YOUR ROOTS

GRAMMAR LOG

Expressing possession

There are a few ways to show possession in English: the Saxon genitive (’s), possessive pronouns (mine, yours. . .), possessive adjectives (my, your. . .), and of phrases (e.g. of the cousin).

The Saxon genitive (’s)

In Unit 4.1, you learned that the Saxon genitive is mostly used with people and animals. Let’s recap the rules that you already know.
- ’s is added to nouns in singular (e.g. her granddad's glasses)
- only ’ is added to plural nouns (e.g. cousins’ names)
- ’s is added to irregular plural nouns (e.g. women’s magazines)
- ’s is added to the last element in noun phrases (e.g. each other’s benefit)
- ’s is added to the final owner if there are two or more owners of the same thing (e.g. Bill and Bridget’s child)
- more than one ’s in a phrase is possible (e.g. her cousin’s wife’s boss)
- ’s is used with the names of the types of shops (e.g. the butcher’s)
- ’s is used to refer to the house where someone lives (e.g. at William’s)
- ’s is used with non-living things like ideas, places, organisations and time expressions (e.g. Italy’s cuisine)

The ‘of structure’

Often we can use an of structure instead of the Saxon genitive.
Example:

the plane’s departure = the departure of the plane

With many non-living things and abstract ideas only the of structure is possible.
Example:

the floor of the room = the room’s floor
the key feature of the social order = the social order’s key feature

The of structure is not very common with persons and animals.
Example:

Cristine’s house = the house of Christine
the puppy’s tail = the tail of the puppy

Possessive pronouns and adjectives

Possessives include pronouns and adjectives. The difference between them is that pronouns stand alone, whereas adjectives always go before a noun.
Example:

This is your book.
This book is yours.

We use them:
- to show that something belongs to somebody
Example:

This is not her ipod, it’s mine.

- to show relations
Example:

My brother lives in Canada.

- for body parts
Example:

You have to brush your teeth.

However, when speaking about diseases of body parts, we use the:
Example:

He has a terrible pain in the knee. (in his knee)

We also use the when we refer back to the object:
Example:

Luke looked Paula in the eyes. (in her eyes)

The double possessive

When we want to stress the person who possesses something, we can use the double possessive. Study the examples below.
Examples:

Brenda is one of my friends. (of phrase)
I am one of Brenda’s friends (the Saxon genitive)
I am a friend of Brenda’s (double possessive)
I am a friend of Brenda.

George is one of my friends. (of phrase)
George is a friend of mine. (double possessive)
George is a friend of me.

Mind the spelling

Be careful when you spell these words:
you’re = you are
your = possessive adjective

he’s = he is
his = possessive adjective or pronoun

it’s = it is or it has
its = possessive adjective or pronoun

they’re = they are
there = adverb
their = possessive adjective

WORDS TO REMEMBER

descent = (n.) ancestors
roots = (n.) ancestors
ancestry = (n.) ancestors
melt = (v.) change from a solid to a liquid by heating; blend or merge
pot = (n.) round container
USA = (n.) the United States of America
metaphor = (n.) figure of speech in which a word or phrase meaning one thing is used to refer to another thing to suggest that it is similar to that thing, e.g. The sky was crying.
evident = (adj.) obvious
CEO = (n.) chief executive officer; director
co-founder = (n.) person that establishes or creates something (e.g. a company) together with someone else
multinational = (adj.) involving more than two countries
distinguish oneself = (v.) deserve respect by achieving something or doing something very well
trilogy = (n.) series of three related novels, films, etc.

AUDIO SCRIPT

You often hear people using the expression ‘melting pot’ when referring to the USA. The term itself denotes a large pot for melting metals. But it is also used as a metaphor for mixing of nationalities and cultures in the USA. This is evident in the families of many celebrities. Let’s take a look at a few.

Who hasn’t heard of the multinational corporation Apple? Its co-founder and CEO was Steve Jobs, whose father was from Syria.

The actresses Shannon Elizabeth and Vanessa Hudgens are similar to each other in that they both have very mixed roots. Shannon, who became famous in American Pie, has ancestors from Syria, Germany, England, Ireland, and of Native American origin.

The star of the High School Musical series, Vanessa Hudgens, has some Native American ancestors as well as Chinese, Irish, Spanish, and Filipino roots.

Keanu Reeves, who distinguished himself in the role of Neo in the Matrix movie trilogy, has ancestors from China and Hawaii. Another example is Mila Kunis whose parents are Ukrainian.
Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the Titanic film, has family members from Italy as well as Germany.