Practice B2 exercises on possessive ’s with time expressions such as “two hours’ walk” with clear explanations and examples to improve your grammar skills.
Possessive ’s with Time Expressions e.g. “Two hours’ walk” Exercises
At B2 level of English you will see that the possessive ’s is not only used to show ownership (e.g. John’s car), but also appears in time expressions. This is a very common structure in everyday English and will help you sound more natural and fluent.
What does that mean?
In expressions such as:
- two hours’ walk
- a day’s work
- three weeks’ holiday
The possessive ’s (or just ’) indicates a relationship between time and an activity, distance or quantity.
“Two hours’ walk” means:
A walk that takes two hours.
Structure
There are two main patterns:
Unique Time Expression
a/an + time noun + ’s + noun
- a day’s work
- an hour’s drive
- a week’s vacation
Plural Time Expression
number + plural time noun + ’ + noun
- two hours’ walk
- three days’ trip
- five years’ experience
Notice: If the time noun is plural (ends in -s), we only add an apostrophe (’), not ’s.
Common Uses
This structure is often used to describe:
- Distance:
It’s a two hours’ walk from here. - Duration of activities:
She completed a day’s work in just a few hours. - Experience or quantity:
He has ten years’ experience in IT. - Events or trips:
We’re planning a three days’ trip.
Alternative Forms
You can often rewrite these expressions using “of”:
- a two hours’ walk → a walk of two hours
- a day’s work → the work of a day
The possessive form, however, is more natural and more often used in both spoken and written English.
Common Mistakes
Incorrect: two hour’s walk
Correct: two hours’ walk
Incorrect: three day’s trip
Correct: three days’ trip
Incorrect: one hours’ walk
Correct: one hour’s walk
Always check:
- Singular → ’s
- Plural → ’ only
