Before anyone asks me, this is absolutely not just an excuse to post an adorable picture of duck butts (bottoms). How dare you?! This is a serious educational social media account!

Would you say “the butt of the duck”, or “the duck’s butt”? Native English people would always say the duck’s butt. This “ ‘s” is the possessive s, and it shows that something belongs to something else. In our example the butt belongs to the duck.

Here are some more examples of the possessive s!

• The house of my Mother – My Mother’s house

• The dog of my friend – My friend’s dog

• The exam of Alice – Alice’s exam

• The cat of the friend of Chris – Chris’ friend’s cat

• The feet of my adorable kitty – My adorable kitty’s feet

The possessive s is much quicker than describing belonging with lots of “of the”, and sounds much more natural and native. Try it out. It takes a little while to get the hang of, but you can do it!