possessive 's

The possessive 's construction is used to describe the possession or attribution of particular things, features, qualities or characteristics. It operates syntactically like the possessive determiners my, your, his, etc., and is best considered as a determiner.

1. Leon's website
2. goat's cheese
3. Mark's bicycle
4. the school's development plan The possessive 's construction occurs with more complex noun phrases as well as with simple ones:
5. Dr Brown's patients
6. The prince of Albania's daughter

   The use of possessive 's is sometimes arbitrary. For example, lamb's liver is said but not lamb liver. On the other hand, chicken breast (not Chicken's breast) is said.

   The possessive 's is common in general measurements of time:
7. today's news
8. yesterday's political party
9. three weeks' holiday
10. twenty minutes' delay. The possessive 's rather than the noun + noun construction is also used when the reference is more preise and specific:
    I always spend ages reading the Sunday paper. (general reference)
    The recipe you want was in last Sunday's paper. (specific, unique reference)