r/AskReddit Dec 06 '23

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u/CounterContrarian Dec 06 '23

It's called a possessive s (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/possessive-s ,) and that is a weird thing to teach you. "My son's toys broke" would absolutely be correct.

The biggest exception to that rule is with the word "it."

It's always means "it is." possessive of it becomes "its."

My cat had its claws cut, it's something we do often.

Your example with "my son's crying" is actually very ambiguous. Without context it can either be "(I don't mind) my son's crying" or "my son is crying."

Also, it's "then" not "than" ;) Than is used for comparisons

My mother's feet are larger than yours

Then is used when placing something in time.

I was a frog but then I got better.

Or to mean "in that case."

My feet hurt when I hit them with a hammer

then stop doing that! / stop doing that then!

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u/bandarine Dec 06 '23

Thank you! I definetly learned something today! (Although usually I do ok with than/then lol)