Unit -’s (your sister’s name) and

81 of … (the name of the book)

A We use -’s (apostrophe + s) mostly for people or animals:
Tom’s computer isn’t working. (not the computer of Tom)
How old are Chris’s children? (not the children of Chris)
What’s (= What is) your sister’s name?
What’s Tom’s sister’s name?
Be careful. Don’t step on the cat’s tail.
You can use -’s without a noun after it:
This isn’t my book. It’s my sister’s. (= my sister’s book)
We do not use -’s after a long group of words. So we say:
my friend’s mother
but the mother of the man we met yesterday (not the man we met yesterday’s mother)
Note that we say a woman’s hat (= a hat for a woman), a boy’s name (= a name for a boy),
a bird’s egg (= an egg laid by a bird) etc.

B With a singular noun we use -’s:

my sister’s room (= her room – one sister)
Mr Carter’s house (= his house)
With a plural noun (sisters, friends etc.) we put an apostrophe (’) after s:
my sisters’ room (= their room – two or more sisters)
the Carters’ house (= their house – Mr and Mrs Carter)
If a plural noun does not end in -s (for example men/women/children/people) we use -’s:
the men’s changing room a children’s book (= a book for children)
You can use -’s after more than one noun:
Jack and Karen’s children Mr and Mrs Carter’s house

C For things, ideas etc., we normally use of:

the temperature of the water (not the water’s temperature)
the name of the book the owner of the restaurant
We say the beginning/end/middle of … / the top/bottom of … / the front/back/side of … :
the beginning of the month (not the month’s beginning)
the top of the hill the back of the car

D You can usually use -’s or of … for an organisation (= a group of people). So you can say:
the government’s decision or the decision of the government
the company’s success or the success of the company
We also use -’s for places. So you can say:
the city’s streets the world’s population Italy’s prime minister

E We use -’s with time words (yesterday / next week etc.):

Do you still have yesterday’s newspaper?
Next week’s meeting has been cancelled.
In the same way, you can say today’s / tomorrow’s / this evening’s / Monday’s etc.
We also use -’s (or -s’ with plural words) with periods of time:
I’ve got a week’s holiday starting on Monday.
Julia has got three weeks’ holiday.
I live near the station – it’s only ten minutes’ walk.

Noun + noun (a bus driver) ➜ Unit 80 a three-hour journey, a ten-pound note ➜ Unit 80E
162 -’s (= is or has) in short forms ➜ Appendix 5.2
 Unit
Exercises 81
81.1 In some of these sentences, it is more natural to use -’s or -’. Change the underlined parts where
necessary.
1 Who is the owner of this restaurant? OK
2 How old are the children of Chris? Chris’s children
3 Is this the umbrella of your friend?
4 Write your name at the top of the page.
5 I’ve never met the daughter of James.
6 How old is the son of Helen and Andy?
7 We don’t know the cause of the problem.
8 I don’t know the words of this song.
9 The friends of your children are here.
10 What is the cost of a new washing machine?
11 The garden of our neighbours is very small.
12 The hair of David is very long.
13 I work on the ground floor of the building.
14 I couldn’t go to the party of my best friend.
15 George is the brother of somebody I knew at college.
16 Have you seen the car of the parents of Ben?
17 What is the meaning of this expression?
18 Do you agree with the policy of the government?

81.2 Which is right?

1 Don’t step on the cat’s tail. (cat / cat’s / cats’)
2 It’s my birthday tomorrow. (father / father’s / fathers’)
3 Those look nice. Shall we buy some? (apples / apple’s / apples’)
4 clothes are expensive. (Children / Children’s / Childrens’)
5 Zurich is largest city. (Switzerland / Switzerland’s / Switzerlands’)
6 Your parents are your grandparents. (parents / parent’s / parents’)
7 I took a lot of when I was on holiday. (photos / photo’s / photos’)
8 This isn’t my coat. It’s . (someone else / someone else’s / someone elses’)
9 Have you read any of poems? (Shakespeare / Shakespeare’s / Shakespeares’)

81.3 Read each sentence and write a new sentence beginning with the underlined 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 The weather in Britain is very changeable.

5 Tourism is the main industry in the region.

81.4 Use the information given to complete the sentences.

1 If I leave my house at 9 o’clock and drive to the airport, I arrive at about 11.
So it’s about two hours’ drive from my house to the airport. (drive)
2 If I leave my house at 8.40 and walk to the centre, I get there at 9 o’clock.
So it’s from my house to the centre. (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)
163
Unit
126 to, at, in and into
A We say go/come/travel (etc.) to a place or event. For example:
go to China go to work come to my house TO
go back to Italy go to the bank drive to the airport
return to London go to a party be taken to hospital

When are your friends going back to Italy? (not going back in Italy)
Three people were injured in the accident and taken to hospital.
In the same way we say Welcome to … , a trip to … , a visit to … , on my way to … etc. :
Welcome to our country! (not Welcome in)
We had to cancel our trip to Paris.
Compare to (for movement) and in/at (for position):
They are going to France. but They live in France.
Can you come to the party? but I’ll see you at the party.
We say ‘(I’ve) been to’ a place or an event:
I’ve been to Italy four times, but I’ve never been to Rome.
Amanda has never been to a football match in her life.

B get and arrive

We say get to a place:
They got to the hotel at midnight.
What time did you get to the party?
We say arrive in … or arrive at … (not arrive to).
We say arrive in a town or country:
They arrived in Madrid / in Spain a week ago.
For other places (buildings etc.) or events, we say arrive at:
What time did you arrive at the hotel / at the airport / at the party?

C home
We say: go home, come home, get home, arrive home, on the way home etc. (no preposition).
We do not say ‘to home’:
What time did you get home? (not get to home)
I met Lisa on my way home.

D into
go into, get into … etc. = enter (a room / a building / a car etc.):
I opened the door, went into the room and sat down. INTO
A bird flew into the kitchen through the window.
Every month my salary is paid directly into my bank account.
With some verbs (especially go/get/put) we often use in (instead of into):
She got in the car and drove away. or She got into the car …
I read the letter and put it back in the envelope.
The opposite of into is out of:
She got out of the car and went into a shop.
For buses, trains and planes, we usually say get on and get off:
She got on the bus and I never saw her again.
You need to get off (the train) at the next station.

been to ➜ Units 7–8 in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123–125 at home ➜ Unit 125A
252 into and in ➜ Unit 138A
 Unit
Exercises 126
126.1 Put in to/at/in/into where necessary. If no preposition is necessary, leave the space empty.
1 Three people were taken to hospital after the accident.
2 I’m tired. Let’s go – home now. (no preposition)
3 We left our luggage the station and went to find something to eat.
4 Shall we take a taxi the station or shall we walk?
5 I have to go the bank today. What time does it open?
6 The Amazon flows the Atlantic Ocean.
7 I missed the bus, so I walked home.
8 Have you ever been Canada?
9 I lost my key, but I managed to climb the house through a window.
10 We got stuck in a traffic jam on our way the airport.
11 We had lunch the airport while we were waiting for our plane.
12 It took us four hours to get the top of the mountain.
13 Welcome the hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay here.
14 We drove along the main road and then turned a narrow side street.
15 Did you enjoy your visit the zoo?
16 I did some shopping on my way home.
17 Marcel is French. He has just returned France after two years Brazil.
18 Carl was born Chicago, but his family moved Boston when he was three.

126.2 Write sentences about places you have been to. Use I’ve been to / I’ve never been to + the words
in brackets.
1 (never) I’ve never been to Egypt.
2 (once)
3 (never)
4 (a few times)
5 (many times)

126.3 Put in to/at/in where necessary. If no preposition is necessary, leave the space empty.
1 What time does this train get to London?
2 They arrived Barcelona a few days ago.
3 What time did you get home last night?
4 What time do you usually arrive work in the morning?
5 When we got the cinema, there was a long queue outside.
6 We were delayed and arrived home very late.

126.4 Write sentences using got + into / out of / on / off.

1 You were walking home. A friend passed you in her car. She saw you, stopped and offered you a lift.
She opened the door. What did you do? I got into the car.
2 You were waiting at the bus stop. At last your bus came and stopped. The doors opened.
What did you do then? I the bus.
3 You drove home in your car. You stopped outside your house and parked the car.
What did you do then?
4 You were travelling by train to Manchester. When the train got to Manchester, what did you do?

5 You needed a taxi. After a few minutes a taxi stopped for you. You opened the door.
What did you do then?
6 You were travelling by plane. At the end of your flight, your plane landed at the airport and stopped.
The doors were opened, you took your bag and stood up.
What did you do then?

➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 253