the singular story of English. Profile Editor. (e-book)

LAPKOSKI, G. A. O. Do texto ao sentido: teoria e prática de leitura em língua

inglesa. Curitiba: IBPEX, 2011. (e-book)

LIMA, T. C. S.; KOPPE, C. T. Inglês: a prática profissional do idioma. Curitiba:

IBPEX, 2008. (e-book)

LIMA, T.C.S. Língua estrangeira moderna: Inglês. Curitiba: Intersaberes, 2016

v.2 (e-book)

MARQUES, F. S. Ensinar e aprender inglês: o processo comunicativo em sala

de aula. Curitiba: IBPEX, 2006. (e-book)

MCCARTHY, M.; CARTER, R. Cambridge grammar of English a comprehensive

guide. Cambridge do Brasil, 2006. (e-book)

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