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Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > I need your help for this....
I need your help for this....
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fluca
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I need your help for this....
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I didn �t understand the use of the apostrophe in this sentence, "So you �re only getting about four hours � sleep?" Someone can help me, please? |
2 Jul 2012
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maryse pey�
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This is the possessive apostrophe, the genitive as "4 hours" is considered as a period, a length of time so the genitive is correct here. a 4 hours � sleep = he has been sleeping (or �he slept) for 4 hours. Hope this is clear enough and could help. |
2 Jul 2012
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ueslteacher
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that �s the case of an inanimate possession which is generally substituted with an of-phrase and is considered incorrect but with the time and measurements it �s acceptable and absolutely correct. four hours - is plural, so according to general rules of the use of possessive, the apostrophe goes after the plural ending "s" and no "s" is added and sleep here is a noun, so it means sleep which lasts four hours= four hours � sleep Other examples: a ten days � trip a good night �s sleep in a month �s time (i.e. in one month) a twenty minutes � walk
Sophia |
2 Jul 2012
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koala_eukaliptus
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It �s been a hard day �s night, and I �ve been working like a dog...
A BEATLES � SONG!!!
Another option without the saxon genitive would be
A FOUR-HOUR SLEEP, in this case hour is in the singular because it is functioning as an adjective. |
2 Jul 2012
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treasure0911
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I �m a bit confused. I thought it was:
a ten-day trip, a four-star restaurant or a two-hour drive
what �s the difference then?
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2 Jul 2012
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yanogator
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Generally, we don �t use "a" with this possessive form. I took a two-hour nap. I was operating on two hours � sleep. I was operating on two hours of sleep. All three of these are common usage. Bruce |
2 Jul 2012
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Wariosen
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Hi, it �s similar to say "quatro horas de sono" the genitive ( hours � ) in this case replaces "de". I hope this helped you. |
2 Jul 2012
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ueslteacher
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Sorry, Bruce is right, we don �t use "a" with plural possessives like that, my mistake. Sophia |
2 Jul 2012
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