Using the possessive in English

Possessive structures in English - use of of and 's

"Should I use "of" or an "s" structure?"  

    Sadly there's no absolute rule to tell you whether you need to use, or can use, a "possessive" form with "of", on one with "'s".
 Besides, there are a lot of cases where, even with people, you cannot use 's. So here are the main forms of "possession", and some exam­ples to re­member:

The first thing to determine is: is the "possessor" animate or inanimate?

1) Animates: HUMAN POSSESSORS,  OR ASSIMILATED:

1.1. In cases of true possession: 's is normal. In many cases it will be essential
With qualities, attributes or actions: 's is common. These can also be easily expressed using of. There is a difference in emphasis between the two alternatives: examples

• A3-A5 emphasize the possessor,
• A31 and A41 emphasize the quality or attribute.

 In A5, the "possessor" is the subject of the verbal noun (arrival) following it.

Situations in which there is no choice:
Sometimes however, even though both forms are theoretically possible, the structure of a sentence will determine the choice of expression, as a word may have to stand next to other words qualifying it: for example

1.2. Possessive adjectives:

There is no choice when possession is indicated by a possessive adjective, such as his, my, your, etc.

1.3. Relating a part to a whole (animates)

 Use of "of" is  obligatory when expressing the relation of a proportion to a composite whole

We can NOT say:

Of and 's are both possible (depending on sentence structure) when expressing the relation of a part to a unitary (single) whole.

1.3.  's with nouns already ending in s .

There is no hard rule here. Some writers use ...s's, others prefer ...s' with no second s. Both forms are used, and different "authorities" give different "rules".
    If there is any guideline, it is perhaps to prefer s's with monosyllables, and prefer s' with longer words.   The s's form is arguably preferable with monosyllables, such as names commonly used in spoken English.  To write James' father  when one would normally say 'James's father' (pronounced Jameziz father) may seem odd....  Yet nothing is fixed. In London there is a famous park called St. James's Park.  In Newcastle there is a famous football stadium called St. James' Park.
   To continue with football, it would however be unusual to write, of the former England team manager, Terry Venables's career.....  Most people would write (and also say) "Terry Venables' career...." : but neither form is unacceptable.

2. Inanimate possessors 

For qualities, attributes, actions, or parts: Of  is the usual structure, but 's may be possible;
The unusual "'s" form can be used with some familiar nouns for stress, or for reasons of sentence structure.
In examples B3 and B6, the sentence could be rephrased using subject and verb instead of the possessive structures.

2.1. Relating a part to a whole (inanimates) or a group to its constituents

 The "of" form is normally obligatory when expressing the relation of a part to a whole (or a whole to its parts)  when the part has no meaning unless it refers to a whole.

The same is usually true when expressing the relation of a unit to a group (or a group to its units)  when the group is defined by the units of which it is composed.

We can NOT say:
However there  sometimes is a choice when the part is expressed as adjective+noun, or when the part is more important in the phrase than the whole (B 13, B131),

3. Complemental noun groups

"of" is essential, except in a few specific cases. Complemental noun groups  can often be rephrased as compounds, without 's: Return to English Grammar index