The case of noun. The use of the genitive case.

Case is the form of the noun which shows the relation of the noun to other words in the sentence. English nouns have a two-case system: the unmarked common case and the marked genitive case. The genitive case is formed by means of the suffix —'s or an apostrophe (—') alone. The simplest rule to remember is: add ~'s to any personal noun unless it is in the form of a plural ending -s, in which case, just add an apostrophe (—‘)

In addition to its use with regular plurals, the zero genitive occurs:

with Greek names of more than one syllable: Archimedes' Law, Achilles’ heel

with many other names ending in [z] where, in speech, zero is a variant of the regular iz genitive:.
Burn’s\Burns, Dickens’s/ Dickens’
*with fixed expressions of the form for…sake: for goodness’ sake, for old times’ sake. The spelling without the apostrophe is preferable in for goodness sake.

Compound nouns have ~’s added to the final component: my sister-in-law’s property

Depending on the relation between the head word and its modifier in the genitive case, we can distinguish the following kinds of genitive:

Specifying

1) possessive genitive

my son's wife — my son has a wife

2) subjective genitive

the boy’s application - the boy applied

3) objective genitive

The boy’s release- released the boy

4) genitive of origin

The girl’s story — the girl told the story

Classifying

5) descriptive genitive

A women’s college-a college for women

6) genitive of measure

Ten days’ absence- the absence lasted ten days

The genitive case is used:

· with personal names: Mary’s house

· with personal nouns: the little girl’s doll

· with collective nouns: the committee’s decision

· with the names of higher animals: a cat’s tail

· with geographical names: London’s biggest cinema

· with the names of newspapers

· with temporal or distance nouns: a day’s work, an hour’s delay

· set expressions: a stone’s throw away(рукой подать), at arm’s length(на расстоянии), to one’s heart content(от души, в волю), at death’s door( при смерти)

a specific feature of the English genitive case is the so called group genitive when ~’s can be added:

* to a group of two coordinate nouns if such a group refers to a single idea:

Ex; Alex and Andy’s father/ Alex’s and Andy’s father.

The noun in the genitive may be used without a head-word. This is called the independent o absolute genitive. It is used:

· to avoid repetition: Your coat is more fashionable than Ann’s.

· to denote places where business is conducted(the hairdresser’s, the baker’s)

Sometimes ~’s can be combined with of-phrase in a construction called the double genitive: an old friend of my father’s.

5. The use of the indefinite article with countable nouns.

The main functions of the indefinite article are classifying, generic, numerical.

In classifying function the indef. article shows that the speaker is characterizing a person, object or event only as a specimen of a certain class of things of the same kind. I am a student. Somewhere a telephone began to read.

The noun preceded by the classifying indef article may be accompanied by pre- or post modifying attributes: it is a very interesting novel.

The indef article is also used in predicative and adverbial phrases with like & as:I was trembling like a leaf.

In the generic function the indef article implies that the object denoted by the noun is spoken of as a representative of the class, and therefore what is said about one specimen of a class can be applied to all the specimen of the class. The meaning of the article with sing nouns here is close to every/any. A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines.

The indefinite article in its generic function is often used in proverbs: A cat has nine lives.

In its numeric function the indefinite article always implies the idea of ‘oneness’. The numerical meaning is generally found:

· with nouns denoting time, measure, weight.

We stared intently at her for a minute or two.

· With the numerals hundred, thousand, million, dozen, score.

I’ve told you a hundred times that you mustn’t trust that man.

· After the negative not: not a word was spoken in the parlour.

· in some set phrases, like at a gulp, at a time.

· Between two noun groups in expressions denoting prices, salaries, speeds.

90 pounds a week

150 kilometers an hour

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 3817