What are possession and noun modifiers with examples?

Do you know how to use noun modifiers or different possessive forms? Enhance your knowledge with the lesson given below and the grammar explanation to guide you better.

Check out these examples to see how we use possessives and noun modifiers:

• a coffee mug

• yesterday's meeting agenda

• the top of the bookshelf

Grammar explanation - Possession and noun modifiers

Here are the grammar explanations to guide you better:

Possession with 's

We use apostrophes to show ownership or possession for people or animals. We use 's for singular nouns and ' for plural nouns ending in s.

• Einstein's theories

• the cats' toys

• children's books

We typically don’t use 's for things. Instead, we use of or a noun modifier.

• The roof of the building (NOT the building's roof)

• The car engine (NOT the car's engine)

However, we can use 's for things in the following cases:

1. When referring to a place or group made up of people:

• several cities' attractions

• our university's library

• the committee's decisions

2. With time expressions:

• in tomorrow's meeting

• last month's report

• a week's vacation

3. With the word "life":

• life's challenges

• life's unexpected moments

• life's joys

Possession with of

For things, ideas, etc., we often use of to show possession between two nouns.

• the cultures of different regions

• the responsibilities of the job

• the beauty of the landscape

We commonly use of when referring to a position or a specific part of something. This applies to phrases like the beginning of, the end of, the top of, etc.

• the height of summer

• the back of the room

's or of?*

In some cases, both 's and of can be used.

• the team’s goals

• the goals of the team

In such situations, the choice depends on the speaker’s or writer’s preference.

Noun modifiers

We frequently use two nouns together, where the first noun functions as an adjective. This is called a noun modifier. We do not use possessive forms with noun modifiers, and sometimes the two nouns become one word.

• a book club (NOT a book's club)

• the summer months (NOT the summer's months)

• a city park (NOT a city's park)

• a wristwatch (NOT a wrist's watch)

Noun modifiers can indicate what something is made of:

• a glass door

• gold bracelets

They can also show that something is part of another object:

• the table leg

• the car mirror

Sometimes we use more than two nouns together:

• New York fashion designers

• an office desk lamp

We also use measurements, ages, and values as noun modifiers:

• a fifteen-minute break

• a thousand-year-old artifact

• a twenty-dollar bill

• a hundred-mile drive

Note that the unit words (e.g., minute, year, dollar) remain singular, not plural, in these constructions.

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