Belly  +  424152 Thu, 27 Sep 07 07:03 AM I have heard: The nation's history can we use that structure for a school's bell a dog's bone a house's door ? Belly Joined on Mon, Feb 19 2007 Regular Member 630 Images

	Neeraj Jain  +  424153 Thu, 27 Sep 07 07:13 AM I have come across the nation's history but never came across a school's bell, a dog's bone, or a house's door. Neeraj Jain Joined on Fri, Sep 7 2007 Regular Member 583 Smile allows you to win.

	Feebs11  +  424417 Thu, 27 Sep 07 06:41 PM  Belly wrote: I have heard: The nation's history can we use that structure for a school's bell a dog's bone a house's door ? Yes, you can. It is quite normal. Feebs11 Joined on Thu, Nov 23 2006 UK Veteran Member 5,015 Images

	Bokeh  +  424424 Thu, 27 Sep 07 06:55 PM Hello Belly, As a matter of style, use adjectives instead of possessives whenever possible as this improves readability. the school's bell  ->  the school bell Bokeh Joined on Sun, Mar 18 2007 Spain Regular Member 531 Possessives

	CalifJim  +  424472 Thu, 27 Sep 07 08:36 PM Although there are lots of exceptions, the main use of the possessive construction ('s) is with a person, that is, with entities to whom things can belong. A nation consists of many people, so the nation's history does not stray far from the basic principle.  However, in the other examples you present, it's usually better to use a compound noun or an of construction.  In many cases, only attention to typical usage determines which. a school bell, a dog bone, the door of a house Since a dog is one of the domesticated animals, there may be a case for using a dog's bone. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Possessives, Constructions, Nouns, Whom

	Belly  +  424641 Fri, 28 Sep 07 05:57 AM But I have heard my teacher said:" You can't use in that style if the subject/ object is not human being". Likewise, when I do a writing "The dog's bone", he considered it incorrect Belly

	khoff  +  424656 Fri, 28 Sep 07 06:47 AM   As Jim said, "Although there are lots of exceptions, the main use of the possessive construction ('s) is with a person, that is, with entities to whom things can belong."   Your teacher might not think that dogs can possess things, but dogs think otherwise -- I hope your teacher never tries to take away a dog's bone.    Americans at least, tend to think of their pets as members of the family, and so, especially when referring to a specific animal, using the 's form would not seem strange at all.   I might go to the store to buy "a dog bed" but when my own dog is sleeping in it I would call it "the dog's bed."   Someone might buy "cat food," but they might also serve it to the cat up on a table so that the dog would not eat "the cat's food."    In fact, I never heard of the "rule" that the 's form could only be used for people until I started reading this forum -- it's certainly not something most native speakers are taught.   I would be more likely to say "the table leg" or "the leg of the table," but if I heard someone say "the table's leg" I would not think "that's wrong!"   And even if you maintain that only someone/something that can possess things can take the 's, I see nothing at all wrong with using it for animals.  Of course, I'm not your teacher, so I can't tell you what to write in class; I'm just telling you how I use it as a native speaker.   khoff Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005 Senior Member 3,278 Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert) Possessives, Constructions, Whom

	Bokeh  +  424717 Fri, 28 Sep 07 01:04 PM  Belly wrote: You can't use in that style if the subject/ object is not human being That's nonsense! The genitive does not require a human being. The following are a few examples which I believe would sound completely natural to all native speakers: the bible's influence the Government's tactics Europe's difficulties the play's structure a hornet's nest the dam's importance the church's walls London's art treasures HMS Invincible's crew two shilling's worth of apples an hour's work today's traffic problems last night's snowfall yesterday's paper for decency's sake Bokeh Genitives