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Possessive idioms
IDIOMS EXPRESSING POSSESSION
In order to understand and use 'possession' totally, please, study or revise the bases: test, test
You must master possessive adjectives thoroughly: my, your, his/her/its, our, their + Noun
as well as the possessive pronouns : mine, yours, his/hers/its, ours, theirs.
You must know how to build and use the genitive, or possessive case: the kid's toys ; the kids' toys; the children's toys.
Then, and only then, will you be ready to use some idioms concerning the possessive! ![](//www.anglaisfacile.com/cgi2/alec/images/smileys/fou.gif)
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A) 1) It must be remembered that the second term of the genitive cannot be preceded by an indefinite article.
Consequently, to express a sentence which would 'need one', you have to resort to an idiom:
- one of Peter's colleagues => a colleague of Peter's. => determiner + Noun + OF + possessor in the genitive case.
- one of her father's friends => a friend of her father's.
Let me insist on the importance of this possessive case, which is often 'forgotten' by learners.
2) The construction is the same with a possessive pronoun:
ex : Jim is one of her friends => Jim is a friend of hers. => determiner + Noun + OF + possessive pronoun .
ex : She' s one of their cousins => She's a cousin of theirs.
3) A construction with 'no' :
ex :This is none of his business => This is no business of his.
B) OWN replaces and mostly reinforces a pronoun, when it is with a possessive adjective.
It may also reinforce a noun when it is before it.
ex: Why do you use my computer? You have your own computer! (=> You have yours)
ex: Don't take my dress! Wear one of your own...(=> wear one of yours)
! On my own, on your own, on his or her own = alone!
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It was easy, wasn't it?
Ready for the test?
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English exercise "Possessive idioms" created by here4u with The test builder. [More lessons & exercises from here4u]
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End of the free exercise to learn English: Possessive idioms
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Other English exercises on the same topics : Speaking | Idioms | Genitive | All our lessons and exercises