Short dialogues with modal verbs. Sentences with modal verbs in English

English has two cases: common and possessive. Let's look at each one separately.

Common case - Common case

Nouns in the general case are used in the functions of the subject (and correspond in Russian to a noun in the nominative case), the nominal part of a compound predicate, complement, and adverbial case.

The general case form alone, without the help of additional means, cannot convey the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. Such additional funds in English are the order of words in a sentence and prepositions: of - corresponds to the genitive case, to - dative case, by, with - instrumental case, of, about - prepositional case with the prepositions “about” and “about”.

For example:

The dean spoke of our faculty.
Dean (the dean - nominative) spoke about our faculty.

Students greeted the dean.
The students greeted the dean (accusative case).

The lecture of the dean was listened to with great attention.
Dean's lecture ( genitive) listened with great attention.

A very interesting story was told by the dean.
A very interesting story was told by the dean ( instrumental case).

He missed many lectures and had to explain the reason to the dean.
He has missed many lectures and must explain the reason to the dean (dative case).

She told me many interesting things about our new dean.
She told me a lot of interesting things about our new dean (prepositional case).

Possessive case - Possessive case

Nouns in the possessive case denote the ownership of an object or concept, answering the question whose? - whose?, or relation to another subject, answering the questions what? - which one?, how much? - How many? etc. The possessive case is used in the function of definition and stands before the word being defined.

My sister's room... My sister's room...

The possessive case is formed:

Using an apostrophe (") and the letter s ("s) for singular nouns and for plural nouns that do not end in -s:

the boy's room - the boy's room, Tom's book - Tom's book, the men's hats - men's hats, women's work - women's work.

Only use an apostrophe (") for plural nouns ending in -s:

the boys" room - the boys' room, the students answers - the students' answers.

In the form of the possessive case we use:

Mainly nouns denoting animate objects:

my teacher's pen - my teacher's pen. Tom's friends - Tom's friends.

Nouns meaning:

time - with words such as minute, hour, day, week, night, month, year, expressing the meaning “during”, “per period”, etc. (unlike cases when this case is not used - see point 2 of the next paragraph):

today's newspapers - today's newspapers, an hour's absence - absence for an hour, a week's holiday - a week's vacation, a year's journey - a journey that lasts a year;

distance:

a mile s distance - a distance of a mile, two kilometres" walk - a path of two kilometers;

price:

ten dollars worth of chocolate - 10 dollars worth of chocolate;

names of stars and planets:

the Sun's rays - sun rays, the Moon's light - moonlight, the Earth's resources - Earth's resources;

names of countries, cities, etc.:

the United States" participation - participation of the United States, Moscow s squares - Moscow squares, this Liverpool"s Cathedral - this Liverpool Cathedral;

moving mechanisms or machine parts (in the language of technical literature):

the plane's propellers - airplane propellers.

Notes

Relationships expressed using the possessive case can be conveyed by a construction with the preposition of:

France's economy - the economy of France - the economy of France.

In cases where the belonging of something to something is expressed (that is, belonging to an inanimate object), then, as a rule, a construction with the preposition of is used:

the walls of the town - the walls of the city, the legs of the table - table legs.

Possessive nouns can be used without a subsequent location noun. In this case, the possessive case has a local meaning.

For example: at my sister's - in my sister's house, at the baker's - in the bakery.

The possessive case is not used:

If of two, usually inanimate, nouns, the first acts as a definition with a pronounced meaning “characteristic, ordinary, used for something,” etc. and the combination is considered as a single, holistic concept:

a street lamp is a street lamp, and a newspaper article is a newspaper article.

With words that express time and act as definitions:

summer holidays - summer holidays, November fogs - November fogs, birthday party - evening on the occasion of a birthday (time is expressed through age).

With names of cities, regions, proper names, etc., when they are an integral element of the name:

the Gomel University - Gomel University, “The Vitebsk Worker” - “Vitebsk Worker” (newspaper), the Pushkin Museum - Pushkin Museum.

With the names of items of clothing, equipment with shades of the meaning described in paragraph I:

a football ground - a football ground, a coffee cup - a coffee cup.

A moment like, occupies far from the last place in grammar textbooks. Without this theme, how can we talk about the ownership of something? You can still somehow deal with inanimate nouns, but what about in other cases? First things first...

Possessive case rules in English

As you already understood, Possessive case rules in English are needed to express the ownership of an object to a certain person. That is, today we will learn to say “friend’s house”, “wife’s letters” and so on. The following instructions will help you figure out what's what.

1. According to the standard rule, the ownership of an object is expressed by adding an apostrophe and –s to the animate person to whom the thing belongs.

For example: my sister 's powder - my sister's powder

2. If the object belongs to a plural noun (formed according to the rules, using –s), then you only need to add an apostrophe to this word.

For example: my sisters ’ house – my sisters' house

3. In cases where a noun forms the plural in a special way, it is recommended to adhere to the standard rule (apostrophe + -s).

For example: the children 's toys - children's toys

4. If in a sentence you need to name two persons to whom something belongs, then an apostrophe and –s are added to the last noun.

For example: Peter and Mary 's apartment – ​​Peter and Mary’s apartment

5. There are phrases with compound nouns. In this case, the apostrophe and –s It is recommended to add to the last part.

For example: my mother-in-law 's dog - my mother-in-law's dog

6. The rules of the possessive case in English usually apply only to animate nouns. That is, inanimate nouns are not friendly with an apostrophe + -s. The pretext we know will help here of.

For example: a piece of paper - a piece of paper

Possessive case in English. Examples

Agree, it’s not at all difficult to start using possessive case in English. Examples, which are presented below, will help you understand even better.

There are only two cases in English: common ( common case) and possessive ( possessive/ genetive case).

Common case the letter is not indicated by anything (compare: in Russian, each of the six cases has its own ending), but the meaning of phrases and sentences is clear to us due to strict order words in a sentence and the use of prepositions. Let's give an example. "The teacher said "Hello" to the pupils." - ""The pupils said "Hello" to the teacher". In translation into Russian, we change the word order and use the Russian language cases for translation: said to the teacher - said (to whom?) to the teacher, Dative case; written by Pushkin - written (by whom?) by Pushkin, Instrumental case.

Possessive case used to show possession. To form the possessive case, add to animate noun V singular ending - "s, in the plural just an apostrophe -".

For example, Julia's lipstick is Julia's lipstick, a boy's bag is a boy's bag, pupils' books are student books, a driver's license is a driver's license.

As you can see, most often the possessive case is translated into Russian by the genitive case.

Features of the use of the possessive case

It would seem that forming the possessive case form is as easy as shelling pears, but there are pitfalls here too.

1. If the noun is singular, add -"s, even if the noun ends in -s, for example, a waitress"s uniform, an actress"s salary.

Doubts about this arise when writing proper names: St. James's Park - St. James's Park (in London), Charles's car - Charles's car, Doris's party - Doris's party. But to the names of famous and famous people we simply add an apostrophe. For example, William Yeats" poetry - the poetry of William Yeats (Irish poet and playwright), Socrates" son (son of Socrates).

2. If the noun is plural, add only an apostrophe. For example, girls" skirts, the parents" apartment. But if the plural noun is irregular (see irregular plural nouns), then add -"s. For example, sheep's wool, the men's club, children's toys.

3. Add -"s only to the last noun, if there are several of them, or to the last element of a complex noun. For example, my friend Nataly"s keys - the keys of my friend Natasha, Mary"s new friends - Masha's new friends, her mother-in -law's house - her mother-in-law's house.

4. When we're talking about about a workplace, store, office, home, after - "s the second noun can be omitted. For example, I was at the doctor"s yesterday. (=at the doctor"s office). I am at my grandmother"s (= at my grandmother"s house). I need to go to the baker"s (=baker"s shop, bakery)/ the florist"s (flower shop) / the confectioner's (confectionery shop) / at the dry-cleaner's (in the laundry room).

5. If a noun refers to a whole phrase, then this phenomenon is called Group Genitive. Let's give an example.

Helen and Bob's car (they have one car for two).

The man I saw yesterday's son (son of the man I saw yesterday).

Someone else's benefit (someone else's benefit).

A friend of mine's bad habit ( bad habit my friend).

What to do with inanimate nouns?

When we want to show that something belongs to an inanimate object, use the preposition "of": the leg of the table. But native speakers prefer the shorter version, that is compound noun without a bunch of articles: the table leg.

If it is impossible to form a compound noun, then we use the preposition "of". For example, the top of the box. You need to remember such expressions. Experienced linguists feel whether a phrase sounds or not. When in doubt, use "of". In many cases, both forms are correct. For example, the hand of the clock (clock hand) = the clock hand.

Set expressions with inanimate nouns in the possessive case

These expressions need to be remembered.

P.S. Possessive case of a noun in English - complex topic for study, because students are trying to draw a parallel with the Russian language, where nouns have 6 cases, but there is no possessive, but there are possessive pronouns. In English, the possessive case expresses ownership and nothing more. It's actually very simple.