Grammar Rules · Of vs. possessive -s
Of vs. possessive -s.
For people, use 's: "my brother's book", not "the book of my brother"; the "of" pattern with a person usually sounds unnatural. For most things, "of" is the natural pattern: "the roof of the house", "the top of the page". Familiar pairings like "the company's policy" are fine with 's, but position words (top, bottom, beginning, end) usually take "of".
Wrong → right
| Common mistake | Corrected |
|---|---|
| I borrowed the car of my boss. | I borrowed my boss's car. |
| The birthday of my wife is next week. | My wife's birthday is next week. |
| This is the book of my brother. | This is my brother's book. |
| The name is written at the page's top. | The name is written at the top of the page. |
| What is the opinion of John about this? | What is John's opinion about this? |
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