When to be possessive?

Posted by pakguru on February 19th, 2018 | 0 comments | grammar, IELTS, modifiers, noun noun, noun phrases, nouns, possessives, speaking, writing

Interacting with many people expands students vision and broadens their horizons.

This is a tricky one! There are many exceptions to the guidelines that follow. First of all let’s compare the following noun phrases:

1. students vision
   plural noun + noun – is not possible. It is grammatically incorrect.
   
2. students’ vision
   plural noun + possessive + noun is possible, meaning particular vision – the vision of the group of students under discussion. This structure is common when the first noun is ‘animate’.
   
3. student vision
   singular noun + noun – is also possible, meaning a kind of vision – ‘student vision’ as opposed to, say, ‘teacher vision’. This structure is common when the first noun is ‘inanimate’.
   

Returning to our opening example, meaning 2 would appear to be the most appropriate:

• Interacting with many people expands students’ vision and broadens their horizons.

Notice also that we now have a parallel structure with two clauses containing possessives – expands students’ vision, broadens their horizons.