Delahunty and Garvey
Some remarks on the genitive case
The genitive case is typically indicated by the suffix {-’s}, e.g., Maria’s success.
The genitive expression modifies a following noun: Maria’s modifies success.
Its spelling is generally written as -’s (the book’s cover) if the expression it is
attached to is singular or is an irregular plural (the children’s toys), and ei-
ther just an apostrophe if the expression it’s attached to ends in s (the Jones’
house), though editorial practice varies on this and some editors use -’s (the
Jones’s house).
While the genitive is generally spelled as -’s or -s’, there are some specific
exceptions. Several of the personal pronouns, as we’ll see in our chapter on
Minor Parts of Speech, have genitive forms ending in -s: ours, yours, theirs.
Note that there is no apostrophe in the spelling of these forms. This is par-
ticularly noteworthy in its, the genitive of it, which is frequently misspelled
as it’s. This error is due to two factors: first, its violates the general pattern
of spelling the genitive with an apostrophe (though it is consistent with the
sub-pattern that pronouns do not include the apostrophe); second, its may
be confused with the word it’s, which is a contraction of it is. Note that
whose, without the apostrophe, is the genitive of the pronoun who, while
who’s, the contraction of who is, is parallel to it’s.
Like the regular plural {-s}, the genitive has three allomorphs: [s] after
voiceless segments (Dick’s), [z] after voiced segments (Toni’s, Tom’s), and [@z]
or [Iz] after sibilants (Francis’s).
The genitive is often referred to as the possessive case. However, the geni-
tive denotes far more than just possession. For example, Bill’s in Bill’s TV
show is in the genitive, but besides possessing the TV show, Bill might also
have been its producer, director, star, gaffer, key-grip, fan, or occasional
viewer. To avoid too narrowly characterizing the meaning of the genitive,
we prefer this term to possessive.
Exercise
Briefly discuss the possible meaning relations between the genitive ex-
pression and the noun it modifies in:
a. the candidate’s advisors
b. the book’s author
c. Andy’s pottery
d. the bird’s egg
e. the company’s CEO
f. the country’s attackers