Possessive | Annotation hierarchies

Possessive
- Possessive case
  
  The possessive case indicates ownership and is shown by adding ‘s to a singular noun, by adding an apostrophe after the s in a plural noun, or by using a prepositional phrase.
  
  A player’s experience is analysed using a new technique.
  
  The players’ experiences are analysed using a new technique.
  
  The graves of two women were found in the rich burial site at Oseberg.
  
  Usually, an “‘s” is used when the owner is a person or a pet and “of” is used when the owner is a thing or an animal that is not a pet. There are exceptions to this rule, however.
- its
  - its
    
    The word its, without an apostrophe, is the possessive form of it. The word its is therefore is an exception to the rule that singular possessives are formed with an apostrophe-s (as in “Emma‘s car”).
    
    Headline language, with its many omitted words, complicates syntactic classification.
    
    [The word it’s, with an apostrophe, is not a possessive, but a contraction of the phrase it is.
    
    It’s possible that if global warming continues, malaria could reoccur in Sweden.
    
    NP-Complete problems are intractable, but it’s possible to find a tractable subproblem.]
- Personal
  - Personal
    
    The singular personal possessives are my (1st person), your (2nd), and her, his, or its (3rd).
    
    The reliquary was transformed into a jewellery box after its arrival in Norway.
    
    The plural personal possessives are our (1st person), your (2nd), and their (3rd).
    
    Women were sometimes buried with their possessions.
- Plural
  - Plural possessives
    
    The possessive form of a plural noun in s-form uses an apostrophe added after the noun’s final s (s’).
    
    The players’ experiences are analysed using a new technique.
    
    If the plural noun does not end in the letter s, then ‘s is used, as in the singular possessive.
    
    Two women’s graves were found in the rich burial site at Oseberg.
- Singular
  - Singular possessive
    
    The singular possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe-s (’s) to the end of the word.
    
    The player’s experience is analysed using a new technique.
    
    The form is the same when a single subject possesses more than one thing.
    
    A smith’s tools were considered masculine, while a weaver’s tools were attributed to the feminine gender.
    
    Collective nouns, such as “people” or “team”, still take the singular possessive form when the noun is treated as a single entity.
    
    The team’s positive attitude could be seen in its cheerful training session.

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Possessive case

its

Personal

Plural possessives

Singular possessive