When writing, we use an apostrophe and an “s” (like this: 's) to show that something belongs to or is closely associated with a person.
Example
- This is Peter’s father. ✅
- This is the father of Peter. ❌
- My cat‘s ears are white. ✅
- The ears of my cat are white. ❌
However, for inanimate objects (not people or pets), use of instead of 's.
Example
- The end of the street ✅
- The street‘s end ❌
- A picture of the eclipse ✅
- The eclipse‘s picture ❌
Exceptions
We can use 's with time expressions.
Example
- yesterday’s party, today’s news, last year’s conference
- two hours’ walk, three days’ drive, one month’s salary,
When we talk about places or organizations, we can use both of and 's.
Example
- The decision of the country
- The country’s decision
- The prediction of the bank
- The bank’s prediction
- He’s one of Britain’s best chefs.
If there is a determiner (a, some, this, etc.) before the nouns, then we should use of instead of 's.
Example
- Some friends of Anna’s came to the party. ✅
- Anna’s some friends came to the party. ❌
- Some friends of hers came to the party. ✅
- Isn’t that a friend of your sister’s? ✅
In cases where the person is described with a lengthy phrase, we typically use of instead of the 's to maintain sentence clarity and flow.
Example
- This is the child of the neighbors who live next door. ✅
- This is
the neighbors who live next door’schild. ❌- That’s the wife of one of my friends from Liverpool. ✅
- That’s
one of my friends from Liverpool’swife. ❌
References