+25. Formation of the Possessive.+--Nouns in the singular, and those in
the plural not already ending in _s_, form the possessive regularly by
adding '_s_ to the nominative [finger, finger's; geese, geese's].
In case the plural already ends in _s_, the possessive case adds only the
apostrophe [girls'].
A few singular nouns add only the apostrophe, when the addition of the
'_s_ would make an unpleasant sound [Moses'].
Compound nouns form the possessive case by adding '_s_ to the last word.
This is also the rule when two names denoting joint ownership are used:
[Bradbury and Emery's Algebra].
Notice that in the following expression the '_s_ is affixed to the second
noun only: [My sister Martha's book].
Names of inanimate objects usually substitute prepositional phrases to
denote possession: [The hardness _of the rock_, not The rock's hardness].
+26. Gender.+--Gender is the power of nouns and pronouns to denote sex.
Nouns or pronouns denoting males are of the _masculine_ gender; those
denoting females are of the _feminine_ gender; and those denoting things
without animal life are of the _neuter_ gender.
+27. Person.+--Person is the power of one class of pronouns to show
whether the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken
of is designated. According to the person denoted, the pronoun is said to
be in the _first, second_, or _third_ person. Nouns and many pronouns are
not inflected for person, but most grammarians attribute person to them
because the context of the sentence in which they are used shows what
persons they represent.
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