+Remarks+.--To denote the source from which a thing proceeds, or the idea
of belonging to, _of_ is used more frequently than ('_s_).
The possessive sign (_'s_) is confined chiefly to the names of persons, and
of animals and things personified. We do not say the _tree's_ leaves, but
the leaves _of the tree_.
The possessive sign however is often added to names of things which we
frequently hear personified, or which we wish to dignify, and to names of
periods of time, and to words denoting value; as, the _earth's_ surface,
_fortune's_ smile, _eternity's_ stillness, a _year's_ interest, a _day's_
work, a _dollar's_ worth, _two cents'_ worth.
By the use of _of_, such expressions as _witness's statement_,
_mothers-in-law's faults_ may be avoided.
+Direction+.--_Study carefully the principles and Remarks given above, and
then make each of the following terms indicate possession, using either the
possessive sign or the preposition of, as may seem most appropriate, and
join an appropriate name denoting the thing possessed_:--
Father-in-law, William the Conqueror, king of Great Britain, aid-de-camp,
Henry the Eighth, attorney-at-law, somebody else,[Footnote: In such
expressions as _everybody else's business_, the possessive sign is removed
from the noun and attached to the adjective.
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