possessive
1
3.8
- noun
- /pəˈzɛsɪv/
- Specialized
:
posesivo
- In English, the possessive case is often indicated by adding an apostrophe and 's' to a noun.
Examples
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Understanding how to use possessives correctly can help clarify who owns what in a sentence.
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Yet, if the grammatical possessives mine and my were mental, they did stand for something real.
Fiction book (1999) -
See, you're using the wrong possessive...
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"By the way," I said, "'nemesis' is always used with a possessive."
Fiction book (1998) -
Beware the use of possessives: if something is "yours," you own it and are responsible for it.
Blog text (28) -
This served the dual function of orienting students to the campus and providing a haptic experience of ownership and the possessive's structure.
Blog text (21) -
They identified verbs, possessives, familial relationships, and the identity of gods.
Academic text (2003) -
The possessive form of a noun shows that something belongs to someone, like in 'Maria's book.'
Synonyms
1
8.6
A grammatical form that shows who owns something, for example 'the girl's book'
A word form that shows who something belongs to, for example John's book
A grammatical form that shows possession or a close relationship, usually shown with 's
A noun with 's that shows who owns or is closely connected to something
A noun using the 's form before another noun to show who owns or is connected to it
Compounds
- Specialized
A word form that shows who something belongs to, for example John's book
Surface Forms
Morphology
possessive = possessive (semi-transparent) = possess + ive
The noun is a zero-derived use of the adjective 'possessive', which itself is transparently built from 'possess' + '-ive', but the grammatical-term sense is specialized.
Etymology
Possessive The noun possessive comes from the same root possession, meaning 'something you own'. So the grammatical possessive is the form used to show ownership or who has something in a sentence.