Arguments contradicting this theory.

· Combinations with prepositions are not analytical forms because the first element, the preposition, is not devoid of lexical meaning.

· if we include all possible word-combinations with prepositions into the system of cases the number of cases will seem unlimited.

· the choice of prepositions is often a personal matter of the speaker.

· analytical forms are usually included into the paradigms containing synthetic forms: read – reads – is reading. Prepositional constructions are usually synonymous with synthetic forms.
e. g. my mother's sister = the sister of my mother.

The category of case covers:

1) names of persons: the boy's ball

2) collective nouns: the team's success

3) names of higher animals: the horse's tail

4) nouns denoting periods: three days' journey

5) geographical names and names of institutions: London's population, the school's history

6) set phrases: at a stone's throw

Types of relations expressed by the Genitive case:

1) possession: the student's book, Mary's dress

2) subjective genitive: the boy's answer (= the boy answered)

3) objective genitive: the boy's punishment (= somebody punished the boy)

4) quantitative: three miles' distance

5) qualitative (descriptive): a woman's voice

6) genitive of origin (authorship): Shakespeare's poetry

7) genitive of social relations: John's wife.

There is a point of view denying cases in English. G.N. Vorontsova, B.A. Ilyish put forward the following arguments to prove that –'s is not a case morpheme:

a) the use of –'s is optional. One can equally use my sister's and of my sister. (Cf. Russ. моей сестры).

b) the group of nouns to which –'s can be attached is limited. This group includes nouns denoting living beings (e. g. the cat's paws), time (e. g. a week's delay), and some substantivized adverbs (e. g. yesterday's news).

c) one and the same morpheme functions in the singular and in the plural (e. g. child's, children's) .and so on.

Most linguists, however, admit the existence of two cases in English. This can be proved by the following:

a) the morpheme –'s is mostly attached to individual nouns, in comparison with noun-groups (96 per cent). Besides, such groups can be sometimes easily treated as one word: a good-for-nothing-young-man's hat.

b) its meaning is a typical case meaning – 'the relation of a thing denoted by a noun to other things denoted by other words'.

c) the fact that the meaning of the possessive case limits its usage only proves that (not like prepositions) it cannot function freely but only to reveal a certain category meaning. Theoretically it is possible with all nouns.