Exercises

80.1 Join the two (or three) nouns. Sometimes you have to use -'s or -s'; and sometimes you have to use... of...

1. the owner/that car _the owner of that car_

2. the mother/Ann _Ann's mother_

3. the jacket/that man ---

4. the top/the page ---

5. the daughter/Charles ---

6. the cause/the problem ---

7. the newspaper/yesterday ---

8. the birthday/my father ---

9. the name/this street ---

10. the toys/the children ---

11. the new manager/the company ---

12. the result/the football match ---

13. the garden/our neighbours ---

14. the ground floor/the building ---

15. the children/Don and Mary ---

16. the economic policy/the government ---

17. the husband/Catherine ---

18. the husband/the woman-talking to Mary ---

19. the car/the parents/Mike ---

20. the wedding/the friend I Helen ---

80.2 What is another way of saying these things? Use -'s.

1. a hat for a woman _a woman's hat_

2. a name for a boy ---

3. clothes for children ---

4. a school for girls ---

5. a nest for a bird ---

6. a magazine for women ---

80.3 Read each sentence and write a new sentence beginning with the underline words.

1. The meeting _tomorrow_ has been cancelled.

_Tomorrow's meeting has been cancelled._

2. The storm _last week_ caused a lot of damage.

Last ---

3. The only cinema in _the town_ has closed down.

The ---

4. Exports from _Britain_ to the United States have fallen recently.

5. Tourism is the main industry in _the region._

80.4 Use the information given to complete the sentences.

1. If I leave my house at 9 o'clock and drive to London, I arrive at about 12.

So it's about _three hours' drive_ to London from my house. (drive)

2. If I leave my house at 8.S5 and walk-to the station, I get there at 9 o'clock.

So it's only --- from my house to the station. (walk)

3. I'm going on holiday on the 12th. I have to be back at work on the 26th.

So I've got --- (holiday)

4. I went to sleep at 3 o'clock this morning and woke up an hour later. After that I couldn't sleep. So last night I only had --- (sleep)

UNIT 81. A friend of mine My own house On my own/by myself

A. A friend of mine/a friend of Tom's etc.

We say 'a friend of mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs' (not 'a friend of me/you/him' etc.)

* I'm going to a wedding on Saturday. A friend of mine is getting married. (not 'a friends of me')

* We went on holiday with some friends of ours. (not 'some friends of us')

* Michael had an argument with a neighbour of his.

* It was a good idea of yours to go swimming this afternoon.

In the same way we say 'a friend of Tom's', 'a friend of my sister's' etc.:

* It was a good idea of Tom's to go swimming.

* That woman over there is a friend of my sister's.

B. My own.../your own... etc.

We use my/your/his/her/its/our/their before own:

my own house your own car her own room

You cannot say 'an own...' ('an own house', 'an own car' etc.)

My own.../your own... (etc.) = something that is only mine/yours (etc.), not shared or borrowed:

* I don't want to share a room with anybody. I want my own room.

* Vera and George would like to have their own house. (not 'an own house')

* It's a pity that the flat hasn't got its own entrance.

* It's my own fault that I've got no money. I buy too many things I don't need.

* Why do you want to borrow my car? Why can't you use your own? (= your own car)

You can also use... own... to say that you do something yourself instead of somebody else doing it for you. For example:

* Brian usually cuts his own hair. (= he cuts it himself; he doesn't go to the hairdresser)

* I'd like to have a garden so that I could grow my own vegetables. (= grow them myself instead of buying them from shops)

C. On my own by myself

On my own and by myself both mean 'alone'. We say:

on my/your own

on his her/own

on its our/their own

by myself/yourself (singular)

by himself/herself/itself

by ourselves/yourselves (plural)/themselves

* I like living on my own/by myself.

* Did you go on holiday on your own/by yourself?

* Jack was sitting on his own/by himself in a corner of the cafe.

* Learner drivers are not allowed to drive on their own/by themselves.