Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
Use 's with time and distance units as if they were people, even though they aren't living things.
- Add 's to singular time units: 'An hour's delay'.
- Add 's to plural time units: 'Two weeks' vacation'.
- Use 's for distance: 'A mile's walk'.
Overview
- an hour's drive → the drive takes an hour
- a day's work → work that takes a day
- a week's notice → notice given a week in advance
- a year's experience → experience of one year
- two hours' sleep (not: two hours's)
- three days' notice
- two weeks' holiday
- six months' training
- a mile's walk (= a walk of one mile)
- a stone's throw (= very close — fixed idiom)
- a hair's breadth (= extremely close — fixed idiom)
- We're a stone's throw from the station. (very close)
- You're required to give two weeks' notice.
- After a long day's work, she collapsed on the sofa.
- The village is just an hour's drive from the city.
Possessive Formation Table
| Noun Type | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
|
Time
|
An hour's
|
Two hours'
|
|
Distance
|
A mile's
|
Ten miles'
|
|
Abstract
|
A moment's
|
Moments'
|
Meanings
This rule allows the use of the possessive apostrophe with non-living nouns that represent measurements of time or distance.
Duration measurement
Describing the length of an event or state.
“A day's work”
“An hour's wait”
Distance measurement
Describing the spatial extent of a journey.
“A mile's distance”
“Two kilometers' drive”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Singular Time
|
Time + 's
|
A day's work
|
|
Plural Time
|
Time + '
|
Two days' work
|
|
Singular Distance
|
Distance + 's
|
A mile's walk
|
|
Plural Distance
|
Distance + '
|
Five miles' walk
|
|
Negative
|
Not + Time + 's
|
Not a day's work
|
|
Question
|
Is it + Time + 's
|
Is it an hour's wait?
|
격식 수준 스펙트럼
The delay will be of one hour's duration. (Travel delay)
It's an hour's wait. (Travel delay)
It's an hour's wait. (Travel delay)
Hour's wait, man. (Travel delay)
Possessive Logic
Singular
- Hour's One hour
Plural
- Hours' Multiple hours
수준별 예문
It is an hour's wait.
Espera de una hora.
It is a day's work.
Un día de trabajo.
A mile's walk is long.
Una milla de caminata es larga.
Two hours' time.
Dos horas de tiempo.
We had a week's vacation.
Tuvimos una semana de vacaciones.
It is a ten minutes' drive.
Es un viaje de diez minutos.
That was a month's salary.
Ese fue el salario de un mes.
Two miles' distance.
Dos millas de distancia.
He finished a year's project.
Terminó un proyecto de un año.
Three days' notice is required.
Se requieren tres días de aviso.
It is a stone's throw away.
Está a un tiro de piedra.
Five years' experience is needed.
Se necesitan cinco años de experiencia.
The company announced a quarter's earnings.
La empresa anunció las ganancias del trimestre.
We took a six months' sabbatical.
Nos tomamos un año sabático de seis meses.
A moment's hesitation cost him.
Un momento de vacilación le costó caro.
The project requires a decade's research.
El proyecto requiere una década de investigación.
He spent a lifetime's savings on it.
Gastó los ahorros de toda una vida en ello.
Several centuries' history is preserved here.
Varios siglos de historia se conservan aquí.
A heartbeat's difference changed everything.
La diferencia de un latido cambió todo.
The policy reflects a generation's values.
La política refleja los valores de una generación.
An eternity's wait felt like seconds.
Una espera de una eternidad pareció segundos.
The ruins hold a millennium's secrets.
Las ruinas guardan los secretos de un milenio.
It was a lifetime's ambition realized.
Fue la ambición de toda una vida realizada.
The city shows a century's growth.
La ciudad muestra el crecimiento de un siglo.
혼동하기 쉬운
Learners confuse 'a ten-minute walk' with 'a ten minutes' walk'.
Learners think only people can have possessives.
Learners put the apostrophe before the s in plurals.
자주 하는 실수
One hours work
One hour's work
Two hours's work
Two hours' work
A hours' work
An hour's work
Work of hour
An hour's work
Ten minutes walk
Ten minutes' walk
A ten-minutes' walk
A ten-minute walk
Two miles walk
Two miles' walk
A months' time
A month's time
Two month's time
Two months' time
The walk is a mile's
The walk is a mile
A centuries' history
A century's history
The history of centuries'
Centuries' history
A moment's of silence
A moment's silence
Ten years's experience
Ten years' experience
문장 패턴
It is a ___'s walk.
I need ___' time to finish.
The project took ___' effort.
It was a ___'s journey.
Real World Usage
It's a 5-minute's walk to your destination.
I need a week's time to review this.
Finally finished a year's work!
It's an hour's drive, see you soon.
I have five years' experience in this field.
Your order is a 10-minute's drive away.
Check Plurality
No Double S
Use for Conciseness
Regional Differences
Smart Tips
Check if the time is plural before adding the apostrophe.
Use the possessive for distances to sound more native.
Always put the apostrophe after the s.
Always put the apostrophe before the s.
발음
Apostrophe-s
Pronounced as /s/ or /z/ depending on the preceding sound.
Falling intonation
It's an hour's ↘wait.
Stating a fact clearly.
암기하기
기억법
Time and distance are like people; they get an apostrophe too!
시각적 연상
Imagine a clock with arms holding a tiny apostrophe, or a road sign with an 's hanging off it.
Rhyme
If the time is one, add 's for fun. If the time is more, put the mark after the door.
Story
I had a day's work to finish. It was a mile's walk to the office. I arrived in two hours' time, exhausted but ready.
Word Web
챌린지
Write three sentences describing your daily routine using time possessives.
문화 노트
Very common in formal and informal speech.
Used frequently, though sometimes replaced by compound adjectives.
Similar to British usage, often used in casual conversation.
The English genitive case evolved from Old English inflectional endings.
대화 시작하기
How long is your commute?
How much time do you need for this?
How far is the nearest park?
What is the most challenging part of your job?
일기 주제
자주 하는 실수
Test Yourself
It was a ___ (one hour) wait.
Find and fix the mistake:
I have two weeks's vacation.
Which is correct?
A walk of ten minutes.
is / walk / a / mile's / it
Sort: hour's, weeks', days', moment's
A: How long is the drive? B: It's a ___ drive.
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Score: /8
연습 문제
8 exercisesIt was a ___ (one hour) wait.
Find and fix the mistake:
I have two weeks's vacation.
Which is correct?
A walk of ten minutes.
is / walk / a / mile's / it
Sort: hour's, weeks', days', moment's
A: How long is the drive? B: It's a ___ drive.
Match: 1. A year's work, 2. Two years' work
Score: /8
자주 묻는 질문 (8)
No, only for time and distance.
It depends on if it is one week or more.
To make sentences shorter.
It is used in both formal and informal settings.
That is a compound adjective, not a possessive.
No, usually only time and distance.
Yes, very common.
It will look like a spelling error.
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
de + noun
Spanish uses prepositions, English uses punctuation.
de + noun
French does not have a possessive apostrophe.
Genitive case
German genitive is a case, not just punctuation.
no particle
Japanese uses particles, English uses apostrophes.
Idafa construction
Arabic uses word order and suffixes.
de particle
Chinese uses particles, English uses apostrophes.
Learning Path
Prerequisites
관련 동영상
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