Collins Cobuild English Grammar (27 page)

…
those workers who are employed in large enterprises
.
The parents are not afraid to be firm about
those matters that seem
important to them.

informal use of
this
and
these

1.193
   In informal spoken English, people sometimes use
this
and
these
in front of nouns even when they are mentioning someone or something for the first time.

And then
this woman
came up to me and she said, I believe you have a goddaughter called Celia Ravenscroft.
At school we had to wear
these awful white cotton hats
.

Possessive determiners:
my
,
your
,
their
, etc.

1.194
  You often want to show that a thing belongs to someone or that it is connected in some way with someone.

One way of doing this is to use a word like
my
,
your
, and
their
, which tells you who something belongs to. These words are called
possessive determiners
.

Are
your children
bilingual?
I remember
his name
now.
They would be welcome to use
our library
.
I’d been waiting a long time to park
my car
.

table of possessive determiners

1.195
  There are seven possessive determiners in English, and each one is associated with a particular
personal pronoun
:

Personal pronouns are explained in paragraphs
1.95
to
1.106
.

BE CAREFUL

1.196
  You do not spell the possessive
its
with an apostrophe.
It’s
is short for
it is
.

position

1.197
  Possessive determiners, like other determiners, come after any words like
all
or
some of
(called
predeterminers
), and before any numbers or adjectives.

…all
his
letters. …
their
next message. …
my
little finger. …
our
two lifeboats.

See paragraph
1.251
for more information about predeterminers.

BE CAREFUL

1.198
  In English, you do not use more than one definite determiner before a noun. Therefore, possessive determiners must be used on their own. You cannot say
I took off the my shoes
. You have to choose whether to say
I took off my shoes
, or
I took off the shoes
.

agreement with noun

1.199
  You choose which possessive determiner to use according to the identity of the person or thing that owns something. For example, if you want to identify something as belonging to or relating to a particular woman, you always use
her
. The following noun does not affect the choice.

I
took off
my
shoes.
Her
husband
remained standing. He had
his
hands in his pockets.
She
had to give up
her
job.
The
group
held
its
first meeting last week.
The
creature
lifted
its
head.
…the two dark
men
, glasses in
their
hands, waiting silently.
…the
car companies
and
their
workers.

use of
own

1.200
  When you want to draw attention to the fact that something belongs or relates to a particular person or thing, you can use the word
own
after the possessive determiner.

I helped him to some more water but left
my own glass
untouched.
Residents are allowed to bring
their own furniture
with them if they wish to do so.
Make
your own decisions
.
I heard it with
my own ears
.
She felt in charge of
her own affairs
.

If you use a number or adjective in this structure, you put the number or adjective after
own
.

…their
own three children
.
The players provided their
own white shorts
.

uses of possessives

1.201
  Possessive determiners do not always show that what follows them is actually possessed (or owned) by someone. Sometimes they just show that what follows is connected or associated with someone in some way.

They then turned
their attention
to other things.
…the vitality of
our music
and
our culture
.
In summer, hay fever interfered with all
her activities
.
It’s
his brother
who has the workshop.

1.202
  You can use a possessive determiner in front of a noun that refers to an action, in order to show who or what is doing the action.

…not long after
our arrival
.
…
his criticism
of the Government.
…
their fight
for survival.
I’m waiting for
your explanation
.
Most of
their claims
were worthy.

In the last example,
their claims
refers to the claims that they have made.

1.203
  You can also use a possessive determiner to say who or what is affected by an action.

My appointment
as the first woman chairman symbolizes change.
…the redistribution of wealth, rather than
its creation
.
They expressed their horror at
her dismissal
.

In the last example,
her dismissal
refers to the fact that she was dismissed by someone or by a company.

In the first of the following examples,
his supporters
means the people who support him.

…Birch and
his supporters
.
She returned the ring to
its owner
.

USAGE NOTE

1.204
  Sometimes in English the determiner
the
is used where there is an obvious possessive meaning. In these cases the possession is already made clear by a preceding noun or pronoun. The following paragraphs explain the situations in which you use
the
rather than a possessive determiner.

1.205
  When you refer to a specific part of someone’s body, you normally use a possessive determiner.

She has something on
her feet
and a bag in
her hand
.
Nancy suddenly took
my arm
.
The children wore nothing on
their feet
.
She thanked him shyly and patted
his arm
.
I opened the cupboard and they fell on
my head
.
He shook
his head
.