Structure – Use of Possessive Apostrophe

The apostrophe ( ’ ) has three uses: contractions plurals and possessives. It is used with ‘s’ toshow possession. The formation of possessive is treated in different ways.

Formation of Possessives

• The possessive of the singular noun is formed by adding ‘s’ (apostrophe and ‘s)

Example:Ada’s medical book.

            The child’s toy.

            Father’s retirement

• The possessive of a plural noun is formed by adding only an apostrophe when the noun ends in ‘s’ Example: Girls’ hostel

Horses’ tail

The boys’ baseball team.

• The possessive of the plurals not ending with ‘s’ is formed by adding apostrophe and ‘s’

Example:         Men’s club

                        Children’s Day.

• Nouns having several words must have their possessive only to the last word.

Example:         The President of Nigeria’s speech.

                        The Prime Minister of India’s visit to Japan.

                        The door of my friend’s house.

• Two nouns having close association must have the possessive to the latter.

Example:         Wren and Martin’s grammar.

                        Johnson and Johnson’s baby face powder

• The possessive of nouns in apposition must be put to the second noun.

Example:         This is Sharon, the teacher’s favourite student

                        This is Bisi, my friend’s wife.

                        He lives in Okaa, Anambra’s capital

• Two different nouns having no relation, require separate possessive forms.

Example:         Mike’s and John’s books

Note: ‘s’ is omitted when there are hissing sounds

Example:         For goodness’ sake.

                        For conscience’ sake.

If a singular possessive noun ends with an ‘s’(such as James, Moses), you can either use an apostrophe before a second ‘s’ or after first ‘s’

Example:         Saint James’ Cathedral or Saint James’s Cathedral.

EVALUATION

Show the possessive of these expressions using apostrophe where appropriate.

• Kunle house.
• Workers salary.
• Moses followers.
• At his finger tip.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Countdown in English, pg. 217

1. Comprehension (Reading to Grasp. Main Points); Stock Exchange, page 134.

The passage explains what shares are and what the purposes of the stock exchange are.

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EVALUATION

Read and answer the questions.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Effective English, 134, 135.

GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISIONAL QUESTIONS

Give the past and past participle form.

(i) awake                     (ii) Freeze

(iii) fight                     (iv) swear

(v) lay                          (vi) quit

(vii) lie                        (viii) tread

(ix) creep                     (x) wind

• Writing – Narrative – A Place of Interest I Visited

Remember, to write a good narrative, the following must be done.

• Use the past tense forms of verbs to give an account of events which happened in the past.
• Present the events or actions in a natural sequence.
• Divide the tune in which the actions took place into small periods.
• Discuss one main idea or event in a paragraph.
• Drop the ideas or points which do not contribute to the unity and the coherence of the narrative

Sample question

Write a narrative essay on the topic. “A Place of Interest I Visited”

Outline

Heading:               A PLACE OF INTEREST I VISITED

Paragraph 1:          Description of the place you visited

Paragraph 2:          Preparations made or put in place before the journey was embarked on.

Paragraph 3:          The events that took place there

Paragraph 4:          Narrate one spectacular event or incident that caught your attention or that affected you

Paragraph 5:          (Conclusion) Narrate how it all ended

EVALUATION

Use the outline provided to write a full length essay.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Countdown in English, pg 5 – 6; Effective English, page 87.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Section A

1. By nature, armed robbers are ruthless: I have never seen a ________ one among them.   A. humane    B. barbarous     C. ferocious
2. The taxi driver slowed while overtaking the lorry when the proper thing to do was for him to have _________   A. accelerated    B. negotiated    C. throttled
3. The probationary workers do not have the same right as __________ staff   A. approved    B. confirmed    C. dismissed.
4. The journey by road ___________ where the rail journey ended.    A. commenced    B. originated    C. concluded.
5. Instead of laughing about this serious matter, you should be ___________   A. whimpering   B. bitter    C. sober.

Section B

Practice 2, pg 73, Effective English.

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