QuickenBrain

Of vs. possessive -s

Nouns and articlesRule 9 of 10

The rule

For people, use 's: "my brother's book", not "the book of my brother"; the "of" pattern with a person usually sounds unnatural. For most things, "of" is the natural pattern: "the roof of the house", "the top of the page". Familiar pairings like "the company's policy" are fine with 's, but position words (top, bottom, beginning, end) usually take "of".

Wrong and right

  1. Wrong I borrowed the car of my boss.

    Right I borrowed my boss's car.

  2. Wrong The birthday of my wife is next week.

    Right My wife's birthday is next week.

  3. Wrong This is the book of my brother.

    Right This is my brother's book.

  4. Wrong The name is written at the page's top.

    Right The name is written at the top of the page.

  5. Wrong What is the opinion of John about this?

    Right What is John's opinion about this?