# Apostraphes's Possessive Usage

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 19, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904 "2011-02-19T11:56:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904/41 "2011-02-22T05:27:25Z")

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I don’t have time to read this entire thread, so this may already have been discussed.

“The door hinge” and “the door’s hinge” aren’t necessarily the same. Without the apostrophe, you could be referring to a hinge that may or may not be attached to a door. You can have a box full of door hinges. But a “door’s hinge” refers to a hinge that is associated with a specific door. It may actually be on the door, or at least meant to be on that specific door.

I would never use the phrase “the doors hinge” (unless “hinge” is a verb, e.g. “the doors hinge on the left.”).

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**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904/42 "2011-02-22T10:52:15Z")

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Here’s a link to a related thread I started some time ago: [Which kind of genitive?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=538629)

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**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904/43 "2011-02-22T10:57:14Z")

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Yes, that previous thread is much clearer than this one.

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**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostraphess-possessive-usage/571904/44 "2011-02-22T17:01:53Z")

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> [@jbaker](#):
>
> The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage addresses this odd belief:
> 
> \<\<_Genitive with inanimate nouns._ Look at this list of phrases:
> 
> the nation’s capital  
> a week’s pay  
> a dollar’s worth  
> a stone’s throw  
> the Hundred Years’ War  
> land’s end  
> on a winter’s night

Of course.

I can’t believe this is even an issue at all.

It’s also perfectly fine to use possessive relative pronouns for objects:

\*What is the nation whose capital is Tunis?

He bought a car whose owner was dead. \*

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