- English Grammar A2 Level for German speakers - https://open.books4languages.com/english-a2-grammar-de -

Prepositions of Possession

Introduction

Die Possessive Form wird verwendet, um über Dinge zu sprechen, die zu einer Person oder einem Tier gehören. Wir können es sogar benutzen, um zu zeigen, dass eine Sache zu einer anderen Sache gehört.

Form

The main prepositions used to show possession are: of, with and to.
Of + nouns/possessive pronouns
With + adjectives/nouns
To + object pronouns

Example

Of

  • These are the most important monuments of London.
  • Dublin is the capital of Ireland.
  • She is a friend of mine.

To

  • This towel belongs to me.

With

  • I saw a boy with brown eyes.
  • She spoke with a German accent.
  • The girl with the black hat.

Use

We use Prepositions of Possession to highlight a relationship of ownership and possession.

  • Of (used with country, city, person, possessive pronoun);
  • With (used with physical characteristics, an accent, object/material/animal);
  • To (in the expression „belong to„).

Summary

Prepositions are important, as they are small words that are related to another element in the sentence. We use Prepositions of Possession when we wish to talk about things that belong to a person or animal and to show that one thing belongs to another thing or person.

The most common Prepositions of Possession are: Of, with and to.

For example:
— „A teacher of mine had a heart attack.“ = The preposition of explains to whom the person or an object belongs to.
— „You are the girl with the piercing.“ = The preposition with explains to whom the person or an object belongs to.
“These recipes belong to my grandmother.” = The preposition to explains to whom the person or an object belongs to.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.