In English, the case (or function) of a noun may be of two types: the
unmarked common case or periphrastic “of” and the inflected form “’s”. The
periphrastic genitive usually acts as a postmodifier (e.g. the leg of the desk; the
cover of the magazine). On the other hand, the inflected genitive always acts as
a premodifier (e.g. Jacob and Fred’s quarrel; Lucy’s parents), being classified
as determiner (possessive determiner):
(*) In being phonologically identical with the plural, the regular genitive plural is
sometimes called “zero genitive.” Such a zero genitive is common with names
that end in /s/ in their written forms, especially if they are foreign names.
Examples:
Archimedes’ Law
Phoebus’ chariot
Keats’ poetry
The latter translation in both examples is better than the former one. As
perceived, only one possibility in English (‘s), different possible translations or
interpretations in Spanish. This in turn leads us to think that the inflected
genitive in English has different meanings other than those associated with the
mere idea of “possession” (possessive case).
Now concentrate in the following example. How would you translate it into
Spanish? Write your translation in the box.
Let’s analyse the genitive and see whether your translation is right.
They always put forward the following interpretation here: “Conocí a Jim, el tío
del soldado.” (Jim es el tío)
Perfect! But they are only 50% brilliant!
Yes. The interpretation would have been right as well. In this case, the
translation would be as follows: “Conocí al tío de Jim, el soldado.” (Jim es
soldado).
As you see the inflected genitive is totally ambiguous in English since the
only possibility is (‘s), which may have sometimes multiple interpretations in
Spanish depending on its semantic use, i.e. on the meaning it conveys.
Let’s start with the meaning of genitive as “possessive” and introduce some
others afterwards.
sadness – sad
beauty – beautiful
courage – courageous
3.Partitive genitive
As the name puts forward, a partitive genitive means the noun as head
refers just to “a part” of a whole. So key words like “which is a part of” will be
necessary for the interpretation. Examples:
the heart’s two ventricles the heart has two ventricles “the ventricles”
are just a part of the heart, considered as a “whole”.
the baby’s eyes the baby has (blue) eyes “the eyes” are just a part of
the body (the “whole”).
The bird’s wings the bird has (short) wings “the wings” represent just a
part of a whole (body).
4.Nominalized genitive
It refers to a noun phrase as genitive which may have two different
functions in a sentence.
b-Objective genitive: The genitive noun functions as the direct object of the
verbal idea implicit in the head noun. Examples:
genitive DO
Examples:
6.Descriptive genitive
It concerns the rephrasing of the genitive in such a way that it becomes a
prepositional phrase; for example:
the preposition of
preposition “of”
preposition “of”
As seen in both examples, the possession is signaled twice: first with the
preposition “of” and then with the apostrophe + s. It sounds terribly awkward,
but it is grammatically correct.
This was a good idea of Jack’s one of Jack’s ideas was good
IMPORTANT:
Of course, not! They do not convey the same meaning. The first sentence
represents an example of a double or redundant genitive. Consequently it
refers to “one of Caroline’s friends”, who may or may not be known to the
hearer (generic reference). In contrast, the second one is an example of a
dependent genitive. It refers to “one specific friend”, who is assumed to be
known to the hearer (specific reference).
9.Group Genitive
It is a genitive formed by adding the inflected genitive (‘s) to the last word of
a phrase. Examples:
Example 1: The construction tells us that Peter and Cecily share ownership of
these cars. The possessive indicated by (‘s) belongs to the entire phrase, not
just to Cecily.
________
Example 2: This means that each of them has at least one new car and that
their ownership is a separate matter.
Bill and my car had to be towed last night. (this means that Bill himself got
towed together with the car). INCORRECT
10.Appositive genitive
Let’s go back to the example of appositive genitive cited in one of the first
pages.
When I walked past the bank I saw Liz, my teacher’s daughter. She is a
secretary at the bank. (*)
1.Liz is the daughter if we pose Liz as the head of the noun phrase as DO.
11.Independent genitive
When the reference is contextually clear, some genitive phrases involve
ellipsis, i.e. they ellipt the noun following the genitive. Examples:
He has a devotion to work like his father’s. > i.e. his father’s devotion to
work.
Those aren’t my jeans; they are Martin’s. > i.e. Martin’s jeans.
All the boys preferred boys’ toys to girls’. > i.e. …to girls’ toys.
Examples:
Also, we shall place here some common idioms: tied to your mother’s apron
strings, in my mind’s eye, a nine day’s wonder, it’s a dog’s life, for donkey’s
years, the bee’s knees, to stir up a hornet’s nest, and others.
BIBLIOGRAPHY