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How Do We Express Possession and Association?
We can use different structures to talk about non-physical relations between nouns, such as relations of possession, association, or indication of type and purpose. Some of the common structures used for this purpose are possessives, noun modifiers, and the preposition 'of'.
Non-physical Relations
The following is a list of common non-physical relations between nouns:
Ownership
Utilization
A part of human body
A part of an object
Creator and creation
Interpretation
Indication of material
Indication of constituent parts
Partitive relations
Indication of purpose
Indication of type
Temporal association
Relationships between people
Indication of origin
Derivation
Indication of experiences and feelings
Attribution
Referring to titles
Referring to positions
Showing Ownership
Ownership refers to the right to possess, control, and use a resource or object. There are several ways to show ownership in English. The most common way is to use possessives, including possessive nouns, pronouns, and determiners.
Matt's car was stolen last night.
possessive noun
The car that was stolen last night was his.
possessive pronoun
His car was stolen last night.
possessive determiner
The preposition 'of' can also be used to show ownership, although this structure is less common:
the house of my grandparents
Indicating Utilization
Sometimes a particular object does not belong to someone per se, but they are using it or occupying it for some time. To indicate this kind of utilization, we can use possessive structures:
my room in the hotel
Here, the speaker does not own a hotel room, but is occupying it for some time.
her desk as the office
John's cell in the prison
To Point to a Part of Human Body
We can use possessive forms to refer to parts of a person's body. In this case, possessive forms do not refer to ownership, but to a relation of part and whole.
My hands got frostbit in the cold.
Nick's ribs broke in the accident.
To Point to a Part of an Object
We can use different structures to refer to a part of an object. Noun modifiers and the preposition 'of' are commonly used for this purpose. For example:
car door
noun modifier
coat pocket
noun modifier
the door of the car
with the preposition 'of'
roof of the house
with the preposition 'of'
Possessive nouns can also be used in these cases, but they are less common:
the car's door
To Indicate the Creator
To refer an artifact to its creator or producer, we can use possessive forms as well as the preposition 'of'. For example:
Poe's writing
her painting
the complete plays of Chekhov
To Express Interpretations
To refer to someone's interpretation and understanding of an entity, we can use possessives. For example:
Shakespeare's London, as depicted in his plays, is a vibrant and diverse city filled with characters from all walks of life.
My world is shaped by my experiences, my beliefs, and my interactions with others.
To Indicate Material
To talk about the material that an object is made of, we mostly use noun modifiers.
paper bag
silk dress
silver plate
To Indicate Constituent Parts
To talk about the parts that make up an object, both noun modifiers and the preposition 'of' can be used. For example:
brick wall
pepperoni pizza
necklace of pearls
house of cards
To Act as Partitives
Partitives divide entities into parts or groups. This type of partition is commonly expressed using the preposition 'of'.
a cup of milk
a flock of birds
a pack of chips
To Indicate Purpose
To indicate the function and purpose for which an object is used, we mainly use noun modifiers. For example:
baseball bat
tennis shoes
shopping cart
We can also use the preposition 'for' to refer to the purpose or use of an object:
a bag for the groceries
Warning!
Although using the preposition 'of' in this sentence would not be grammatically incorrect, the meaning of the sentence would be different:
a bag of groceries.
This phrase does not refer to the purpose for which the bag is needed, rather, it shows a container-content relationship between 'bag' and 'groceries'.
To Indicate Type
To refer a person or an object to a specific type of a more generic group, we can use noun modifiers.
truck driver
we can also say 'driver of the truck' but the focus of the phrase would be different and it would not refer to the type of driver.
factory worker
salt water
hand bag
To Show Temporal Association
Both possessive forms and the preposition 'of' can be used to refer events to the time they occurred or appeared.
today's news
the news of the day
this year's winners
top hits of the week
To Show Relationship between People
To show how people relate to each other, including family relations, friendship, work relations, etc. we can use possessive forms.
his daughter
Mary's friend
We can also use the preposition 'of' to show such relationships, but this structure is less common and the same meaning can be expressed using the possessive forms.
father of the bride
we can also say 'bride's father'
leader of the team
or 'team's leader'
To Indicate the Origin of Something
To refer a noun to its origins we can use noun modifiers as well as the preposition 'of'. For example:
sea salt
mountain rocks
smell of roses
To Indicate Derivation
To show that an object, such as a work of art, is derived from or inspired by someone or something, we can use possessive structures as well as the preposition 'of'. For examples:
My mom's portrait was painted with acrylic paint.
His sculpture captured the most elegant aspects of his figure.
Sculpture of the Queen was built from marble.
To Refer to Experiences and Feelings
To refer to physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and other experiences of people, we can use possessive forms.
my dreams
his frustration
Sarah's pain
Jack's blindness
To Show Attribution
To attribute some quality or ability to a person, we can use the preposition 'of'. For example:
a woman of many talents
a man of science
a child of exceptional intelligence
To Refer to Titles
To refer to titles of people or places, we use noun modifiers, for example:
Main Street
Madison Square Garden
Doctor Johnson
King Charles
To Indicate Position
To indicate someone's job position or affiliation to a certain organization, we can use the preposition 'of', as well as noun modifiers. For example:
Mayor of Paris
King of England
CEO of the company
university chancellor
office administrator
We can also use possessive nouns to refer to titles, but this is generally informal and less common:
London's mayor
Company's CEO
Summary
The following table summarizes the relations between nouns and the main linguistic devices for expressing them.
Possessives | Noun Modifiers | of | |
|---|---|---|---|
Showing Ownership | ✓ | ✗ | uncommon |
Indicating Utilization | ✓ | ✗ | uncommon |
To Point to a Part of Human Body | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
To Point to a Part of an Object | uncommon | ✓ | ✓ |
To Indicate the Creator | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Express Interpretations | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
To Indicate Material | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
To Indicate Constituent Parts | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
To Act as Partitives | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Indicate Purpose | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
To Indicate Type | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
To Show Temporal Association | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Show Relationship between People | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Indicate the Origin of Something | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
To Indicate Derivation | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Refer to Experiences and Feelings | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
To Show Attribution | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
To Refer to Titles | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
To Indicate Position | uncommon | ✓ | ✓ |
Comments
(0)- How Do We Express Possession and Association?
- Non-physical Relations
- Showing Ownership
- Indicating Utilization
- To Point to a Part of Human Body
- To Point to a Part of an Object
- To Indicate the Creator
- To Express Interpretations
- To Indicate Material
- To Indicate Constituent Parts
- To Act as Partitives
- To Indicate Purpose
- To Indicate Type
- To Show Temporal Association
- To Show Relationship between People
- To Indicate the Origin of Something
- To Indicate Derivation
- To Refer to Experiences and Feelings
- To Show Attribution
- To Refer to Titles
- To Indicate Position
- Summary
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