Possessive Nouns
Amma's handbag, the students' results. How to use 's and s' correctly.
In Sinhala, we change the end of the word: අම්මාගේ, නිමල්ගේ. English does something similar with 's.
යමක් කාගේද කියලා පෙන්නන්න අයිතිකාරයාගේ නමට 's එකතු කරනවා. "අම්මාගේ" → Amma's. -s වලින් ඉවර වෙන බහුවචනයක් නම් ' විතරයි දාන්නේ: the students' (ශිෂ්යයන්ගේ).
The rules
| Owner | Add | Example |
|---|---|---|
| one person / thing | 's | my sister's phone, Nimal's bike |
| plural ending in -s | ' | my parents' house, the students' results |
| plural not ending in -s | 's | the children's toys, men's shoes, people's money |
| a name ending in -s | 's (or just ') | Thomas's car (or Thomas' car) |
Possessives
- Amma's handbag is on the table.
- My parents' house is in Kandy.
- The children's toys are all over the floor.
- The students' results come out tomorrow.
What it can show
Not only owning things:
More than owning
- Nimali's motherfamily
- Kasun's schoolwhere they go
- Thaththa's patience is running out. 😅qualities
- today's newspapertime
- a month's salarytime
Shops and homes
We often leave out the place after a possessive:
Shops and homes
- I have an appointment at the dentist's at 11.
- We're eating at Achchi's tonight.
's or "of"?
- For people and animals, use 's: the dog's tail, Kasun's idea.
- For things, we usually use of: the end of the road, the roof of the house.
Quick check
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This is laptop.
The staff room is upstairs. (all the teachers use it)
The park is near the lake.
The cat is licking paw.
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