General English C1 · Lesson 9B

Grammar Bank

The rules behind this lesson — form, use, model sentences and the mistakes to avoid.

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Grammar focus of this lesson

nouns: compound and possessive forms

1 structure

Nouns: compound and possessive forms
Building and punctuating complex noun phrases.
I've got this
Rules & form
- ›Compound nouns: noun + noun (risk assessment), often unhyphenated.
- ›The first noun stays singular: a three-year contract, a five-star hotel.
- ›'s for people, organisations and time expressions: the company's policy, a week's notice.
- ›of for inanimate things and long phrases: the cost of the migration.
- ›Double possessive: a colleague of mine.
Examples
- “We ran a two-day customer-experience workshop.”
- “It's the board's decision, not the CEO's.”
- “Last year's results set the benchmark.”
Watch out · Don't pluralise the modifier: a five-years plan ✗.
Your own example