Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 29 (II–III) · Part 1: Part I: The elementary course
28. Possessives
Goal: Your child writes possessives correctly (boy's, boys', men's) and can change "the den of the fox" to "the fox's den" and back.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and a pencil (or a slate)
What's in the book
Parts II and III of Lesson 29 define the possessive, give three directions for writing possessives, and have sentences to mark and correct, plus "of" groups to change into possessives.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Ask your child to find the pronouns in "She gave him her book."
Whose?
Read the book's example: "John's hat is torn." Ask whose hat it is.
Read:
A Possessive is a noun or pronoun used to modify a noun different in meaning from itself.
The apostrophe ( ' ) is used to show that a noun is a possessive.
Three directions
Go over the book's rules:
When a noun denotes but one object, the letter s follows the apostrophe; as in John's, Moses's.
When the noun denotes more than one object, and ends with s, the apostrophe alone is used, as in ladies'.
A plural that does not end in s adds 's, as in men's. The book adds that pronoun possessives (its, yours) never take an apostrophe.
Find the possessives
Point them out:
Your father's brother is my uncle.
Mr. Eddy sells children's shoes.
Did you ride in the ladies' car?
Correct the errors
Fix these from the page:
The canary is not in it's cage
Alice' lesson is learned.
We then went into the ladie's parlor.
Swap the forms
Change some of the book's sentences both ways: "Daniel was in the lion's den" becomes "the den of the lion." "The owner of the dog was much surprised" becomes "The dog's owner..."
Use it today
Find two possessives in today's reading. Is each one singular or plural?
Afterwards
The book also asks for five sentences with possessives modifying the subject. Do these on another day.
Answers to the book's problems
Possessives: 1 Your, father's, my. 2 children's. 3 Our, your. 4 Her, doll's. 5 boys'. 6 ladies'. 7 horse's. 8 Andrews's. Corrections: the ox's horn; its cage; The vessel's sails are spread (or The vessels' sails, if many vessels); Alice's lesson; the boy's coat (if one boy); the ladies' parlor. Groups for possessives: the hand of the boy; the den of the lion; the owner of the vessel; the den of the fox; the flash of the lightning; the roof of the barn; the hoot of an owl. Possessives for groups: The horse's head was hurt. We loitered by the river's bank. The squirrel's house was a hollow tree. The hunters came to a tiger's den. The dog's owner was much surprised.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.