Possessive phrases 1

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This exercise practises possessive phrases. These are noun phrases which are compounds with more than one noun, or which include other phrases, such as prepositional phrases and relative clauses, and which are then turned into possessive phrases with 's attached to the final word in the phrase. Basically, the whole phrase is treated as a single noun, with the 's attached to it at the end. These phrases are generally avoided in more formal speech and writing, and are mostly used in colloquial speech. Look at the examples below. Then read the sentences and put the 's in the correct place.

The car belongs to John and Mary.a It's John and Mary's car.
This money belongs to the man in the car. a It's the man in the car's money.
I didn't recognise the voice of the man who answered the telephone. a I didn't recognise the man who answered the telephone's voice.

1. The school on the corner children often cause trouble when they go past our school.

2. The person at the top of the company job is to make sure that everything is working smoothly.

3. Rosalind and Henry problem is that they don't talk to each other enough.

4. That's the person I was telling you about car.

5. The only player who's ever beaten me at chess name is Peter Green.

6. You're wasting Alan, Jane and the rest of them time waiting for you to get ready. Hurry up.

7. The car parked at the corner window's been broken.

8. The people who live across the road car was stolen last night.

9. A lot of ordinary people money was lost when the bank went bust.

10. Some of the University of London students were involved in a crash last night.