Possessive and Compound Nouns in IELTS Grammar
Possessive and Compound Nouns in IELTS grammar are important aspects of grammar. It helps you enhance your writing and reading skills for the IELTS exam. A possessive noun is added to indicate a particular relationship between two or more things. A compound noun is a noun that forms by combining two or more words. To identify Possessive Noun and Compound noun, you can follow the below table:
| Particulars | Possessive Noun | Compound Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Formation | Adding an apostrophe and the letter “s” | Adding two or more words |
| Example | Car’s Engine, Bike’s wheel, Dog’s collar | School teacher, Cake shop |
Possessive Noun
A possessive noun is a noun that is formed by adding an apostrophe and s or only an apostrophe to the noun. It shows that the noun possesses something i.e. the noun has a relationship with the other word in the sentence.
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Types of Possessive Nouns
There are three types of possessive nouns:
- Singular Possessive Nouns
- Plural Possessive Nouns
- Compound Possessive Nouns
Singular Possessive Nouns
Singular possessive nouns are formed by adding an apostrophe and s at the end of the word. The examples of single possessive nouns are given below:
| Statement | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|
| The keys of the car. | The car’s keys. |
| The cap of the bottle. | The bottle’s cap. |
| The wife of Mr. Stephen. | Mr. Stephen’s wife. |
| The climate of India. | India’s climate. |
| The recipe for pasta. | Pasta’s recipe. |
Single possessive nouns that end with s are formed by adding an apostrophe and s or only an apostrophe. Some examples for the same are given in the table below:
| Statement | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|
| The tyres of the bus. | The bus’s tyres. /The bus’ tyres. |
| The pen of James. | James’s pen. /James’ pen. |
| The champion of chess. | Chess’s champion. /Chess’ champion. |
| The president of Mauritius. | Mauritius’s president. / Mauritius’ president. |
| The master of the abacus. | Abacus’s master. /Abacus’ master. |
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Plural Possessive Nouns
Plural possessive nouns that end with s are formed by adding an apostrophe only. The examples of plural possessive nouns are given below:
| Statement | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|
| The holiday of ten days. | Ten days’ holiday. |
| The drivers of school buses. | School buses’ drivers. |
| The author of the books. | The books’ author. |
| The owner of pet animals. | The pet animals’ owner. |
| The water of rivers. | The rivers’ water. |
Plural possessive nouns that do not end with s are formed by adding an apostrophe and s. Some examples for the same are given in the table below:
| Statement | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|
| The lunch of the children. | The children’s lunch. |
| The favorite restaurant of the people. | People’s favorite restaurant. |
| The team of women. | Women’s team. |
| The hole of mice. | Mice’s hole. |
| The rights of spokesmen. | Spokesmen’s rights. |
Compound Possessive Nouns
Compound possessive nouns are formed by adding an apostrophe and s to the last noun. The examples of compound possessive nouns are given below:
| Statement | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|
| The ring of my sister-in-law. | My sister-in-law’s ring. |
| The mother of John and Eve. | John and Eve’s mother. |
| The engagement of Anna and Shawn. | Anna and Shawn’s engagement. |
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Compound Noun
A compound noun is a noun that is formed by combining two or more words that are not necessarily a noun. A compound noun can either be a common noun, abstract noun, or a proper noun.
Types of Compound Nouns
There are three types of compound nouns:
- Closed Compound Nouns
- Open Compound Nouns
- Hyphenated Compound Nouns
Closed Compound Nouns
Closed compound nouns are formed when two words combine to form a single word. The examples of closed compound nouns are given below:
| Words | Compound Noun |
|---|---|
| Key + Board | Keyboard |
| Play + Ground | Playground |
| Snow + Fall | Snowfall |
| Under + World | Underworld |
| Class + Mate | Classmate |
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Open Compound Nouns
Open compound nouns are formed when two nouns are written as two separate words. The examples of open compound nouns are given below:
| Words | Compound Noun |
|---|---|
| Hot + Dog | Hot dog |
| Ice + Cream | Ice cream |
| Light + Yellow | Light yellow |
| Pizza + Hut | Pizza Hut |
| Sofa + Cover | Sofa cover |
Hyphenated Compound Nouns
Hyphenated compound nouns are formed when two or more words are linked together by a hyphen. The examples of hyphenated compound nouns are given below:
| Words | Compound Noun |
|---|---|
| Son + In + Law | Son-in-law |
| Short + Term | Short-term |
| High + Grade | High-grade |
| Dry + Clean | Dry-clean |
| Power + Driven |
Power-driven |
IELTS Grammar is an important section of the English language test. Students need to understand the difference between Possessive noun and compound noun to ace the IELTS exam. This will help them identify the types of noun in the sentence.
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